Chair Hogs New Low

[work2cruis]

Just back from Freedom OTS 4/28/18 cruise and chair hogs in full force in Solarium. No one removing items/towels from chairs not sat in by human for several hours. The new low was pair of CHs who left their bags on two chairs in the shade and proceeded to go to their chairs in the sun on another part of the ship. They never sat in the shade chairs but did come back a couple of times to get items from their bags. We sat next to these chairs for 5 hours and there were people looking for chairs constantly. The sign saying they would remove items from abandoned chairs was almost directly in front of us.

 

Work2Cruis

Edited May 6, 2018 by work2cruis
grammatical error

[VillaHappy]

I feel your disappointment. I did not see any pool patrol on my last cruise. Very disappointing that Royal won't enforce their own rules.

[Ashland]

Hogs can be found everywhere not just by the pool.

 

We've been lucky our last few cruises the deck staff was putting post-it's on chairs and were enforcing the rules posted.

[Laurin612]

Our strategy is just to sit on chairs where there are only towels "reserving" the chairs. Only one time did we have anyone come up to us and say we were in their chairs. I just said, "Oh, sorry, we must be in the wrong row." and moved to two chairs similarly occupied only by towels.

[Tapi]

Ive been bouncing around cruise lines for the last decade. Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Holland America, Princess, MSC, Disney. Sad to say that chair hogs are an industry wide problem. On our last cruise (Disney Fantasy), I saw a man at 6:00am before the sun even came up placing towels on 8 prime location chairs. I walked by around 10:00am and the towels were still there with the chairs unoccupied. Made me want to remove them myself.

 

 

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[Yorkvillain]

I think the new all-time low was set on the Norwegian Bliss transatlantic in the INDOOR Observation Lounge.

 

[OCruisers]

Just back from Freedom OTS 4/28/18 cruise and chair hogs in full force in Solarium. No one removing items/towels from chairs not sat in by human for several hours. The new low was pair of CHs who left their bags on two chairs in the shade and proceeded to go to their chairs in the sun on another part of the ship. They never sat in the shade chairs but did come back a couple of times to get items from their bags. We sat next to these chairs for 5 hours and there were people looking for chairs constantly. The sign saying they would remove items from abandoned chairs was almost directly in front of us.

Work2Cruis

 

Oh, yes, our "favorite" chair hogs ... NOT.

Are the ones who save two sets of chairs -- two in the shade and another two in the sun. :rolleyes:

[BirdTravels]

I think the new all-time low was set on the Norwegian Bliss transatlantic in the INDOOR Observation Lounge.

 

I guess we know what to do for our Alaskan cruise. Stake a claim at 5 am and bring fresh food at each meal.

[cb at sea]

Why didn't you tell those looking for chairs that NO ONE has been sitting there for 5 hours???? I do that! They could take the offending bags to the pool attendant, and have a seat!

[help04me]

Chair hogs are even getting lazy. We encounted a incident on the libertydurring spring break( great cruise inspite of this ). We search for seats for the sexiest man contest circled a couple of times . At 12:15 we lucked out with two towel free chairs on the deck above where the contest would happened . W e even asked the neighbor if anyone had those chairs.He reassued me no one using them so we got seated . 12:55 rolled around and some guy come up and asked for his seats back. explained that nothing indicated use and i even asked my neighbor . So he moved to the next couple and proceeded with the same questioning. That guy explained the same thing i did . The bully then suggested the guy had an attitude. For a moment i thought i was on carnival . The bully and guy in the chair had words . No fight but looked to be very close to one .OVER A CHAIR crazy . but on the other side of things this was a great cruise . My 1st time out of galveston and absolutely the most welcoming ship i have ever been on excluding the chair hog issue

[bananawindnj]

Everyone may complain about chair hogs, but it will continue, especially on sea days. There just isn't enough chairs to fill everyone's needs, that is the problem, not people that save them early, IMO.

We have decided, if you can't beat them , join them. We get two chairs early in the Solarium, and only leave them both unattended when we go eat or swim in the pool. You snooze, ya lose.

Royal's suggestions about chair use, is like their rules about shorts and T-shirts in the MDR at night. NOT ENFORCED!

We just got off the Grandeur.

 

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Edited May 7, 2018 by bananawindnj

[Sanz]

Everyone may complain about chair hogs, but it will continue, especially on sea days. There just isn't enough chairs to fill everyone's needs, that is the problem, not people that save them early, IMO.

We have decided, if you can't beat them , join them. We get two chairs early in the Solarium, and only leave them both unattended when we go eat or swim in the pool. You snooze, ya lose.

Royal's suggestions about chair use, is like their rules about shorts and T-shirts in the MDR at night. NOT ENFORCED!

We just got off the Grandeur.

 

I agree and we do the same as you. Although there are days that we take our belongings with us, as we leave for lunch, because we know that we will not be returning to the chairs.

[Pratique]

The same thing is happening at resorts (especially timeshare properties). People out by the pool before sunrise laying down towels, books and bags and then disappearing (sometimes leaving the resort). They come back later and act indignant if their space has been invaded. Resort employees are reluctant to enforce the rules.

 

So I would head out even earlier (6 am) and stake my claim but I would occupy the chair all morning while reading my book. When the regular chair hogs see that I beat them to the punch they would give me nasty looks and try to annoy me by setting up close by and making a lot of commotion with their friends/family. Sometimes they would talk to me and let me know how they are staying for two or three or four weeks, as if that gives them some sort of priority over the one week guests.

[rego007]

We were on this same cruise, and saw mostly the same thing. The only exception was a pool attendant leaving sticky notes with times on deck chairs in the Solarium early on the last sea day. He monitored the times, and removed the items accordingly. As the morning got busier, he eventually disappeared. I just wish there were more of him!

[taglovestocruise]

Just back from Freedom OTS 4/28/18 cruise and chair hogs in full force in Solarium. No one removing items/towels from chairs not sat in by human for several hours. The new low was pair of CHs who left their bags on two chairs in the shade and proceeded to go to their chairs in the sun on another part of the ship. They never sat in the shade chairs but did come back a couple of times to get items from their bags. We sat next to these chairs for 5 hours and there were people looking for chairs constantly. The sign saying they would remove items from abandoned chairs was almost directly in front of us.

 

Work2Cruis

If I was in your exact situation I would pick up all their crap and toss it a few feet away on the floor. Then play dumb when they returned.

[time4u2go]

The cruise line should put up some very prominent signs about the dangers of skin cancer. That might deter some.

[GTO-Girl]

We just got off the Oasis and there was a guy walking around with a clipboard acting like he was monitoring the chairs. However I never saw him write one post it note or remove anything and after about 10:00 he disappeared.

 

I told my husband I believe it was all for show to make people think they were doing something about chair hogs.

[biomedbob]

I'm not a big or aggrasive person, but I see folks saving chairs/loungers and heading elsewhere, and I remove the stuff and pile it near where they "staked" out their spot. Now I see that the dollar stores are selling "Chair Clips" to mark "your spot". They disappear as well!

[time4u2go]

OP, did you talk to any of the crew about this? What did they say?

[karena1]

We just got off the Oasis and there was a guy walking around with a clipboard acting like he was monitoring the chairs. However I never saw him write one post it note or remove anything and after about 10:00 he disappeared.

 

I told my husband I believe it was all for show to make people think they were doing something about chair hogs.

 

On our Oasis cruise in April, he DID remove towels, so he was working. Also, if someone said something to him, he took the personal belongings. So he was working it or at least trying to.

 

What most people don't realize, is after about 10 am, it is hard to police. People jump in the pool to cool off, etc. I was down at the pool by 7:30 am and we did not leave until 3:30. I went to the bathroom, hubby stayed, one went and got lunch, the other stayed. But we both went to the pool to cool off and to me that is perfectly acceptable. I am not giving up the lounger I have had all day just b/c I am hot and want to sit in the water for 1/2 hour.

 

Now we saw super Chair hogging where 1 guy would be there holding 10 chairs, and I don't agree with that. But to except the pool guys to take peoples things at 1 pm when the pool is full of people is unreasonable. The only thing we saw that was really bad was a guy that saved 3 chairs at the beach pool at 8 am and never came back until 2 pm with his 2 kids. Swam for 30 minutes and left. That is just not right, if you are never going to sit in them then don't save them.

 

I agree, chair hogging can be bad, but I also believer some people think if you are gone for 2 minutes you should give up your chair. I am not doing that. I laugh at people that come down at noon or 1 pm and think they are going to get a lounger poolside- really? If you want a lounger poolside then do what we do, get out of bed and go to the pool before 8 am and stay there are day. We never have a problem getting a place to sit, but we don't stays in bed all day.

[lbjen]

On our Oasis cruise in April, he DID remove towels, so he was working. Also, if someone said something to him, he took the personal belongings. So he was working it or at least trying to.

 

What most people don't realize, is after about 10 am, it is hard to police. People jump in the pool to cool off, etc. I was down at the pool by 7:30 am and we did not leave until 3:30. I went to the bathroom, hubby stayed, one went and got lunch, the other stayed. But we both went to the pool to cool off and to me that is perfectly acceptable. I am not giving up the lounger I have had all day just b/c I am hot and want to sit in the water for 1/2 hour.

 

Now we saw super Chair hogging where 1 guy would be there holding 10 chairs, and I don't agree with that. But to except the pool guys to take peoples things at 1 pm when the pool is full of people is unreasonable. The only thing we saw that was really bad was a guy that saved 3 chairs at the beach pool at 8 am and never came back until 2 pm with his 2 kids. Swam for 30 minutes and left. That is just not right, if you are never going to sit in them then don't save them.

 

I agree, chair hogging can be bad, but I also believer some people think if you are gone for 2 minutes you should give up your chair. I am not doing that. I laugh at people that come down at noon or 1 pm and think they are going to get a lounger poolside- really? If you want a lounger poolside then do what we do, get out of bed and go to the pool before 8 am and stay there are day. We never have a problem getting a place to sit, but we don't stays in bed all day.

 

I don’t think anyone thinks you should give up your lounger because you are going in the pool for half an hour - that’s exactly when you should be reserving your lounger and some might argue, the only time. If there’s nobody in the pool and you see 40 towels sat out on loungers, that’s 40 people who should be charged $25 for losing their towel imo.

[karena1]

I don’t think anyone thinks you should give up your lounger because you are going in the pool for half an hour - that’s exactly when you should be reserving your lounger and some might argue, the only time. If there’s nobody in the pool and you see 40 towels sat out on loungers, that’s 40 people who should be charged $25 for losing their towel imo.

 

I totally agree with you! But there are people on these boards that think if you go to the bathroom, you should give up your spot. It gets pretty unreasonable.

[BND]

I don’t think anyone thinks you should give up your lounger because you are going in the pool for half an hour - that’s exactly when you should be reserving your lounger and some might argue, the only time. If there’s nobody in the pool and you see 40 towels sat out on loungers, that’s 40 people who should be charged $25 for losing their towel imo.

 

The rule is 30 minutes and it doesn't matter why you leave for 30 minutes. We do see plenty of loungers, especially those in the shade that sit for HOURS with no one in them. We always sit and never both leave for more than 5 minutes. We eat and read. If we're leaving for more than 30 min, we give up the seats.

[NCreadyforfun]

We were on this same cruise, and saw mostly the same thing. The only exception was a pool attendant leaving sticky notes with times on deck chairs in the Solarium early on the last sea day. He monitored the times, and removed the items accordingly. As the morning got busier, he eventually disappeared. I just wish there were more of him!

 

 

I think this is a great idea for US to do. I'm taking sticky notes on my next cruise! Write the time so those looking for seats will know how long they've been empty. The seeker can decide if they want the chair or not.

 

Playing devil's advocate here--when we finished with the pool I picked up the towels to return. My friend said just leave them, they will pick them up. I explained about the people looking for chairs issue. Until I told them, they hadn't even considered that. Maybe some people just don't know.

[JimAOk1945]

Playing devil's advocate here--when we finished with the pool I picked up the towels to return. My friend said just leave them, they will pick them up. I explained about the people looking for chairs issue. Until I told them, they hadn't even considered that. Maybe some people just don't know.

 

This sounds like a great idea!! I hope others will do the same as you!