Pool chair etiquette?

[cruzemaven]

I'm just posting this to hear opinions. Friends of our just returned from their cruise aboard the Silver Spirit. They were upset at an incident that occurred at the pool. It was a sea day and the chairs around the pool were all accounted for by passengers. The ship was sailing with a full passenger roster. When they went for lunch, they left their chairs with their belongings on them. It was crowded at lunch and took awhile to get a table. When they returned they found that they had been evicted from their chairs. Other people's belongings were now on them but those people were nowhere to be seen. They called over one of the pool attendants and asked him why they had been displaced and they were told they were gone for one hour. They said that this was true due to the crowded conditions at lunch...but they didn't realize that they were being timed. They have been on several Silversea cruises in the past and have never had their seats taken away when they went to lunch. Eventually, other chairs opened up so they moved to those. But, they felt this was a distasteful experience. My question is: If you go for lunch, do you sacrifice your chairs at the pool? How long away from your seats is acceptable?

[Host Dan]

IMHO, no matter what the reason, if you are gone for an hour or more, your time is up. When I get up to go to lunch or whatever, I take my stuff with me- its only polite to other guests.

 

Host Dan

[dusababy]

Dan - totally agree - only polite to other guests.

 

Unlike days of old -- you don't BUY a deck chair with your passage.

 

Mary Ann

[donaldsc]

Dan - totally agree - only polite to other guests.

 

Unlike days of old -- you don't BUY a deck chair with your passage.

 

Mary Ann

 

You should not say that - it will give the cruise companies an idea of yet another way of extracting money from us.

 

DON

[WesW]

strong +1; Dan & Mary Ann...simple courtesy...tho 20-30% of the pool deckguests on

the Spirit in Jan when they left their pool lounger, left books, bags, etc on top to reserve.

[Ste. Michelle]

IMHO, no matter what the reason, if you are gone for an hour or more, your time is up. When I get up to go to lunch or whatever, I take my stuff with me- its only polite to other guests.

 

Host Dan

 

Totally agree!

[duct tape]

Me too! I agree that when you're not there, it isn't your chair.

[wripro]

Another complete agreement here. I'd say thirty minutes is the cutoff point for being able to keep your chairs while away.

[Paint Horse]

Exactly. If you must have a chair, use your veranda.

[Host Dan]

So I guess to the OP- Pool Chair etiquette = When not in use, let the next person enjoy!

 

Host Dan

[TLCOhio]

On our first Silversea cruise starting in two weeks, I'm not too worried about this type of a problem on the Silver Cloud. We'll be traveling along the Norway Coast and it will be mostly temperatures in the 50's and 60's. The way this heat and humidity has started, so far, this summer, it will be nice to be enjoying cooler weather.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[Emtbsam]

Me too! I agree that when you're not there, it isn't your chair.

I totally agree. Unless you're in the pool, or away briefly, it isn't your chair. Why anyone would think otherwise boggles the mind!

[billcrooz]

i'm just posting this to hear opinions. Friends of our just returned from their cruise aboard the silver spirit. They were upset at an incident that occurred at the pool. It was a sea day and the chairs around the pool were all accounted for by passengers. The ship was sailing with a full passenger roster. When they went for lunch, they left their chairs with their belongings on them. It was crowded at lunch and took awhile to get a table. When they returned they found that they had been evicted from their chairs. Other people's belongings were now on them but those people were nowhere to be seen. They called over one of the pool attendants and asked him why they had been displaced and they were told they were gone for one hour. They said that this was true due to the crowded conditions at lunch...but they didn't realize that they were being timed. They have been on several silversea cruises in the past and have never had their seats taken away when they went to lunch. Eventually, other chairs opened up so they moved to those. But, they felt this was a distasteful experience. My question is: If you go for lunch, do you sacrifice your chairs at the pool? How long away from your seats is acceptable?

pool chair etiquette is an oxymoron !!:d

[Keith1010]

I also wholeheartedly agree with Host Dan. When we go to lunch we take all of our items with us. That is part of being respectful to others and showing common courtesy for our fellow guests.

 

Keith

[freddie]

Another fervent agreement with the previous posters (except for the OP, of course). When we were on Whisper in the Middle East (very hot weather and therefore lots of pool chair use), I was astounded when I did my early morning deck power walk at 7:00 a.m. or so to witness passengers come up to the pool deck as soon as the staff set up the chairs, place a few personal items (books, towels, sunglasses) on them, and then disappear, not to reappear anytime during the hour or so that I was up there walking. By the time that I left the walking track betweem 8:00 & 8:30 a.m. there were invariably at least a dozen chairs "claimed" by someone, even though when I walked through the area about 9:00 one morning, not one of the "claimed" chairs was occupied by anything more than the aforementioned personal items.

 

Hmm, the troubling thing about this subject is that we always assume that such boorish behavior is the province of those dreadful "mass-market" lines, not our beloved luxury lines. Maybe it's limited to those passengers who come from somewhere east of the Rhine??

 

Cheers, Fred (as in Frederick, named after my German grandpa Friedrich - so no flaming from Deutschaphiles, please...)

[cb at sea]

It must be those "discount" fares that bring out the "chair hogs"!

[Host Dan]

It must be those "discount" fares that bring out the "chair hogs"!

Nope, once a chair hog- always a chair hog- money doesn't always equal class...

 

Host Dan

[Paint Horse]

How true.

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

 

My wife and I just returned from June 5 - 12, Venice to Athens, Spirit.

 

We only got off the ship to walk around each town every morning, so we spent a considerable time by the pool.

 

Frankly, I don't understand the complaint by the Original Poster, because at least our voyage only had about 350 passengers and there was always room by the pool.

 

Yes, there were some peak times when the deck was full -- sea days, lunch hours -- mid to late afternoon when people would come back from their excursions. However, it was always possible to find space even when the deck was full, and the deck boys were always accommodating and would go out of their way to find space, or even wheel out extra chairs and lounges if needed.

 

The only time we felt the deck was too small to hold the passenger load was during the barbecue on the last night of the cruise.

 

In any case, I do think it is obvious that when one goes to lunch or any other event, you relinquish your right to your deck chair and must find another one when you come back.

 

They only exceptions should be going to the restroom, going to the pool or jacuzzi for a swim, or going to the pool bar to order a drink (some people prefer standing up and getting their own drinks rather than having the deck boys serve them).

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[Host Dan]

Dear friends:

 

My wife and I just returned from June 5 - 12, Venice to Athens, Spirit.

 

We only got off the ship to walk around each town every morning, so we spent a considerable time by the pool.

 

Frankly, I don't understand the complaint by the Original Poster, because at least our voyage only had about 350 passengers and there was always room by the pool.

 

Yes, there were some peak times when the deck was full -- sea days, lunch hours -- mid to late afternoon when people would come back from their excursions. However, it was always possible to find space even when the deck was full, and the deck boys were always accommodating and would go out of their way to find space, or even wheel out extra chairs and lounges if needed.

 

The only time we felt the deck was too small to hold the passenger load was during the barbecue on the last night of the cruise.

 

In any case, I do think it is obvious that when one goes to lunch or any other event, you relinquish your right to your deck chair and must find another one when you come back.

 

They only exceptions should be going to the restroom, going to the pool or jacuzzi for a swim, or going to the pool bar to order a drink (some people prefer standing up and getting their own drinks rather than having the deck boys serve them).

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

Right on!

 

Host Dan

[cruzemaven]

Dear friends:

 

My wife and I just returned from June 5 - 12, Venice to Athens, Spirit.

 

We only got off the ship to walk around each town every morning, so we spent a considerable time by the pool.

 

Frankly, I don't understand the complaint by the Original Poster, because at least our voyage only had about 350 passengers and there was always room by the pool.

 

Yes, there were some peak times when the deck was full -- sea days, lunch hours -- mid to late afternoon when people would come back from their excursions. However, it was always possible to find space even when the deck was full, and the deck boys were always accommodating and would go out of their way to find space, or even wheel out extra chairs and lounges if needed.

 

The only time we felt the deck was too small to hold the passenger load was during the barbecue on the last night of the cruise.

 

In any case, I do think it is obvious that when one goes to lunch or any other event, you relinquish your right to your deck chair and must find another one when you come back.

 

They only exceptions should be going to the restroom, going to the pool or jacuzzi for a swim, or going to the pool bar to order a drink (some people prefer standing up and getting their own drinks rather than having the deck boys serve them).

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

 

I guess when the ship has only 350 passengers there is more flexibility in finding chairs. Our friends said that on their sailing there were over 500 passengers and they found the public areas to be packed. I do agree that chairs should not be reserved while you go for lunch. Our friends told us that the pool staff was squeezing in chairs in every nook and cranny on the sea day. They also said they found that the pool area totally inadequate for the amount of passengers that were on their cruise. They were told by the staff that this was the first time the Spirit had sailed completely full. Hopefully, we will encounter a less than full ship when we go in July.

[cruzemaven]

Sea days can be crowded around any cruiseline pool...it is very difficult for pool attendants to monitor the situation. Some guests are courteous and some aren't. Saving chairs with personal items should not be done...but then again what do you do when it comes to short bathroom breaks?

[WesW]

Cruisemaven, my experience on the Spirit in January on the maiden crossing mirrors precisely what your friends experienced. We had many sea days and with over 500 pax on our voyage the pool deck (from 10 am until 5 pm) was packed--unfortunately Gunther/Uta what is obvious to (folks who practice courtesy) many, many pax reserved their loungers inappropriately as described in posts above (i.e., going to lunch vs the bathroom). I believe marginal pool etiquitte on the Spirit (when pax load is near full) is challenged by the Spirit's marginal (ie. not enough space to comfortably account for pax seeking to enjoy the pool deck) pool deck space design. When the sailing is full, pax learn the loungers go swiftly and not wanting to give up their lounger when going to lunch, an enrichment lecture, etc...inappropriately leave their personal belongings on the lounger. Side comment; IMO, tho the Spirit pool deck two story deck is beautifully designed, when the pax load is over 500, the pool decks (9,10)have inadequate space to account for pax who want to enjoy the pool. (e.g. even accounting for the very nice/quiet secret outside deck AFT on deck 8...u find the pool deck Steward's placing loungers all along the the sides of deck 9 towards the Panorama lounge and along the sides of deck 10 (encroaching on the public space designed for the walking/jogging track)

[newlondon]

If you think these experiences are bad, far worse is the situation on the Paul Gaugin where people take almost all the chairs early in the morning. In addition the premium on shade is so great that the chairs are pushed together leading to a total lack of privacy. I have only done cool weather cruises on SS and our next one will actually be cold-Chile- so I'm not worried. Host Dan has it right, however, once a hog always a hog.

[Keith1010]

Cruisemaven, my experience on the Spirit in January on the maiden crossing mirrors precisely what your friends experienced. We had many sea days and with over 500 pax on our voyage the pool deck (from 10 am until 5 pm) was packed--unfortunately Gunther/Uta what is obvious to (folks who practice courtesy) many, many pax reserved their loungers inappropriately as described in posts above (i.e., going to lunch vs the bathroom). I believe marginal pool etiquitte on the Spirit (when pax load is near full) is challenged by the Spirit's marginal (ie. not enough space to comfortably account for pax seeking to enjoy the pool deck) pool deck space design. When the sailing is full, pax learn the loungers go swiftly and not wanting to give up their lounger when going to lunch, an enrichment lecture, etc...inappropriately leave their personal belongings on the lounger. Side comment; IMO, tho the Spirit pool deck two story deck is beautifully designed, when the pax load is over 500, the pool decks (9,10)have inadequate space to account for pax who want to enjoy the pool. (e.g. even accounting for the very nice/quiet secret outside deck AFT on deck 8...u find the pool deck Steward's placing loungers all along the the sides of deck 9 towards the Panorama lounge and along the sides of deck 10 (encroaching on the public space designed for the walking/jogging track)

 

Wes, as usual a very logical summary and evaluation of the situation.

 

Keith