Royal Caribbean Swapping Jazz and Comedy Clubs for Smoke-Free Casinos

Posted on: April 9, 2025, 02:10h. 

Last updated on: April 9, 2025, 03:54h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • Royal Caribbean is expanding its smoke-free casino spaces
  • Utopia of the Seas will eliminate The Attic comedy club for more smoke-free gaming
  • Royal Caribbean officials say the company competes directly with Las Vegas

Royal Caribbean continues to reconfigure its cruise ships to accommodate a growing number of passengers who wish to gamble in smoke-free environments.

Royal Caribbean casino smoking smoke-free
Royal Caribbean’s Utopia of the Seas is seen leaving Port Canaveral in Florida on July 19, 2024. Royal Caribbean is adding more non-smoking casino space aboard the cruise ship. (Image: Shutterstock)

It was nearly two years ago that Casino.org reported on the cruise line swapping out dedicated jazz clubs in favor of smoke-free gaming rooms. The Miami-based company, the world’s second-largest cruise line, continues to field passenger feedback, with a major critique being the allowance of tobacco smoking aboard the ships’ Casino Royales.

The Royal Caribbean Blog, an unofficial online news outlet about all things Royal Caribbean led by founder and editor Matt Hochberg, reported this week that the company’s newest vessel — Utopia of the Seas — is being worked on to include a larger smoke-free casino.

Hochberg writes that The Attic, a standup comedy lounge, will become home to slot machines and live dealer table games, with cigarettes and cigars prohibited. The Attic, located on Deck 4 opposite the Crown Lounge, will almost double the current smoke-free Casino Royale space. The expanded smoke-free gaming facility aboard Utopia is slated to open on May 9.

The larger Casino Royale, located down the Art Gallery opposite the Studio B multipurpose venue, allows smoking. However, to smoke, a person must be actively gambling.

Cruisers in search of laughs will need to visit the Royal Theater for standup shows on future Utopia sailings.

Vegas of the Seas? 

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley says the controversy surrounding casino smoking aboard cruise ships is “a bit of a conundrum.” While smoking and gambling have gone hand-in-hand for decades, with smoking rates continually declining, a growing segment of gamblers no longer wish to play amid secondhand smoke and are demanding clean indoor air spaces.

Royal Caribbean has sought to satisfy both gamblers by doing away with some entertainment like Jazz on 4 and dedicated comedy lounges.

It was only in 2019 that smoking was allowed inside all Royal Caribbean casinos. The moving of certain entertainment venues to accommodate smoke-free casinos has turned off some who have criticized Royal Caribbean for becoming the “Vegas of the Seas” (the company’s entire fleet is named ___ of the Seas).

Royal Caribbean isn’t only trying to satisfy gamblers who don’t smoke but also poaching business from Las Vegas, a leisure tourism market the company says it directly competes with.

We feel like we’ve started this transition from being a traditional cruise vacation to being a world-class multi-generational family option that stands shoulder to shoulder with Orlando and Las Vegas and any land-based destination experience that you could mention,” Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty said on the company’s 2024 earnings call in February.

“We’re beginning to really attract a lot of demand from those land-based options with better quality products, more exciting products, and great price points,” Liberty added.

Cruise Passenger Demographics 

Cruise demographics continue to change, with the biggest development being the average age of passengers trending younger. Analysts say the average age of a cruise passenger has dropped from 66 in 2019 to 55 last year.

The CDC’s 2022 National Health Survey reported that while 15.1% of U.S. adults aged 15-64 reported being cigarette smokers, that rate drops to 12.5% for adults aged 25 to 44 years old.