Carnival expands its chair hog program and Norwegian announces similiar program

[KathyPet]

Carnival has announced that its new test program to eliminate chair hogs at the pools on the Breeze has been a overwhelming success and they will be expanding the program to all ships in the fleet. Norwegian has also just announced a trial of a similiar program. Come on Royal get with the program here!. Are you a leader in the cruise ship field or a follower just tagging along after other lines???

[teddie]

Can you explain how Carnival's program works?

 

Teddie

[KathyPet]

Any chair that has been "saved" with towels, books etc that has no one in it is tagged by a crew member that has a sticker with the time that the sticker was attached. If, after 40 minutes, there still are no "bodies in the chair" the crew member removes the items from the chair and takes the items to the towel stand. A note is left on the chair indicating what occurred.

[dfishner]

Can you explain how Carnival's program works?

 

Teddie

They put a tag on a chair with the time if the chair is still vacant after 45 minutes they removed the items...It will only work if Carnival enforces it..I hope they do.

[cb at sea]

Jeez....they already have the rules in place...signs are everywhere...just enforce them!

 

Sounds like the cruiselines are becoming more like Congress...have laws, ignore them, and make more laws to correct what they're ignoring.....

[teddie]

Thanks for the info. It sounds like a good plan if it is enforced.

 

Teddie

[jsmeeker]

Jeez....they already have the rules in place...signs are everywhere...just enforce them!

 

Sounds like the cruiselines are becoming more like Congress...have laws, ignore them, and make more laws to correct what they're ignoring.....

 

Isn't this enforcing the rule?

 

 

 

What happens to the note when someone else sits down in the chair? Am I suppose to hang onto it and hand it off to the the "hog"?

[gerif]

I guess. And I would do it with a big smile.

[keishashadow]

Any chair that has been "saved" with towels, books etc that has no one in it is tagged by a crew member that has a sticker with the time that the sticker was attached. If, after 40 minutes, there still are no "bodies in the chair" the crew member removes the items from the chair and takes the items to the towel stand. A note is left on the chair indicating what occurred.

 

the serenity area during our recent CCL cruise was well-monitored by a staff member who made rounds every half hour or so and removed personal effects from loungers next to us that were unattended for some time. He also requested that folks who were stationed on either end of several loungers 'saving them' relinquish the empty seats in the middle after he passed by twice. He was very polite and managed to corral the kids who kept trying to sneak into the hot tub too.:)

[BILLSFAN83]

I like the idea... I would assume that if I left the chair and came back and it was tagged... I just remove/throw out the tag. For example I walked to the bar to get a drink or use the bathroom.

[jsmeeker]

I like the idea... I would assume that if I left the chair and came back and it was tagged... I just remove/throw out the tag. For example I walked to the bar to get a drink or use the bathroom.

 

I would guess. If you get back before the time expires, then the "timer" resets the next time you leave the chairs. That would only seem fair.

 

But I wonder how obvious the tag is.

[DrD]

I would guess. If you get back before the time expires, then the "timer" resets the next time you leave the chairs. That would only seem fair.

 

But I wonder how obvious the tag is.

 

New type of passenger:

 

The "tagger."

 

Runs back to their chair every 45 minutes and briefly tags it, then leaves again.

[Marty in KY]

I just emailed RCI after reading your posts and asked them to share their policy as well as their expectations of onboard employees with regard to enforcement of their policy. I expressed my concern that this would be an issue on our upcoming cruise. Finally, I shared that their competition is being applauded on CC for their enforcement.

 

If RCI hears from enough of us, maybe they will enforce their own policies. I've seen this issue cause confrontation and stress for cruise passengers and resort guests--two things I definitely want to avoid while on vacation! I'll share RCI's response, assuming I hear back.

[iheartbda]

New type of passenger:

 

The "tagger."

 

Runs back to their chair every 45 minutes and briefly tags it, then leaves again.

PLEASE don't give anyone ideas.:D:p

[dmwnc1959]

Article here

 

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/post/2012/09/carnival-cruise-deck-chair-saving/837893/1?csp=34travel&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomTravel-TopStories+%28Travel+-+Top+Stories%29

 

Personally I think 40 minutes is about 10 minutes too long. If you go to eat a meal and are not bringing your food back to your chair pool side and are gone for more than 30 minutes then you should forfeit your chair. If you leave to swim and go to the bathroom and are gone longer than 30 minutes you should forfeit your chair. If you are not using the chair for longer than 30 minutes....you are not using the chair. It should be forfeited.

 

.

[Merion_Mom]

PLEASE don't give anyone ideas.:D:p

 

TAG! You're IT! ;)

[Able Seaman H]

What a great idea. The time tag means there is no ambiguity and the new users of the seats don't face any aggression because they simply hand the previous "occupants" the card which explains where their stuff is and why it was moved.

 

I don't think the time needs to be 30 minutes. The scheme isn't intended to pressure people it is a relatively gentle enforcement of rules already in place.

 

The next trick is to counter people reserving wholes groups of seats at shows only for them to remain empty when their friends fail to show up or were seated elsewhere. I saw it happen at the ice show in Studio B a lot last week.

 

Henry :)

[Able Seaman H]

What a great idea. The time tag means there is no ambiguity and the new users of the seats don't face any aggression because they simply hand the previous "occupants" the card which explains where their stuff is and why it was moved.

 

I don't think the time needs to be 30 minutes. The scheme isn't intended to pressure people it is a relatively gentle enforcement of rules already in place.

 

The next trick is to counter people reserving wholes groups of seats at shows only for them to remain empty when their friends fail to show up or were seated elsewhere. I saw it happen at the ice show in Studio B a lot last week.

 

Henry :)

[iheartbda]

TAG! You're IT! ;)

We haven't played in a long time but I'm baaaack.:D

[monicajay]

On our only Royal Caribbean Cruise there were no chair hogs. It was in Australia and at least 75% of the cruisers were from that country. We were always able to find chairs within proximity of the pool. Our conclusion is that it must be a cultural thing.

 

Hopefully the cruise lines will enforce the rules until maybe people realize that if we all picked up our stuff, even when leaving for 30 minutes there would be lots of chairs for everybody.

[ChevyCruiser]

In a perfect world, there would be no chair hogs. In a slightly less than perfect world, the cruise lines would enforce their own policy regarding "reserving" chairs.

 

In the meantime, I don't waste much energy on it. In fact, chair hogs save me the trouble of checking out a towel on my seapass. I check out the solarium chair hog nests on the way to breakfast. If one of them is still there when I return, I help myself to the towel, the paperback/magazine, find my spot, and enjoy the rest of my day.;)

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Jeez....they already have the rules in place...signs are everywhere...just enforce them!

 

Sounds like the cruiselines are becoming more like Congress...have laws, ignore them, and make more laws to correct what they're ignoring.....

 

In a perfect world, there would be no chair hogs. In a slightly less than perfect world, the cruise lines would enforce their own policy regarding "reserving" chairs.

But isn't this enforcement? Basically, the cruise line now has documented evidence the chair is "abandoned". Before, how would the cruise line know whether the chair has been "hogged" or if someone had gone to the bathroom or in the pool?

 

This seems very similar to what towns do for the "2 hour parking limit"... they'll chalk the tire of a vehicle. If they come back 2 hours later and the chalk is still in place, they know it's been there too long and can issue a ticket.

[villager70]

I think it's a wonderful idea. For most of the Hoggers it's going to give them more than forty minutes as they will not be at every chair the moment someone leave but this is definitely a step in the right direction. On cruises that are off seasoned,longer etc. and chair hogging isn't as much as and issue it will probably be relaxed a little more.

Smooth seas and go health to all. Bob & Nancy The Villages Florida:):):)

[Marty in KY]

I received this response today:

 

As an Emerald Member with our Crown & Anchor Society, we greatly value your comments and observations as you assist us with our continuing endeavor to improve our product and service. As a courtesy to other guests, reserving of deck chairs is not permitted. Chairs left vacant for 30 minutes or longer may be reassigned by the Pool Attendant to another waiting guest. It is our expectation to enforce this policy. If you feel that the policy is not enforced, please bring that to the attention of our pool attendant.

 

Guests who may not have had a particularly pleasant experience on their sailing, for whatever reason, are more apt to write a poor review and find fault with all aspects of their vacation. The vast majority of our guests have nothing but complimentary and exemplary reviews of Royal Caribbean International's staff, food, ships and service. We take our guests’ evaluations and suggestions very seriously and distribute Guest Satisfaction Surveys to each of our guests before they depart on the last day of the cruise vacation. In this way, if there is a generalized complaint about any of our services, it can be addressed immediately without the necessity of waiting for a review to be released.

 

Thank you for choosing Royal Caribbean International. We look forward to welcoming you and your family back onboard.

 

Sincerely,

 

Michael Everson

Customer Service Representative

[fred30]

I received this response today:

 

As an Emerald Member with our Crown & Anchor Society, we greatly value your comments and observations as you assist us with our continuing endeavor to improve our product and service. As a courtesy to other guests, reserving of deck chairs is not permitted. Chairs left vacant for 30 minutes or longer may be reassigned by the Pool Attendant to another waiting guest. It is our expectation to enforce this policy. If you feel that the policy is not enforced, please bring that to the attention of our pool attendant.

 

Guests who may not have had a particularly pleasant experience on their sailing, for whatever reason, are more apt to write a poor review and find fault with all aspects of their vacation. The vast majority of our guests have nothing but complimentary and exemplary reviews of Royal Caribbean International's staff, food, ships and service. We take our guests’ evaluations and suggestions very seriously and distribute Guest Satisfaction Surveys to each of our guests before they depart on the last day of the cruise vacation. In this way, if there is a generalized complaint about any of our services, it can be addressed immediately without the necessity of waiting for a review to be released.

 

Thank you for choosing Royal Caribbean International. We look forward to welcoming you and your family back onboard.

 

Sincerely,

 

Michael Everson

Customer Service Representative

 

So you got a typical "pass the responsibility back to you" response. Now you have make sure the rules are enforced.

Congratulations you are now part of the crew!