UK Blog Post: Hot on the forums: Would you dare sit on someone’s cruise deck chair?

[LauraS]

Hot desking — where different members of staff share one desk or work station during different time periods — has become common practice in many offices. Presumably*colleagues have to reach an agreement about how many personal desk decorations and family photos are allowed, or just shovel them into a drawer in between shifts, but that’s […]

 

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[paluni]

I was on the Regal Princess on a Caribbean cruise. I noticed two lounges together spread with towels, on a nice spot on the upper deck facing the outdoor movie screen. They were in the shade, great! So I moved the towel from one to the other, and settled down. I fully intended to politely vacate if the people showed up. I watched the movie for over an hour and neither person came back. When I left, because of that, I did not replace the towel I had moved. I left the lounge I had used totally free for someone else.

I feel everything is OK if you just move as soon as a "saver" comes back. If you are very polite, they can't get mad. I have no qualms about taking a lounge nobody is using. But that was about the only time I did it.

People who aren't there have no rights over a lounge, unless they went in the pool or a quick restroom break or something. Get up your courage and occupy a "saved" lounge chair. Just give it up nicely when they return (if they ever do). Proceed a little cautiously at first in case their relative is right there. You might inquire from a nice-looking person nearby if they know if "this" lounge is occupied.