MSC Cruises makes casinos aboard Euribia and Virtuosa non-smoking

MSC Cruises is banning smoking from the casinos of at least two ships of its fleet, according to Cruise Industry News.

According to social media reports from passengers, the MSC Signature Casino onboard MSC Euribia and the Red Gem Casino onboard MSC Virtuosa were turned into smoke-free areas on February 18th, 2024.

In various online forums, passengers have reported that other MSC cruise ships have also banned smoking and vaping from their main casino areas earlier this month.

A separate smoking casino was reportedly added to some of the vessels, including the MSC Seascape and the MSC Seashore, which received a new gambling area near their Sports Bars.

The move comes a couple months after the addition of non-smoking casinos to all of Royal Caribbean International’s Oasis-Class ships, with the retrofitting of smoke-free casinos completed in December, with the opening of a Non-Smoking Casino Royale onboard the Symphony of the Seas.

Symphony of the Seas was the final ship that needed retrofitting as non-smoking casinos had been included in the design of the 2022-built Wonder of the Seas.

Set to debut in July, the new Utopia of the Seas is also expected to feature a smokeless casino when it enters service.

MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean’s moves follow other cruise lines, such as Holland America Line, which in 2023 added non-smoking casinos to three ships, the Nieuw Statendam, the Rotterdam and the Koningsdam.

Carnival Cruise Line added a smoke-free casino to the Carnival Vista during a routine drydock in Europeearlier this year and has indicated that other Carnival ships will be getting non-smoking casinos.

Celebrity Cruises and Virgin Voyages have completely banned smoking in their casino areas.

The move suggests smoking in casinos may be going the same way as smoking on cabin balconies. When cruise lines began to restrict smoking onboard to select designated areas, smoking on cabin balconies was largely still allowed.

Gradually, however, a growing number of cruise lines introduced restrictions on balcony smoking due to safety concerns and complains from other passengers. Now, very few cruise lines allow passengers to smoke on their cabin balconies.