How do you solve the problem of Sun Bed hoarders ?

[ak1004]

3 hours ago, yorky said:

I just wish I could get close on pricing whenever I check. Even adding in all the extras I can never get close to Celebrity pricing and it’s usually close to double.

 

I provided examples on another thread where Oceania and Azamara prices were very comparable to Celebrity. But it was for inside cabins.

[Pickels]

11 hours ago, Seville2Cabo said:

I’m sorry. Is this the definition of more money then brains?  Never had an issue finding a chair in the sun. We don’t look around the pool and like the top deck. We have access to 4 pools and a beach with our homes, so maybe not so important to us, but still never a problem 

Now, now, Seville, let's not flame someone because they can afford the finer things in life.  We too live by the beach at home, and on vacation, we like some peace and quiet,  a time to relax and not have to be concerned with "chair hogs", and not sitting butt to butt on a pool deck.  On previous cruises, we too have made it a habit to go one deck up from the pool deck to get some space. But on this cruise, I planned something special for our anniversary, and reserved the Sanctuary;  some people prefer to go first class, others steerage. 

[varoo]

Somebody at Cruise Critic must be following this thread.

They just sent an email with this link:

 

   7 Ways to Outsmart Deck Chair Hogs

              

 

[keithm]

On ‎3‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 12:40 PM, sippican said:

Honestly, I just don't understand the whole issue of chair hogging. We love using the Solarium areas and have never had an issue finding a spot. Maybe that's because it is a priority of ours so we get up early eanough to find a spot, claim it with our debris, go to breakfast, come back after eating, with a travel mug of tea or coffee, read the paper......, etc.

 

It's really quite simple, if you want a spot, get there early and use it. If you are sauntering in at 11:00 AM expecting prime poolside accommodations, then yup the hoggers will be a major thorn in your side. I have no problem telling the chair hunters that a lounger has not been occupied for hours, which then usually leads to them asking a pool attendant to move the belongings at my urging. Sometimes, I'll even shift some things over for those reluctant to do so. I don't understand those who say they will not move another's belongings. Well if you know that the chair is in fact unoccupied (the hoggers are wrong), and you are not willing to be assertive, then stop complaining. It's not going to change, it's been going on forever, the cruisline is not going to hire a ton of chair police with stopwatches. So join them or beat them at their own game. And if you want to have some fun. move some items around to other chairs, or even drag entire loungers to other locations (so nope - you didn't touch their personal things). :')

Love your post!(yes, it's fairly old)I just observe how long a chair is empty..Do you see a damp spot?(yes, move to the next one)No activity for at least 30 min? Move their stuff & it's yours. If I see the latest( big plastic clips that say "reserved")Those clips will be tossed & trust me, I'm not the only one who does that. If someone confronts me, I simply say where is your name embossed on this chair? I've been confronted by enough pax who actually were gone for, at times, a few hours who feel they have the right to hog that chair. The pool "butlers" are generally too chicken to upset a "paying" customer. Well, what about the rest of us? Turning the cheek is all nice & such, but at what point do you grow a pair & say enough?

[keithm]

5 hours ago, varoo said:

Somebody at Cruise Critic must be following this thread.

They just sent an email with this link:

 

   7 Ways to Outsmart Deck Chair Hogs

              

 

Yes, I just read it. Great!

[keithm]

12 hours ago, ak1004 said:

 

I provided examples on another thread where Oceania and Azamara prices were very comparable to Celebrity. But it was for inside cabins.

Our 14 days on Oceania for an inside room($3700PP)This past Jan.12. Next year it is $3800. The same overall itinerary on the Silhouette(Jan.2020) is $1900PP for an inside. We opted for the Celebrity trip. I'd have done the Oceania trip, except it was a Wed. to Wed. cruise. Hate having to go right back to work without a "cool down" period.

[keithm]

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 7:17 PM, Dr. Cocktail said:

Random thoughts./ramblings of a (too?) frequent cruiser .....

 

I've been away from Celebrity for a number of years (but am returning!) and the worst we ever witnessed was on Equinox in 2011 on Solstice deck at about 7:30 in the morning. We are early risers and had finished breakfast and were shocked to see  someone walking with this arms fully extended downwards holding about 25+ towels that were held in place by his chin systematically placing them on chairs as he walked! We probably spent too many seconds staring at this insane spectacle when we realized that he had taken the last remaining loungers on the deck!

 

I was furious and headed down to guest relations where my complaint was systematically filed in their circular receptacle and went back upstairs where I found a deck officer. I told him I needed someone to clear the towels off of the chairs. We went back upstairs where a couple who had been having breakfast on the loungers was leaving and we took their chairs. The deck officer appeared a few moments later and said: "OK, I guess everything is fine now". I said, actually, it wasn't and I needed ALL of the loungers cleared on Solstice deck. He thought I was joking and very quickly realized (and I must state that I NEVER raise my voice!) that I wasn't  and had a (poor) Pool Butler clear the deck! 

 

I later recounted this story to one of the senior officers who frankly told me it was easier to deal with an angry but rational person like myself than a crazed psycho ranting over how their towels had been removed ....

 

In all of my cruises, the best solution we have ever seen was on Oceania where the pool attendants constantly circulated and left timed cards saying that as of (insert-time-here) your towel was unattended and would be removed in 30 minutes.

And in 30 minutes ... they did! Broadway has less dramatic performances than those of the people we witnessed keening, wailing and bemoaning the Fates at how their lives had been forever changed by the removal of their belongings.

 

It took about a day and a half for people to realize that the rules applied to EVERYONE .... after that, most people learned to remove their stuff and  move on! 

One of the reasons we love Oceania!

[Tucker in Texas]

On 4/6/2019 at 10:51 AM, BecciBoo said:

I admit this may sound extreme but we have done this on several local cruises out of Texas where we live.  We both have Tommy Bahama folding beach loungers that we take on the ship.  We just carry them on with our carry on luggage.  They have never been denied or taken from us at Galveston.  Then we take them along to the pool and put them any d--g place we feel like it.  Problem solved.  Of course we can't take them out of another port when flying.  I used to just take my role up towel with pillow before we bought the chairs.  At least I could put them really close to the pool or in the shade and had my own place to put my things.

My son has gone to several Hall of Fame inductions in Cooperstown< NY via SWA..  He checks a folding aluminum chair (SWA, bags fly free) on the plane..  So far, they have all arrived in good condition.  Reminds me of my grandmother who loved to go to auction sales..  She would buy a chair for a quarter or fifty cents to have something to sit on.  My mother said she was always being chased on her way back to the car at the end of the ay with "Lady, you forgot your chair."  Grandmother would  graciously tell the person they were welcome to it.

 

[shipshape sam]

On 4/4/2019 at 3:43 PM, chamima said:

 

 

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.

 

Nice loungers.  Personally would not pay, but I would pay for something else that others might not want to pay for either.  Hope your cruise was a great one.  

[Hlitner]

I cannot believe what I am reading here.  Take your own chairs on a cruise ship?  Surely you jest.  If the ship is so poorly designed that you need to bring your own chair (and why not also bring your own sheets, pillows, blankets, food, etc) then perhaps you should be looking at other cruise lines.  My goodness, if Celebrity sees too many folks bringing their own chairs they will likely impose a "corkage" fee on those chairs 😞  Perhaps they would call it a "space" charge which is for the space you use with that chair.

 

Hank

[villauk]

4 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I cannot believe what I am reading here.  Take your own chairs on a cruise ship?  Surely you jest.  If the ship is so poorly designed that you need to bring your own chair (and why not also bring your own sheets, pillows, blankets, food, etc) then perhaps you should be looking at other cruise lines.  My goodness, if Celebrity sees too many folks bringing their own chairs they will likely impose a "corkage" fee on those chairs 😞  Perhaps they would call it a "space" charge which is for the space you use with that chair.

 

Hank

 

 

Have you not read the list of extras you need to take on Edge to make it a comfortable experience? The list is growing by the day; the last items I read were a dehumidifier and scent distributor for the sewage smells.

 

Please don’t give X any further ideas about ‘buying’ a space on decks - oh, it’s already been done: ‘The Retreat’ .

[Luvcrusn]

9 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

Have you not read the list of extras you need to take on Edge to make it a comfortable experience? The list is growing by the day; the last items I read were a dehumidifier and scent distributor for the sewage smells.

 

Please don’t give X any further ideas about ‘buying’ a space on decks - oh, it’s already been done: ‘The Retreat’ .

You forgot Alcoves.

[villauk]

35 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

You forgot Alcoves.

 

 

I did - add it to the list .

[A Sixth?]

To this day a Zenith hog wants me “put off the ship “ every time he sees me because I called him and his piggy chair hog wife out for being assssss

 

Wish there was a better way 

[chemmo]

52 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

Have you not read the list of extras you need to take on Edge to make it a comfortable experience? The list is growing by the day; the last items I read were a dehumidifier and scent distributor for the sewage smells.

 

Please don’t give X any further ideas about ‘buying’ a space on decks - oh, it’s already been done: ‘The Retreat’ .

 

We are looking forward to trying the Retreat on Equinox in September but I can still see us spending more time in the Solarium, we enjoy a swim more than a bed in the sun...

 

Perhaps we can sublet our three Retreat sunbeds (it could help offset the cost of the RS)!

 

 

[villauk]

1 minute ago, chemmo said:

 

We are looking forward to trying the Retreat on Equinox in September but I can still see us spending more time in the Solarium, we enjoy a swim more than a bed in the sun...

 

Perhaps we can sublet our three Retreat sunbeds (it could help offset the cost of the RS)!

 

 

 

 

What a great idea - subletting. There again, be careful, didn’t that start the last financial crash 🤣.

[A Sixth?]

22 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

What a great idea - subletting. There again, be careful, didn’t that start the last financial crash 🤣.

 

I may stand corrected but isn’t the UK trying to start the next big crash if an orange One doesn’t 

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, villauk said:

 

 

What a great idea - subletting. There again, be careful, didn’t that start the last financial crash 🤣.

You can expect X to read this thread an immediately impose a "tax" on any sublet fees.  Actually it would likely be called a "gratuity" and assessed at 20% .

 

Hank