It's difficult to truly appreciate smoking restrictions on cruise ships until you've sat in the late-night dance club on an Italian ship packed to the ceiling with 300 chain-smoking Italian high school students.

The dance floor had a fog machine, but it was completely unnecessary.

Just two years after I witnessed that scene, however, the world is a different -- and increasingly smaller -- place for smokers. Public buildings in the United States, cafes in Paris, pubs in Dublin -- all post signs forbidding cigarettes. And the cruise lines are starting to follow the wave.

Celebrity said this month that starting in October it will eliminate smoking from staterooms and, more significantly, all balconies, becoming the first major North American line to ban lighting up in both areas. (Italian line MSC Cruises enacted a similar ban in September.)

''We pay careful attention to what our guests have to say,'' said Celebrity CEO Dan Hanrahan, ``and approximately 90 percent of them have told us they are nonsmokers.''

Violators of the policy, according to Celebrity, may be charged a $250 cleaning fee, or may face action through the ominous-sounding ``guest conduct policy.''

A few of the ultra-luxury and boutique lines have already made similar changes. Celebrity's and MSC's are among the first behemoth-ship lines to cover all cabins and balconies, the latter traditionally having been the haven for smokers at sea. Royal Caribbean, for instance, enacted a smoking ban last year on all staterooms, but not on balconies.

Among the motivations for change: increasingly strict bans in North America and the European Union; a British government push to ban smoking on British-flagged ships; and the fallout from a fire in 2006 aboard the Star Princess that left one passenger dead and destroyed more than 70 cabins -- and that was likely started by a smoldering cigarette left on a balcony.

It's unlikely, however, that the big lines will attempt a total ban. Carnival designated Carnival Paradise smoke-free when it was launched in 1998, but snuffed out that policy in 2004. While the great majority of passengers are identified as nonsmokers, cruise lines are well aware that, demographically, smoking passengers are some of their best drinkers and gamblers (the top two sources of revenue for cruise lines). However, European small-ship operator Peter Deilmann Cruises announced a total ban on all its ships last year.

What follows is a sampling of current policies.

• Carnival: ``Smoking is prohibited in all dining areas as well as a number of public rooms . . . Unless otherwise indicated, smoking is permitted in casinos, dance clubs, piano bars and other select live music venues, as well as designated areas on open decks. Certain classes of Carnival ships have cigar bars.''

• Crystal: Beginning in May, Crystal Cruises will prohibit smoking on all verandas. Restaurants and the main entertainment lounges are nonsmoking zones, and most bars and lounges have limited areas set aside for smokers. Cigarette smoking is still permitted in staterooms.

• Cunard: Smoking permitted in all staterooms, but not in restaurants. Portions of public rooms are designated for smokers.

• Holland America: Smoking is allowed in all staterooms and balconies, as well as in portions of most public areas and on outside decks. The only prohibition on puffing is in hallways, dining rooms and show venues.

• Princess: No smoking in dining rooms and restaurants; most indoor public rooms (casino, lounges) have designated areas for smokers. Smoking is permitted in staterooms and balconies.

• Royal Caribbean: No smoking in staterooms, hallways, restaurants, entertainment venues and most of the ship's interior public spaces except for designated areas in bars and lounges. Smoking is permitted on starboard outer decks, in designated areas in bars and lounges and on balconies.

• MSC Cruises: The Italian cruise line I described at the beginning of this story has since taken a less-smoky course, having ''eliminated smoking in all areas where nonsmokers and smokers would have shared the same spaces.'' Indoor smoking is limited to the Cigar Room, the Casino and one dedicated lounge, and outside on one side of the sun deck.

• Regent Seven Seas: One of the toughest bans: Smoking is permitted only in designated areas of the outdoor Pool Grills, open deck areas and in sections of a few public rooms. No staterooms, suites or balconies. Any violations, the policy states, ``will result in guests being asked to leave the ship at their expense, without refund or credit for the unused portion of their cruise.''

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