Lounge chair hogs

[true45]

I'm mini-veteran of soon TB 10 cruises but have no solution to this ?

 

We go to pool area & noone is in the pool but every chair has a towel "reserving" it. Or there is one person "saving" chairs for a large group that never seems to show up. Do we look for an attendant (hard to find) -- or move the towels ourselves (hate to be rude)? Or do we just leave the area unhappy? We had been just leaving -- but I notice even in the review it seems to bother people.:cool:

[euro cruiser]

I think the cruise line that comes up with a fun and creative way to address this universal problem could market it and make some hay in the industry.

 

Maybe each passenger could be issued inexpensive, clip on timers that only run for 30 minutes ... so they could set it and leave it on a chair, but when the time is up, like a parking meter, the chair is fair game. Or, more bottom-line oriented, if you want to hold a chair, you need to rent or purchase one of the timers from the ship (so it doesn't cost the line any money). There are well staffed bars around every pool, they could be the retailers of the timers.

[chasm4u]

I don tunderstand why the ships dont have lockers? That way leaving somthing on a chair without sitting there would be no excuse.

[true45]

Don't say that too loudly -- the cruiselines are starting to nickel & dime us on everything. Thanks for the entertaining post

[paul929207]

I would move the towel or other stuff and take the chair(s). The play dumb if someone show up and complains

[luddite]

Move the towel and have a seat.

[cb at sea]

Ask the people sitting near to the "reserved" seats if they've seen anyone sitting there...they'll tell you! If the answer is no, then move the towels and have a seat. If the "reserver" comes and acts indignant, point to the "no reserving seats" sign, and sigh!

[MrsPete]

I'm mini-veteran of soon TB 10 cruises but have no solution to this ?

 

We go to pool area & noone is in the pool but every chair has a towel "reserving" it. Or there is one person "saving" chairs for a large group that never seems to show up. Do we look for an attendant (hard to find) -- or move the towels ourselves (hate to be rude)? Or do we just leave the area unhappy? We had been just leaving -- but I notice even in the review it seems to bother people.:cool:

It's the person "holding" the chairs who's being rude. Help yourself to a chair.

[SuitCaseBears]

I don tunderstand why the ships dont have lockers? That way leaving somthing on a chair without sitting there would be no excuse.

 

A lot of people don't leave their things because they have no place else to leave them - they leave them to hold the chair for when the come back... later... maybe. If it was just for want of a place to put things, they could pile several people's stuff on one chair and leave the lounges free.

[navybankerteacher]

Simply remove the articles - unless it really looks like someone will be coming back (shoes, shirt, book, sunblock, etc. are good clues - just a towel is likely to be a hog's marker). The general rule is: no saving; you should not feel embarassed for observing it.

[jean s]

I always ask the people sitting in the area if anyone has been using the chair for the last 30 minutes. Usually I am told that no one has been seen in over an hour. Then I simply remove the items and have a seat.

[JewelerSteve]

Yeah, that would make me grouchy.. ;)

 

I'd be the guy you see walking down the row of chairs stacking all the towels in one spot..

[GXmanDC]

On my January cruise I noticed the pool attendants putting post-its on the back of the chair with the time on it, then they'd come back around a collect the belongings. We had no problem finding chairs. It was nice.

[SuitCaseBears]

I'm glad to hear people say they just move things after a while, and asking people around there. That's what I thought I'd do (so far we've not really even had time, or sometimes the good weather to lounge around the pool on our cruises)

 

Nice to know it seems an accepted, and reasonable thing to do.

[true45]

post-its with time is great idea. hope celebrity does the same.

 

thanks everyone for all the ideas -

[navybankerteacher]

I'm inclined to think that if passengers (and crew) regularly take material off "saved" lounges, most of the hogs will gradually get the idea and give up. Of course, there will alwys be the occasional hog - but the main thing is to not let them push you around.

[Hlitner]

This lounge hog issue is a real problem on most shorter cruises (10 days or less) on all the mass market cruise lines. After 40 years of crusing we have never seen any system that effectively stops this problem and agree that it is annoying. On one recent cruise we had a late breakfast near the pool and noticed a couple of chairs with towels that were unused for more than an hour. After breakfast we removed those towels and sat down in the chairs. About 2 hours later (it was already lunch time) a couple showed-up and told us that we were in "their chairs." At that point I smiled and said we had been in those chairs for more than an hour (true) and we did not notice anyone's name on the chairs. The lady then told me that "we simply do not understand the rules" and she stomped off and went over to one of the deck crew who we saw pointing to empty chairs on one of the upper levels.

 

Hank

[true45]

hank, yes, I met that same couple once, LOL. thank goodness the deck hands did the right thing. thanks to all. but i do feel prepared to handle things, whatever comes up without being embarrassed.

[okbowler]

When cruising, I try to walk a couple of miles every morning and watch the sun rise. On our cruise this Jan. I noticed a young man( 30ish ) on two different mornings about 6AM put towels on about 8 chairs and then procede to wave anybody away who tried to take one of the chairs, for about 2 hrs. What a miserable way to start your day. Bill

[ISurfTooMuch]

On our honeymoon a couple of years ago, my wife and I went back to Serenity. All the chairs were occupied except for one, which had a towel on it. We waited there for about 30 minutes, and I asked the guy in the next chair if he'd seen anyone there. He said the chair had been empty for as long as he'd been there, which was over an hour. So I picked the towel up and took it over to the stair railing where I was going to hang it. No sooner had I walked three feet when this older lady yelled out that that was her daughter's chair and that she was coming back for it just as soon as she got something to eat and I had no business moving her towel. I politely told her that you could only save a seat for 30 minutes, and we'd already been there that long waiting and here was her towel, and if her daughter came back, we could discuss it then. She took the towel, but I could tell she was furious. So my wife took the chair, and I sat down on the deck beside her. A few minutes later, a couple who had seen the incident came over and told us they were leaving, and we were welcome to their chairs, which we accepted. A very classy thing to do, IMHO.

 

And as for the lady's daughter? We were there for at least another hour, and she never came back.

 

So my advice is to move the towels and have a seat. Chair hogs are bullies. Don't let them get their way.

[daisy-mae]

The same thing happens at all-inclusive resorts.

 

We were at a place in the Dominican Republic a few years back; there were only a few "prime" spots on a deck near the water, and the same couples were always glued to the lounge chairs. We could never figure out how they did it.

 

On our last full day, I rose early to take some photos of the sunrise, and witnessed one of the women emerge from her room in her nightclothes to "claim" her spot.

 

Imagine going on holiday only to wake up before dawn every morning to beat the rest of the guests to the chairs. Who needs the stress?

[JudeeJim]

On my January cruise I noticed the pool attendants putting post-its on the back of the chair with the time on it, then they'd come back around a collect the belongings. We had no problem finding chairs. It was nice.

Off subject but this reminded me of a problem we had in Assisi, Italy. We came across a great parking place and took it. We then went to tour a church. When we returned, 20 minutes later, we found a ticket on our car. When we went to check out why the person at the municipal building told us we were parked in a 30 minute space. Seems we were to put a piece of paper on the dashboard with the time we parked. No meters. Unfortunately we didn't read Italian as this was posted nearby. The fine was about $40.00. Fortunately there are no fines for chair hogs? If there were it would not only solve the problem but infuriate those people who ignore the rules.

[Davidson Duo]

On our last cruise it was common practice for people to get up in the morning and place towels on loungers in both the pool area, and the front deck area. They followed the sun, so their first spot of the day was in the sun, then when that disappeared, they moved to their next "reserved" chair. Quite often this was a period of over 4 hours or more. Very inconsiderate of their fellow cruisers.

 

The crew actively monitored "reserved chairs" on "at sea" days at the pool, but for the rest of the cruise it was a free for all. On monitored days, if the crew saw an unoccupied chair with items on it, they marked it with a tag. If it was still unoccupied after 30 minutes, they removed the items and the chair was fair game. If you returned and your items had been removed, they were available at the "monitoring station" table at poolside. You could retrieve them there and got a warning.

 

The problem was that even if you got a warning, there was no further consequence if you repeated the offense. Also, the monitoring was only done for a limited time on at sea days. The rest of the time, people returned to their "reserve" system.

 

The selfishness of people never fails to amaze me. I am quite the opposite. If I have been sunning on a lounger for a couple of hours and notice someone else vainly looking for somewhere to sit, I quite often will get up and let them have my place as I have already been able to enjoy myself. Seeing others being able to also experience a good cruise is satisfying to me and I guess my generous nature won't allow me to feel that I am being selfish at someone else's expense.

 

I wish more vacationers would also think of how their actions impact fellow cruisers and demonstrate the wonderful trait of sharing. :)

[Hlitner]

 

The selfishness of people never fails to amaze me. I am quite the opposite. If I have been sunning on a lounger for a couple of hours and notice someone else vainly looking for somewhere to sit, I quite often will get up and let them have my place as I have already been able to enjoy myself. Seeing others being able to also experience a good cruise is satisfying to me and I guess my generous nature won't allow me to feel that I am being selfish at someone else's expense.

 

I wish more vacationers would also think of how their actions impact fellow cruisers and demonstrate the wonderful trait of sharing. :)

 

WOW! So now we have a new standard? Those that sit in a chair or lounger too long (by your arbritrary standard) are selfish? Give me a break! After spending approximately 2 years on cruise ships (as passengers) we do not support chair hogs. But somebody who decides they enjoy sitting in a chair all day is just doing what many do on cruise ships. This is no different than somebody sitting at a specific slot machine, bar stool, etc. The issue is not folks who choose to sit in chairs (or do other activities) but those that reseve chairs that they do not use. By your standard we should kick anyone out of the pool who spends too much time in the pool?

 

Hank

[STARFISH*4]

i am not really a "SUN WORSHIPER" but when i have WANTED a lounger they are usually available somewhere around the ship...i dont have to be front and center out by the pool...this really doesnt seem to be a problem on our cruises.--havent really witnessed the so called LOUNGE CHAIR HOG.....