How do you solve the problem of Sun Bed hoarders ?

[Cruisingirl2012]

This chair game is played everywhere I go, whether it be on a cruise or resort.  It's very annoying but feel like it's not ever resolved no matter what.  Some people reserve chairs at 2 different spots so they can migrate from place to place during the day depending what they are doing.  I've watched people reserve a series of 10 loungers once and they left to go wherever, then came back and never sat in the loungers, just took their towels and left, so for a good 3 hours nobody could use those loungers that never even used.  Very unfair! 

[yorky]

On 3/23/2018 at 12:00 PM, jody75 said:

Recent experience aboard the Celebrity Eclipse (4-18 March) was the worst we had ever experienced as all sun beds were reserved by 9.00am every sea day. A tour of the deck at 9.30 revealed about 15% of beds occupied by a person the others reserved with some item or other. Many of the people having multiple beds, for sun and shade. Is this fair or just the way society has declined.

 

How would you suggest Celebrity get a grip of the situation?

It’s the way society has declined. No one can change that aspect, it’s not going back to respect for others anytime soon. The only way it can change onboard the ship is Celebrity acting on it and taking a hard line.

[Pickels]

On ‎3‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 10:14 AM, mickey89 said:

I was on the same cruise and totally agree that people have become so selfish and inconsiderate of others that it does affect your enjoyment. Guest relations just shrug their shoulders and say Miami know of the problem and do nothing.

 

Maybe single issue towels would go someway to release the many multiply bed people reserved !

 

P&O and Princess already make a fortune out of people's selfishness with them charging for Sun Bed use - they call it The Sanctuary on Princess and The Retreat on P&O. I would not encourage any company going down this route but enough is enough - something needs to be done !

We just got off the Princess Regal and reserved two loungers in The Sanctuary.  This was the best move we ever made since we started cruising in 2003.  True, we had to pay for the reserving of two loungers for the entire cruise, but, never had to worry about someone taking our loungers; or worrying, that when we came back from lunch, our loungers would be taken. I can't deal with inconsiderate non-caring people. Princess has done it right; way to go Princess!

[Silkroad]

18 minutes ago, yorky said:

It’s the way society has declined. No one can change that aspect, it’s not going back to respect for others anytime soon. The only way it can change onboard the ship is Celebrity acting on it and taking a hard line.

You’ll get no argument from me, but the decline must have begun 30 years ago, because this has been an issue at every public pool, beach resort, and shipboard pool I’ve seen, regardless of location. I’ve seen sunbed hogs in Barbados, Hawaii, France, Arizona, New Mexico, Spain, California, Italy, Germany, North Carolina, Florida, and every ship I’ve sailed upon. If I didn’t have a fenced yard, I’d probably find them in my garden😂

[kenevenpar]

On 3/23/2018 at 2:56 PM, CruisersTimesThree said:

I've never been up on the pool deck early enough to see these rude inconsiderate passengers who pull this crap with a book, a flip-flop or a hat on a chair and think its their property for whenever they decide to come use it.

 

 Here is a 6:15 AM shot on Summit

 

[yorky]

36 minutes ago, Silkroad said:

You’ll get no argument from me, but the decline must have begun 30 years ago, because this has been an issue at every public pool, beach resort, and shipboard pool I’ve seen, regardless of location. I’ve seen sunbed hogs in Barbados, Hawaii, France, Arizona, New Mexico, Spain, California, Italy, Germany, North Carolina, Florida, and every ship I’ve sailed upon. If I didn’t have a fenced yard, I’d probably find them in my garden😂

It started with the joke that it was the Germans many years ago. Honestly I think it’s been a steady decline year on year started by a few with the percentage of people doing it increasing bit by bit. These days people just think if you can’t beat them join them.

[Pickels]

On ‎3‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 5:22 PM, Tricia724 said:

 

Obviously, your Princess experience was far superior to ours. On one cruise we did pay for The Sanctuary for the entire cruise, and it was a major disappointment and, we felt, a big waste of money. It seemed like every time we went out by The Sanctuary pool, there were lots of chairs saved with towels and tote bags with no bodies in sight. There were also no Princess stewards by the pool, and if you went into the spa and complained, they shrugged their shoulders and acted like it's not their problem. At one point we got angry and did toss towels aside and use the chairs for about an hour, and during that time, no one came by to claim them, so heaven knows how long they had been "saved."

 

This was a few years back, so possibly Princess has improved The Sanctuary, or possibly we were just unfortunate enough to try it on the wrong ship. I did feel that they had oversold The Sanctuary on that particular cruise. We were told that there was a limited number of memberships they would sell, but judging from the number of people trying to use it at a given time, I think they took everyone's money who walked through the door and just let the passengers deal with it.

there is no Sanctuary Pool, you may be referring to the Retreat Pool, where the loungers are free for all.

[happy cruzer]

Definitely get a crew member to help you.  I had a lady go off on me in the Solarium because I had moved her magazine to another chair, I did ask the folks nearby and they had not seen anyone for hours.  She never sat in a chair but did tell me off for about 20 minutes before leaving her stuff on a chair again without ever sitting down.  Nothing is worth seeing that even if you are in the right....

[shipshape sam]

1 hour ago, Pickels said:

We just got off the Princess Regal and reserved two loungers in The Sanctuary.  This was the best move we ever made since we started cruising in 2003.  True, we had to pay for the reserving of two loungers for the entire cruise, but, never had to worry about someone taking our loungers; or worrying, that when we came back from lunch, our loungers would be taken. I can't deal with inconsiderate non-caring people. Princess has done it right; way to go Princess!

What did you pay for the reserving of 2 loungers for the entire cruise?  I am assuming it was a 7 day cruise.

[chamima]

3 minutes ago, shipshape sam said:

What did you pay for the reserving of 2 loungers for the entire cruise?  I am assuming it was a 7 day cruise.

 

 

If you pay by the day it's $40/pp.

If you pay for the whole cruise it's $30/day/pp so $210/pp for a 7day cruise.

[varoo]

15 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

If you pay by the day it's $40/pp.

If you pay for the whole cruise it's $30/day/pp so $210/pp for a 7day cruise.

 

That is outrageous!  You could take the Walmart shuttle to the nearest Walmart, buy your own lounger and bring it back to use for the duration of the cruise for much less.

 

Then there are some of us who just lounge on our own balconies, or use the loungers in other locations (like the promenade deck on the M-class ships) because we really don't care to sit in those loungers by the pool that are all stacked together like sardines in a can.

 

If they would provide some shelves or cubicles where people can leave their belongings while using the pool, we wouldn't even care about the chair hogs there.

 

But if they did not allow people to "reserve" chairs by leaving belongings on them when they are not using them, there would not be a chair hog problem.

 

[chamima]

17 minutes ago, varoo said:

 

That is outrageous!  You could take the Walmart shuttle to the nearest Walmart, buy your own lounger and bring it back to use for the duration of the cruise for much less.

 

Then there are some of us who just lounge on our own balconies, or use the loungers in other locations (like the promenade deck on the M-class ships) because we really don't care to sit in those loungers by the pool that are all stacked together like sardines in a can.

 

If they would provide some shelves or cubicles where people can leave their belongings while using the pool, we wouldn't even care about the chair hogs there.

 

But if they did not allow people to "reserve" chairs by leaving belongings on them when they are not using them, there would not be a chair hog problem.

 

 

 

Yes it's expensive.

When they first rolled out the concept it was half of what it is now and they were constantly oversold and people were upset when they were shut out . So they raised the price and now it's not always full but everyone who wants to book usually can.

If you book for the whole cruise you choose your chair the first day and it's yours - no need to worry about getting up early to find  a chair.

It's not, however, JUST a lounge chair (see the photo below).

It's a thickly padded chair with thick towels and Sanctuary attendants who make sure you have whatever you need. It's a throwback to how cruising used to be.

 

Edited April 4, 2019 by chamima

[bikerunner]

1 hour ago, happy cruzer said:

Definitely get a crew member to help you.  I had a lady go off on me in the Solarium because I had moved her magazine to another chair, I did ask the folks nearby and they had not seen anyone for hours.  She never sat in a chair but did tell me off for about 20 minutes before leaving her stuff on a chair again without ever sitting down.  Nothing is worth seeing that even if you are in the right....

Such is people.  I dealt with people like that many times when working in the hospitality industry.  Personally I have moved stuff same way as you had and someone said something once but I requested can we go talk to one of the ships officers to mediate.  They backed off.  Next time I will just make sure to order a drink beforehand so I can be more amused by them.  It really is not hard to not laugh at the chair hoggers especially when they try to confront someone. 

[mfs2k]

taser

[Fogfog]

On 3/23/2018 at 8:00 AM, jody75 said:

Recent experience aboard the Celebrity Eclipse (4-18 March) was the worst we had ever experienced as all sun beds were reserved by 9.00am every sea day. A tour of the deck at 9.30 revealed about 15% of beds occupied by a person the others reserved with some item or other. Many of the people having multiple beds, for sun and shade. Is this fair or just the way society has declined.

 

How would you suggest Celebrity get a grip of the situation?

Remove the items and give them to the deck staff. 

Deck staff will put cards on the loungers.

We've seen chairs with 1 flip flop etc..across several for HOURS...and point it out to deck staff.

 

[kenevenpar]

How about the folks that save a chair in the sun, and another in the shade?

[kenevenpar]

This was on the Summit in August, every morning.  People just covered the cards with towels or thew them on the deck.

[sft429]

On 3/27/2018 at 11:48 AM, JLBellaCC said:

 

That is not so much a problem on the cruise lines that require you to give your seapass card to get a towel. That way, if you do not return it, you are charged like $20+ at the end of the cruise. Voila! Many more people are responsible about picking up their towels when they may be charged.

 

Do you think anyone would actually have to pay?  They'd just go down to customer service and complain and get the charge removed.

[Silkroad]

3 hours ago, yorky said:

It started with the joke that it was the Germans many years ago. Honestly I think it’s been a steady decline year on year started by a few with the percentage of people doing it increasing bit by bit. These days people just think if you can’t beat them join them.

It’s a pity the sunbed hogs lack the empathy to realize that everyone is on holiday, and the sunbeds are meant for all of us to share. Seeing all the unhappy people orbiting around, trying to find a place to sun for a bit, I would feel guilty keeping a sunbed all day, even if I never left it for more than five minutes at a time. (Ditto for a table at Cafe al Bacio, but that’s another story, for a different thread.) 

Edited April 4, 2019 by Silkroad

[Jane2357]

Been to resort that had a towel fee.  If you couldn't return your towel at the end of the day $20.  All this did was turn people into towel thieves.  They'd be partying all day long and before they knew it - couldn't find their towel - so they'd just walk up to a chair with a towel and off the went.  It was a total pain and nothing I'd encourage.

[Baron Barracuda]

3 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

Definitely get a crew member to help you.  I had a lady go off on me in the Solarium because I had moved her magazine to another chair, I did ask the folks nearby and they had not seen anyone for hours.  She never sat in a chair but did tell me off for about 20 minutes before leaving her stuff on a chair again without ever sitting down.  Nothing is worth seeing that even if you are in the right....

Next time put the magazine on the deck and move the chair to a different location.  Then sit back and watch her reaction if she ever returns.  

[Baron Barracuda]

3 hours ago, chamima said:

 

 

If you pay by the day it's $40/pp.

If you pay for the whole cruise it's $30/day/pp so $210/pp for a 7day cruise.

Much cheaper to just tip the deck patrol guy a couple of $.  Amazing how fast he'll find you a prime lounger.

[marshacruises]

Part of the Chair Hog problem is the proportion of considerate and rule following people (larger group) versus the inconsiderate and rule breaking people (smaller group).  If the larger group did not respect the towel, flipflop, book, etc. as meaning "someone has claimed this chair" and just moved the items so they could use the chair, the Chair Hogs would learn that they can't claim the chair just by tossing an item on it, unless that item is their body.  If the Chair Hog were to show up and demand to have their chair, just say okay and move somewhere else, but this has not happened very often, they don't use anything of value to "reserve" their chair, and they don't really know exactly which chair they "reserved".  We rule-followers just have to be brave enough to move the items to another area (like lost and found).

[chamima]

Part of the problem is the culture of "If I don't put a towel down/reserve it early in the day then there won't be anything available later."

We were on the Pacific Princess (600 passengers) New Years cruise and the "culture" of that one was that everyone would lay on their lounger and then would take their towels when they left so that no matter when you came out someone was getting up and you could always find somewhere to sit.  Everyone saw everyone else doing it and so followed suit.

It was so civilized and relaxing!!!

[wwcruisers]

3 hours ago, varoo said:

 

 

If they would provide some shelves or cubicles where people can leave their belongings while using the pool, we wouldn't even care about the chair hogs there.

 

That's a great idea: Pool Cubbies! 😊

Unless you have a lounger, there is just no place to leave your towel, shoes, and anything else you brought -- without it getting stepped-on or wet. They wouldn't even need lockers -- just some shelving near the pool, that's up off the ground. You should contact X and suggest this, as a new pool-side feature!