Smelling like an ashtray

The article ``Lessons from a First-Time Cruiser,'' Oct. 5, hit everything right on the head. We took our first cruise in April. We thoroughly enjoyed it, but the author should have stressed the smoking issue a little more. Most of the meals and entertainment are indoors.

We are nonsmokers and when we asked about a nonsmoking section, we were told that cruise ships are foreign-owned. Therefore, they do not have ventilation requirements.

The smoke can become extremely irritating. We ended up avoiding indoor entertainment and ate our meals quickly. We were never bothered by the long waits, but were bothered by smelling like an ashtray all the time. We would definitely support a nonsmoking, nonalcoholic ship. Kenny and Tammy Daubach El Centro, Calif.,

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