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Chair hog strategies for 2016

Jezo

By Jezo,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Laszlo

Laszlo

Posted
Posted (edited)
Yes.

 

Wrong, you should be able to leave your chair for 15 to 20 minutes to run back to your cabin, go to the bathroom or get something to eat and then return to the same chair.

Edited by Laszlo
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geegee1

geegee1

Posted
Posted
...I don;t wait 20 minutes. Its easy to spot a chair hog - a book, single sandal, a hat - any of those chairs are free game.

If I went to the bathroom and left my book there you would take my chair? Are you kidding me?!?!?!

 

Why move the chair? If you are going to take the chair don't be a wimp and run away with it. If it is right or OK for you to take it then there is no reason t run away with it.

 

Exactly, don't be a pretend tough guy. Do what you think is right and stand by your decision.

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NLH Arizona

NLH Arizona

Posted
Posted
Wrong, you should be able to leave your chair for 15 to 20 minutes to run back to your cabin, go to the bathroom or get something to eat and then return to the same chair.
I agree, I think someone should be able to be gone 30 minutes to get some food to bring back, go to the restroom or go retrieve something from their cabin, but unfortunately the chairhogs are usually gone for a much longer time or don't come back at all.
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megansdad1

megansdad1

Posted
Posted

This is my question. Is it really a problem to find a chair, except for very rare circumstances? I haven't run into an issue finding a chair on a cruise yet, and I spend a fair amount of time on deck. If i want to eat, I take my stuff with me and then sit some where else. :cool: My theory is this. People get upset over chairs, like they do over parking spots. They may circle the parking lot looking for that closest spot, when there are spots that just require a little more walking. I will be glad to walk my fat a$$ the 50 yards to the pool or the bar, and let people circle the pool and start moving peoples stuff and create drama. Let the parents with kids have the chairs by the pool. Save them for people who may have mobility issues.

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lakelivin2

lakelivin2

Posted
Posted

 

I've never seen this done on any NCL cruise we've been on....

 

Saw it on the Carnival Breeze and it was highly entertaining :D

 

For those that think this isn't an issue...it is. Not just for loungers around the pool area. Maybe you are cruising at times when the ship isn't full?

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Laszlo

Laszlo

Posted
Posted
This is my question. Is it really a problem to find a chair, except for very rare circumstances? I haven't run into an issue finding a chair on a cruise yet, and I spend a fair amount of time on deck. If i want to eat, I take my stuff with me and then sit some where else. :cool: My theory is this. People get upset over chairs, like they do over parking spots. They may circle the parking lot looking for that closest spot, when there are spots that just require a little more walking. I will be glad to walk my fat a$$ the 50 yards to the pool or the bar, and let people circle the pool and start moving peoples stuff and create drama. Let the parents with kids have the chairs by the pool. Save them for people who may have mobility issues.

 

 

I can tell you with our 5 cruises to date on NCL it has never been problem finding a chair. However my wife nor myself ever want to be next to the pool. We are very happy being one deck up a few hundred feet away from it

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3XX1XY

3XX1XY

Posted
Posted

It's been pretty bad on the NCL cruises we've been on. I can't get a lounger anywhere near the pool which sucks because the kids like to swim and can do so independently, but I'd rather read a book. However I like to be close enough to make sure they are behaving themselves, you know what I mean? I'm not one of those parents that ditches my poorly behaved kids at the pool for hours, I actually prefer to watch them... which isn't possible on NCL. No problem at all on carnival. No problem on RC. NCL? Impossible UNLESS the ship is at port and we stay on board, lol. It really sucks. I've moved people stuff before but only when I'd observed it unattended for at least 30 minutes. Whats funny is that I've had my stuff moved (From legitimately non preclaimed loungers) while I was standing RIGHT there. Like I stood up to put on sunscreen and someone came in behind me and moved my stuff, snuck in and sat down. So many loungers with just towels on them and someone felt the need to do that.

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Kingofwylietx

Kingofwylietx

Posted
Posted
So if I have to go back to my cabin for a medical reason(not to take a pill) I should lose my spot??

 

When I go to the pool I take all the comforts with me. Someone put my beach bag on the ground and moved the chair. The bag had my camera, sunglasses, sunscreen etc. Water from the pool soaked my bag and my camera case. You could say I was upset and a women told me a man did it soon after I left.

 

Back home, we live in a Active Senior Community and they have the same loungers around the pool. I told my husband I wanted to try an experiment and went behind him in the lounger and easily flipped him out! You just have to use that middle bar. He didn't get hurt because I did it slowly and the armrest keeps you from hitting the ground.

 

We had a good laugh but I wonder what the brute will think when this old lady flips him out of MY chair!! To only hope...

 

That sounds like physical assault to me.

 

However, I suggest you pick your victim carefully. I could imagine a scenario where the guy wouldn't physically retaliate for such an aggressive gesture...but I can certainly envision a nearby wife/girlfriend/sister that may retaliate with such gusto that only a black & blue dress would complement your skin tone at the end of the tussle. In all, it sounds like a terrible way to show your displeasure.

 

We don't lounge at the pools, I just like reading the hog chair threads.

 

It sounds like they definitely need to figure out some way to police the chairs. On our very first cruise we noticed all the people around the pool. I think we laid out on that cruise, but we no longer lay out.

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MICHLEV1974

MICHLEV1974

Posted
Posted

I am one of the passengers that wakes up at 630 am and puts my personalized pool towel on my chair because if you can't beat them, join them.

 

I am a buffet breakfast person at 7, then out on my pool chair at 730 ready to spend the entire day by the pool -- this is the whole reason I enjoy cruising - I love everything that goes on out there! I am literally at the pool from sun up to sun down...I just love it!

 

Do I leave my lounger for more than 30 minutes to enjoy the pool? yes. Do I leave my lounger for more than 30 minutes to get buffet lunch? yes. Do I leave my lounger to go back to my room and get something? yes. Do I leave my towel, by bag, and my sandals on the lounger? yes.

 

The chair hogs are the people that wake up and put their pool towel on the chair at 630am and dont show up til 12....i don't think the OP is talking about the minutes it takes for you to enjoy the pool, the lunch, or run back to your cabin...we are talking HOURS before the HOGS come by to 'their chair'.

 

What can we do about the HOGS? I am sure there are PC ways to go about this, then there are ways we all rationalize in our heads how to handle, then there are those of us who join in on the fun and get up early to lock in our space for the day. If not, you can ask a nearby pool lounger passenger if anyone has been at the nearby lounger in the last hour...if they say no, time to take over and enjoy your new lounger :)

 

If you are that adamant about a certain spot by the pool, join 'em and get your chair early :)

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tiger-91

tiger-91

Posted
Posted (edited)
I was on the Allure last year, and went over to get some man's footstool when he left at 11:30. My assumption ...

 

Within 10 minutes after he came back and started in about me, the deckhands came by and put footstool out for ALL the chairs!!!

 

..,

 

I knew I'd learn something in this forum.

#1 Don't assume.

#2 If I want something: a table, a chair, etc, ask a Deck Staff for it.

Not related to the quoted post, but if there is space for you to move a chair to, there is space for an attendant to add a chair.

 

I like to get a chair on the upper level, but that I can see from the pool, so that I have to walk around to get something, pool, bar, bathroom. Exercise I call it. (Though it's not really.) Plus I get to peacock some.

 

When I go away for a while, like buffet, and I see folks searching for chairs, I ask a kind couple near me to let potential takers know I'll be back.

Edited by tiger-91
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JBoogens

JBoogens

Posted
Posted
I was on the Escape in Jan and I've never seen the chair hogs this bad. You couldn't find one anywhere, not even in a bad location, and 50% of the chairs were saved by towels or things.

 

One day we got up really early to get a couple of chairs. Our personal policy is that we take turns leaving our chair. So I'll go eat at the buffet and my husband will stay with our two chairs and then when I come back, he will leave, etc. I would say that 90% of the chairs we saw saved, people never came back for them and we were sitting in our chair from 7am until about 3pm

 

When I casually asked the guy manning the towel check out station what the policy was, he said if no one came back for the seat for an hour, they removed the towels/items. I never once saw a staff member patrol the area, much less remove someone's stuff/ towels

 

I did see some other people move people's towels and some fights did occur[emoji52]

 

They need to fix this problem, it's a big turn off for me. Like I said, I've never seen it as bad as it was in the Escape

 

On our last cruise (Escape, early January) the crew was going around on the second sea day (day 3 of the cruise) and tagging saved chairs with time stamped stickers - after an hour they would remove items left and free up the chairs. This was great, since on the day before (sea day 1, first full day of the cruise) most of the chairs were taken everywhere, not just at the pool.

 

Sounds like they need some consistency with enforcing their policy. Hopefully they're doing the time stamp thing when I'm on the Escape in a couple months.

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takeadip

takeadip

Posted
Posted

What we do over on the Princess line is:

1. walk up to a chair or two in a desired section

2. Stand at the foot of the pair of chairs you wish to acquire with people already in them.

3. stare at the people in said loungers..smile creepily while repeating the word "nice"

4. Move my shadow i'm casting so it covers part of their sun screened bodies

5. regardless of what the people occupying the chairs say to you just repeat "well you gotta pee sometime"

 

If they are ignoring you just repeat step 3.

 

ill let you know how it works in my review when we take our 3/6/16 -3/13/16 Breakaway RT NYC.

 

Best,

Mark

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NurseDave

NurseDave

Posted
Posted
I was on an RCI cruise in October and was very happy to see people in yellow t-shirts with deck patrol on the back of them really monitoring the deck chairs. If you wanted a chair they would find one for you. There were not any chair hogs and no confrontations because they were the ones who removed the items. After the second day the chair hogs disappeared and it was very easy to find a chair almost anywhere.

 

So....if it weren't for chair hogs, then there would be no need for hogging of chairs because there would always be chairs available when you want them. That's just CRAZY!!! ;)

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Zena2005

Zena2005

Posted
Posted

The rules only work if they get enforced, period. Otherwise this debate will never end which why NCL needs to do a better job of policing this issue. I don't see anything wrong with the 60 minute window, providing it is enforced and enforced correctly and accurately.

 

I do recall one of our trip on the Epic and actually witness the pool attended keeping track of the loungers at Spice H2o and it seamed to work, to a degree. I would also keep my eye on a few chairs just to see if he was on point with his tracking. Unfortunately he became more focused on the chairs new the pool and not so focused on the chairs that were on the raised areas, which was where we were seated.

 

I did have a couple come and ask me about the two loungers next to me; I told them that we've been here for 2 hours and we did not see the people who had those seats. He just took their stuff and tossed it to the ground...WOW! Needless to say they say they sat there for 2 hours and the chair hogs never showed up after 4 hours!

 

Maybe NCL should do what some resorts do: If there are two travelers, you get two chair tags. If the chairs are not used after 60 minutes, the pool attendant would take your tag and you can't get a lounger until you go and claim your tag. Basically, no tag , no lounger. The Marriott Surf Club in Aruba does this and it works pretty well...

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EyeSeaEwe

EyeSeaEwe

Posted
Posted
Many different opinions on what constitutes chair hogging.

 

However, there is no question about these piggies.

 

 

The only questions why are you ASSuming they are being pigs? There coudl be any number of valid reasons they are getting chairs. The fact they got there before you and they grabbed the number of chairs they needed does NOT make them pigs at all. It makes you a fool for ASSuming that they are.

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aubreyc1988 Great Review Rare

aubreyc1988

Posted
Posted (edited)

6e2ec96eb8e73037c1404d8fce649c45.jpg

 

This is the only pic I have of it, but see how all the chairs are folded down??? Stuff is inside the chairs

 

Btw, no one ever came for these chairs in the picture for hours and this was right by the towel check out station, so no excuse why NCL staff allowed this

 

On the deck above this, I saw people who folded their chair with their stuff inside and then put a luggage strap around it! Wish I would have take a pic but didn't have my phone on me at the time

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited by aubreyc1988
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