Ever since the year began, cruise holding company Royal Caribbean has quietly begun converting the jazz clubs of the Oasis Class into non-smoking casino rooms.
“Jazz on 4” was a dedicated room for jazz music with live performances most nights on deck 4. However, during the daytime, the areas would mostly remain unused, notes the Royal Caribbean Blog.
Even though there have been no formal announcements from the cruise line, the jazz clubs remained closed during recent sailings, thus alerting travelers of a potential change.
On Oasis of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas, Jazz on 4 has already been converted over to a casino room similar to the Golden Room first offered on Wonder of the Seas.
In the Royal Caribbean Club Royale Facebook group, a user posted photos of the new space that opened on Oasis of the Seas, counting 40 slot machines, a blackjack table and a three-card poker table.
Over on Harmony of the Seas, the changeover occurred earlier this month. It is not yet clear yet if the change has or will happen on Allure or Symphony of the Seas, although Symphony of the Seas is in dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, and the work could be occurring in conjunction with that effort.
When Wonder of the Seas launched in 2022, Royal Caribbean opted not to include Jazz on 4. Instead, it had the Golden Room, which is a non-smoking casino annex. It was speculated this decision was based on the fact that Wonder of the Seas was originally intended for the Asian cruise market, where gambling is more popular than in North America and Europe. When Royal Caribbean changed plans to keep Wonder of the Seas in the United States, they decided to keep the VIP room.
Michael Bayley
The new space is designated as a non-smoking environment, a big change given the cruise line has historically allowed smoking in the main casino. At a Q&A in June 2022, Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley talked about the issue of allowing smoking and admitted that “smoking in the casinos is a bit of a conundrum.”
“The dilemma is that there are many people who do want to smoke in the casino. I know that’s not a popular response, but it’s the truth,” he said. “I’m not judging anyone or anything, but there’s a large group of people who do want to smoke in the casino.”
He explained that every couple of years the company tests the level of demand for a smoking room on the ships, and enforces bans on some of them. “The result is fewer people go in the casino and that’s the reality of it,” he noted.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2023/04/03/66696-royal-caribbean-reportedly-replacing-jazz-clubs-with-casino-rooms-on-oasis-class-ships
