ABOARD NORWEGIAN ESCAPE — Norwegian Cruise Line will partly
enclose the casino on the new Norwegian Escape to prevent tobacco smoke from
drifting elsewhere in the ship.
At a press conference aboard the ship during a two-night
preview cruise, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings CEO Frank Del Rio said the
non-enclosed part of the casino will then become non-smoking.
“We’ve engaged some
designers and architects and we’re looking at dividing the casino just about
50-50. It would be 50% smoking, fully enclosed,
very powerful air extractors and cleaners.
The other half will be completely smoke-free, Del Rio said.
Some guests have complained about smoke odors on ships such
as Norwegian Getaway and Breakaway which, like Escape, have gaming tables and machines
in open areas in the ship’s atrium and corridors.
Del Rio said that studies of land-based casinos have shown
up to a 20% drop in gaming revenue when smoking is banned entirely. So rather
than do that, Norwegian hopes to have both smoking and nonsmoking areas. “I
think like anything else, the right answer is somewhere in the middle. So we’re
going to try that. I think it will
please everyone,” he said.
According to Del Rio, it will probably be six months or so
before the room can be designed and retrofitted onto Escape. Other ships could
follow, he indicated.
Asked about sailing to Cuba, Del Rio said there’s not much
new to report. He said were the company to go to Cuba, the likely brand would
be Oceania Cruises with its 674-passenger ships.
“I do believe pent-up demand is off the charts,” Del Rio
said.
Norwegian Getaway is likely to be the first new ship to call
on Harvest Caye in Belize, the new private destination that Norwegian is
planning to open in mid-February, Del Rio said.
And he likened a new advertising campaign set to debut at
the start of next year to Pitbull’s
dedication ceremony for Escape at PortMiami — fast-paced, contemporary and
emotional.
“I think it will
bring the message home of what the new Norwegian Cruise Line is all about,” Del
Rio said.