Regent Seven Seas Cruises, which intends to make all cruise ship staterooms and their private balconies nonsmoking by the end of the year, said it has lost an estimated $3 million in bookings since announcing its new policy.

The luxury cruiseline two months ago unveiled the changes in its nonsmoking policy, declaring that smoking not only presents "a fire hazard, but ... the smoke, or its odor, invades surrounding suites, balconies and public areas, creating discomfort for the guests in these areas."

Royal Caribbean has also announced changes to its non-smoking policy as of Jan. 1, extending nonsmoking areas to cruise ship staterooms on most of its ships but continuing to allow smokers to light up on their private balconies.

One of the major complaints of non-smokers is they often are driven from balconies -- for which they pay extra -- by smokers on adjacent balconies.

Mark Conroy, president of Regent, said his line looked for "ways to accommodate both our guests who are smokers and those who are not" and could not find a practical solution that continued to allow smoking on balconies without impacting nonsmokers.

"Smokers are very welcome on our ships, and I think they will find the restrictions we put in place no more draconian than what they face in everyday life," Conroy told the Ventura (CA) County Star.

But he conceded that the new policy had resulted in about $3 million in cancelled bookings "particularly on the world cruise, where we had a core of loyal customers who were heavy smokers."