Has Princess cracked down seat savers yet?

[MrJulius]

Actually, the education is for someone who TRULY doesn't know the rules. The rest of it is AMMO for us poor slobs that can't find an open chair in the vast sea of blue and white striped flags draped across every lounger not near the smoke stack.

 

 

Sent from my iPad Mini Retina

[rhsjr]

Remember, it is not the crews fault, it is we the people for being (Can't say it here) :)

[Tedferg]

I heard from a British Airways Captain that his flight and a Lufthansa had the same departure time at Frankfurt. Just as he was due to push back the Tower asked him to hold at the gate. He noticed Lufthansa pushing back and radioed him ' Lufthansa XYZ - is this local favoritism?'

 

Lufthansa Captain replied 'No We were here this morning and put our towel on the tarmac!'

[LewesBeach]

I usually go to pool in the morning & hang out for 1 hour watching a few chairs I'm interested in. If no one shows up in 1 hr 15 minutes, I pick one, toss the towel, & the seat is mine. I tell a pool attendant what I'm doing if I can find one. I've been fortunate no one has yet to come back and challenge me - but I won't give it up if they ever do.

[OCruisers]

Another time a man came up to me and said that was his "shade" chair, he already had one in the sun. Are you kidding me?

 

This actually happens frequently! :rolleyes:

LuLu

~~~

[Rick-cruiser]

We sailed on a Celebrity transatlantic cruise a few years ago.. There were going to be six days-at-sea in a row (crossing the Atlantic).. Everybody was getting ready for a nice, relaxing time on the ship - especially around the pool deck - for those six days.. Well, the very first sea-day, after breakfast, we had gotten to the pool area around 9AM and immediately noticed that somebody had "reserved" 11 (yes, 11!) lounge chairs IN A ROW directly next to the pool!!. There were nothing on these chairs but books, suntan lotion, flip-flops, hats, etc - WITH NO BODIES IN THEM - for over 3 hours!. We were sitting in the row behind them, so we had to watch as throngs of people walked by, looking for a place to sit, but couldn't find any chairs together... while these 11 were "reserved".. I couldn't believe the audacity of these selfish boors.. Believe me... had we really wanted any two of those particular chairs, their "STUFF" would have been thrown on the floor (or into the pool), and we would have proudly taken residence.

 

I was just waiting to see who (or WHAT, in this case) would have the nerve to show up to claim these chairs.. Sure enough, at around 12:30, three members of a group strolled over to the chairs, laughing and jabbering - indignant of their selfishness and inconsideration.. I was planning on having a conversation with them, but they did not speak English - or pretended not to - and so they just sat there the remaining time, without anybody else joining them by the time we left.

 

By the way, after an hour of the chairs being empty, I went right over to the pool butler, who said that there was nothing he could do about it (!), and that I had to speak with the security guy who was on deck.. Well, I went over to him, brought him right over to the chairs - which were all empty and had been for over an hour - and he was, shall we say, "non-concerned" over it.. I could feel my blood boiling, as I realized that he fully intended to reward these inconsiderate chair-hogging clods, while punishing those who can't find a chair.. I asked him who his boss was...he said the Hotel Director.. I thanked him and left.

 

I knew that we had 5 more sea days, and there was no way I was going to watch this happen every day.. Absolutely no way.. So I made an appointment with the Hotel Director, and on the way to dinner that evening went to her office to have a nice little "chat" with her.. I told her about what I observed that day, how the pool butlers / security guy did nothing about it, and that "reserving" chairs like was simply not acceptable and wouldn't be tolerated - especially for the next 5 sea days where the pool deck would be very popular.. She actually thanked me profusely for letting her know about it.. She said "if passengers like you didn't come here to tell me about things like this, I wouldn't know how severe the problem was".. She also asked me for the name of the security guy - which I told her.

 

Well, the next day there were FOUR OFFICERS patrolling the pool deck.. Unoccupied chairs with "token items" were non-existent, the pool butlers were not just standing around folding towels, and I did not see that security guy for the rest of the cruise.. Nobody knew that it was me who prompted such a change in the poolside enforcement, but I privately felt good about it.

 

One of the lessons I learned here is that, if you do see glaringly offensive chair hogging going on.... just make an appointment with the Hotel Manager (it's THEIR JOB) and tell him/her that this is negatively impacting the enjoyment of your vacation, and that you will not tolerate or accept such blantant selfishness and inconsideration from your fellow passengers.

 

- Rick

.

[mmckm]

The first thing is they should start at 7am removing the stuff these people put on there chairs and just leave. thinking they can come back at 1pm and have the best seats in the house. If its early and no body is around it should all be removed.

[JEH]

From my experiences in stadium security confronting individuals breaking rules is not the way for an individual to handle a chair hog. Discretly notify ship personel who are empowered to enforce the rules.

[Kmkub]

Nobody knew that it was me who prompted such a change in the poolside enforcement, but I privately felt good about it.

 

Thanks for sharing your cool story.

[Colo Cruiser]

I doubt you will see that happen on Princess, they don't want the confrontation.

Edited March 31, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[vandalayceo]

. All OK for an additional 1 hour. At about 11 am a Russian couple shows up and throws a big fit. I told them to talk to the attendants about the chair policy which they did. The man came back and told me that if I got up to stretch my legs he would grab my chair, and that I better not go to the bathroom (I ignored his comment, but very nasty comments continued as they sat next to us, my iPod helped).

 

I know we are not allowed to make political statements on this site, and I risk getting reprimanded (or kicked off), but I can't help but comment how this relates to certain geopolitical issues-and you have even supplied a Russian couple to make the point.

Let the bas#@rds get away with it and they will keep doing it.

You did the right thing.

[hilcadon]

It really is unfortunate that there are people who believe that they are being "smart" by saving seats for people who are not even near the pool area. One of the best "perks" of being in a suite on Explorer of the Seas was that they had a separate seating area for suite passengers. This way you could relax and enjoy breakfast instead of heading to the pool area so you could get a lounge chair. We have been on other lines in suites and they have not had this perk. We are booked on the Star in November for the 15 day Hawaii cruise and since there are so many sea days we hope there is not going to be a lot of "chair hogs". If so we will simply find an area to sit away from the pool so we can relax. I have a nice memory of our first cruise on the Oceanic when we had deck chairs with our names on them and you did not have to worry about getting a chair. Common courtesy seems to be a thing of the past.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I knew that we had 5 more sea days, and there was no way I was going to watch this happen every day.. Absolutely no way.. So I made an appointment with the Hotel Director, and on the way to dinner that evening went to her office to have a nice little "chat" with her.. I told her about what I observed that day, how the pool butlers / security guy did nothing about it, and that "reserving" chairs like was simply not acceptable and wouldn't be tolerated - especially for the next 5 sea days where the pool deck would be very popular.. She actually thanked me profusely for letting her know about it.. She said "if passengers like you didn't come here to tell me about things like this, I wouldn't know how severe the problem was".. She also asked me for the name of the security guy - which I told her.

 

Well, the next day there were FOUR OFFICERS patrolling the pool deck.. Unoccupied chairs with "token items" were non-existent, the pool butlers were not just standing around folding towels, and I did not see that security guy for the rest of the cruise.. Nobody knew that it was me who prompted such a change in the poolside enforcement, but I privately felt good about it.

 

One of the lessons I learned here is that, if you do see glaringly offensive chair hogging going on.... just make an appointment with the Hotel Manager (it's THEIR JOB) and tell him/her that this is negatively impacting the enjoyment of your vacation, and that you will not tolerate or accept such blantant selfishness and inconsideration from your fellow passengers.

 

- Rick

.

 

Good for you. If more people complained to the right person (high enough up the food chain), maybe some action would happen. I just wonder if things went back to the old "look the other way" for the next sailing, though. I think we shouldn't let the chair hogs get away with it -- that will help.

 

How about this?

Princess gets a little placard for each lounge chair. Each placard has the rules on it. When the hogs come back, just point to it. It would be a little tougher for the hogs to plead ignorance to the rules if every lounger had the rules on it.

 

 

Sent from my iPad Mini Retina

 

If they do this, they need to translate into several languages so that someone won't pretend not to understand.

[caribill]

Well, the very first sea-day, after breakfast, we had gotten to the pool area around 9AM and immediately noticed that somebody had "reserved" 11 (yes, 11!) lounge chairs IN A ROW directly next to the pool!!. There were nothing on these chairs but books, suntan lotion, flip-flops, hats, etc - WITH NO BODIES IN THEM - for over 3 hours!. .

 

I would have taken the items from two of the chairs at one end and distributed them to the other nine chairs.

 

Sooner or later those two now vacant chairs would be taken by others (possibly by yourselves).

 

When 11 show up later to find only 9 chairs available, watch the fun as they decide who does not get chairs.

[JEH]

A friend of mine always claims chair hog seats and usually no one shows up. When he s done he takes the saving towel and other saving items to the towel bin and drops the saving items there also. If someone comes to claim the chairs he tells them Princess changed the rules and that towels on chairs means they are not saved and ready for anyones use. Reserved chair placards can be obtained for $100 at the Pursers desk.

[RetiredNTraveling]

Rick, I want to thank you for providing an effective and fast way to handle those who believe they are privileged!

[ronl]

I would have taken the items from two of the chairs at one end and distributed them to the other nine chairs.

 

Sooner or later those two now vacant chairs would be taken by others (possibly by yourselves).

 

When 11 show up later to find only 9 chairs available, watch the fun as they decide who does not get chairs.

 

I would be laughing my ass off watching it

[Mommypig]

We just had a problem with this on the Spa deck on the PP. the small ships don't have a Sanctuary, but do have a spa deck. They only sell 20 seats so supposedly there is enough deck chairs always for everyone. We enjoyed it so much on the first 35 day segment of our cruise that web decided to do it again for the 16 day segment. The Spa deck is not advertised to be silent, but it does state the best views on the ship. This is true. Front row seats for Panama Canal.

 

The first time I used the spa on the second segment I was somewhat appalled. There was a group of 6 who had taken over 8 chairs, right up by the rail. They had hung their clothes all over the rail so the only view was of a laundry line. I went over to the other side of the pool and no chairs were available. Nobody wanted to be with this group. The group had removed the cushions from 4of the lounges and were lying on the deck. To make room to do that they had shoved around the rest of the chairs. They also had moved all the little tables to be among their chair mess, so no place to put a drink down while lounging. It was also odd that there were so few deck chairs left, but I did not count how many people were out there.

 

So I sat down in a free chair near the group and tried to hold my kindle so that the cover blocked the laundry line from my sight. When I put my kindle down a while later, 3 feet from my face was a man's naked butt. .They were changing clothes out on the deck. The spa has nice changing rooms with lockers, but they chose to change on the deck. Maybe I am a prudish American, but when changing rooms are provided they should be used. I stopped at the spa desk on my way out and reported it. Two days later it happened again. I reported it again. They said they would talk to them. There was no full time butler on the deck, which one would think would when you have to pay extra to be there. The third day there were no chairs available at all. All 20 deck chairs and all six rattan chairs were occupied. So even though 6 people had 8, that still makes 24people on a deck where they only sell 20 spots. And that was not counting hubby and me. And the laundry line was still there, which means that the strip show was coming. This time I went out and requested a refund. The spa deck was not what it was advertised to be and they were not taking any steps to rectify the situation. I was told that since I had used the deck twice that there would be no refund by the spa manager,

 

So I went down to customer service and restated my complaint to customer service. He and the spa manager went back and forth over it. They said the rail was public area. I said not when it impedes the advertised view. They said they can't control the passengers. I said that when one was paying for a special area, that a deck butler should be on hand to deal with these matters. Obviously there had been no checking out on the deck to make sure everyone had paid to be there. I also mentioned that not addressing the deck nudity was a form of sexual harrassment in some countries, and the fact that these men sat down on the loungers bare butt, with no towel between them and the lounge, was a health issue. I received a voice mail from customer service on the second to last day that they were refunding half of the fees, but then when I reviewed the final folio there were no charges at all. So they did eventually at least refund me.

 

Princess could address these issues by having active deck butlers who pay attention to what is going on, and by not backing down when faced by people who think the rules don't apply to them. A consummate hosts cares fort ALL guests, which is why there must be rules to control those who think their holiday experience is paramount to everyone else's.

 

So, we will be down in the lounge chairs on the non-smoking side of deck 5 on our next PP cruise.

 

Linda

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[caribill]

Princess could address these issues by having active deck butlers who pay attention to what is going on, and by not backing down when faced by people who think the rules don't apply to them.

 

It seems to me the issue of having more people in that area than spaces sold should have been addressed as soon as you reported it.

[Little Rascal]

I too get so frustrated with those seat saver types. It happens at the resorts in Hawaii too. I move it and don't think twice. If anyone says anything to me I just say you can't save the seats. I have sat for over two hours at resorts and had no one attend to the towels. Either guest or pool attendants. It is especially rude when they take the only shade by the pool. I even had older folks do this and I felt bad since one man had a Retired Navy hat on that got mad at me for moving his stuff after two hours with no one sitting there. I just don't get people and how rude they are to do this. Bad subject, sorry for ranting on and on....

[Mommypig]

It seems to me the issue of having more people in that area than spaces sold should have been addressed as soon as you reported it.

 

That is true. Spa person said they don't have time. Told her and customer service that was not acceptable.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[jagoffee]

We just had a problem with this on the Spa deck on the PP. the small ships don't have a Sanctuary, but do have a spa deck. They only sell 20 seats so supposedly there is enough deck chairs always for everyone. We enjoyed it so much on the first 35 day segment of our cruise that web decided to do it again for the 16 day segment. The Spa deck is not advertised to be silent, but it does state the best views on the ship. This is true. Front row seats for Panama Canal.

 

The first time I used the spa on the second segment I was somewhat appalled. There was a group of 6 who had taken over 8 chairs, right up by the rail. They had hung their clothes all over the rail so the only view was of a laundry line. I went over to the other side of the pool and no chairs were available. Nobody wanted to be with this group. The group had removed the cushions from 4of the lounges and were lying on the deck. To make room to do that they had shoved around the rest of the chairs. They also had moved all the little tables to be among their chair mess, so no place to put a drink down while lounging. It was also odd that there were so few deck chairs left, but I did not count how many people were out there.

 

So I sat down in a free chair near the group and tried to hold my kindle so that the cover blocked the laundry line from my sight. When I put my kindle down a while later, 3 feet from my face was a man's naked butt. .They were changing clothes out on the deck. The spa has nice changing rooms with lockers, but they chose to change on the deck. Maybe I am a prudish American, but when changing rooms are provided they should be used. I stopped at the spa desk on my way out and reported it. Two days later it happened again. I reported it again. They said they would talk to them. There was no full time butler on the deck, which one would think would when you have to pay extra to be there. The third day there were no chairs available at all. All 20 deck chairs and all six rattan chairs were occupied. So even though 6 people had 8, that still makes 24people on a deck where they only sell 20 spots. And that was not counting hubby and me. And the laundry line was still there, which means that the strip show was coming. This time I went out and requested a refund. The spa deck was not what it was advertised to be and they were not taking any steps to rectify the situation. I was told that since I had used the deck twice that there would be no refund by the spa manager,

 

So I went down to customer service and restated my complaint to customer service. He and the spa manager went back and forth over it. They said the rail was public area. I said not when it impedes the advertised view. They said they can't control the passengers. I said that when one was paying for a special area, that a deck butler should be on hand to deal with these matters. Obviously there had been no checking out on the deck to make sure everyone had paid to be there. I also mentioned that not addressing the deck nudity was a form of sexual harrassment in some countries, and the fact that these men sat down on the loungers bare butt, with no towel between them and the lounge, was a health issue. I received a voice mail from customer service on the second to last day that they were refunding half of the fees, but then when I reviewed the final folio there were no charges at all. So they did eventually at least refund me.

 

Princess could address these issues by having active deck butlers who pay attention to what is going on, and by not backing down when faced by people who think the rules don't apply to them. A consummate hosts cares fort ALL guests, which is why there must be rules to control those who think their holiday experience is paramount to everyone else's.

 

So, we will be down in the lounge chairs on the non-smoking side of deck 5 on our next PP cruise.

 

Linda

 

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Terrible situation and no excuse for the behavior of some guests at the expense of others.

 

When I was on the Ocean Princess the area was free for those cruising in a suite. Perhaps that contributed to the over crowding. It was under utilized on our cruise.

[pablo222]

I know we are not allowed to make political statements on this site, and I risk getting reprimanded (or kicked off), but I can't help but comment how this relates to certain geopolitical issues-and you have even supplied a Russian couple to make the point.

Let the bas#@rds get away with it and they will keep doing it.

You did the right thing.

 

What is good is that there are no chair hogs from the US, so

it is easy to claim the 'high road'.

 

Perhaps impose some strong sanctions against people who save chairs.

Something like -- they are not allowed to buy drinks at bars which are closed.

Edited April 1, 2014 by pablo222

[Colo Cruiser]

It seems to me the issue of having more people in that area than spaces sold should have been addressed as soon as you reported it.

 

Well that goes for the entire ships with a Riviera deck.

[Rick-cruiser]

Good for you. If more people complained to the right person (high enough up the food chain)' date=' maybe some action would happen. I just wonder if things went back to the old "look the other way" for the next sailing, though. I think we shouldn't let the chair hogs get away with it -- that will help.[/color']

 

 

Thank you.. I've always been an advocate of inconsiderate rule-breakers not getting away with whatever they want to get away with...

 

Learned that a long time ago in college, while getting tickets for a concert, when some oafs wanted to cut in line at the last minute while we had all waited in line for hours.. Let's just say.. that didn't happen.

 

Just remember..... rampant chair hogging? ----->. HOTEL DIRECTOR

.