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Please tell me, no chair hoggers?


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On 4/11/2019 at 4:37 PM, willcruiseanythyme said:

We will be sailing on the Oosterdam next October to the Mexican Riviera.  I haven't sailed on HAL in many years.  Can anyone tell me if the chair hogging/saving has gotten any better since that time?  I absolutely hate getting up to get a lounger next to the pool by 8:00 AM or I miss out.  They always seem to be saved yet no one is sitting in them.  It's vacation, I'd love to not have to get up there so early.  Thanks!

Lets see..........there are only a few hundred chairs ...and the ship has several thousand people....... Lets see... say 15 to 30 people  per chair.....It will  and can be a fight between I got mine and I want yours folks........       You might try 0715 you chances will be better than 0800      

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Just back from Eurodam and saw people sitting in the Lido not eating just doing Suduko and crosswords while people walk around trying to find a place to eat.  

On that note, IF you are by yourself and get up to get seconds, etc., leave something anything to claim your table.  I returned after just going to get a spoon and my table had been bused as new occupants moved in.

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The Eurodam had a reduced number of tables for enjoying your Dive-In Burger and fries due to those overpriced Lido Cabanas.  While I was on the Eurodam for 28 days in March,  I saw very few occupants of the Lido Pool Cabanas.  Most were open, but don't dare sit down there with a tray of Dive-In food, even for a few minutes.  You will be chased unless you pony up the ridiculous daily fee.   It was very warm in the Lido pool area, even with the sliding roof opened.  But I can imagine how hot it was in those cabanas with the privacy curtains on either side, blocking the breeze.   

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1 hour ago, ScottC4746 said:

On that note, IF you are by yourself and get up to get seconds, etc., leave something anything to claim your table.  I returned after just going to get a spoon and my table had been bused as new occupants moved in.

If you are just getting up and planning to return, and don't want your place cleared, the signal is to put your napkin on the back of your chair. Long-time stewards also know to 'read' the signal of the chair tipped forward, with the back resting on the table. I don't know if newer stewards know that one.

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39 minutes ago, RuthC said:

If you are just getting up and planning to return, and don't want your place cleared, the signal is to put your napkin on the back of your chair. Long-time stewards also know to 'read' the signal of the chair tipped forward, with the back resting on the table. I don't know if newer stewards know that one.

I did not know that code.  Thanks for the info.

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We always pay for the lido cabanas so we do not need to worry about chair hogs And/or chair thieves.  We have our shaded lounge chairs whenever we want them.  They are ours for the duration of the cruise.  I burn very quickly and always seek shade.  People can be so rude in claiming their spots.  

Once on HMC, we had 2 lounge chairs by the water and also rented a pop up sunshade.  My husband left to use the restroom.  (Maybe 10 mins)  I was in the sun shade, next to the 2 loungers .   Two people came and started to pull our loungers away.  They claimed that since I was not currently sitting in the chairs or had a flip flop on them, the chairs were up for grabs.  Considering that I am both bigger and louder than a flip flop, I vehemently disagreed.   Outside of tossing them off the chairs (which I was sorely tempted to do) they planted themselves 2 feet away from us and stayed.  

Honestly, I expected better of HAL customers

 

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40 minutes ago, Yodalicious said:

Honestly, I expected better of HAL customers

Am I right in understanding that you had staked a claim on four loungers for the two of you and were upset when another couple sat in the pair you weren't using? 

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55 minutes ago, Yodalicious said:

We always pay for the lido cabanas so we do not need to worry about chair hogs And/or chair thieves.  We have our shaded lounge chairs whenever we want them.  They are ours for the duration of the cruise.  I burn very quickly and always seek shade.  People can be so rude in claiming their spots.  

Once on HMC, we had 2 lounge chairs by the water and also rented a pop up sunshade.  My husband left to use the restroom.  (Maybe 10 mins)  I was in the sun shade, next to the 2 loungers .   Two people came and started to pull our loungers away.  They claimed that since I was not currently sitting in the chairs or had a flip flop on them, the chairs were up for grabs.  Considering that I am both bigger and louder than a flip flop, I vehemently disagreed.   Outside of tossing them off the chairs (which I was sorely tempted to do) they planted themselves 2 feet away from us and stayed.  

Honestly, I expected better of HAL customers

 

If the chairs have no personal item on them, they are free.

Also, strictly 1 lounger per person! Shade or no shade.

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2 hours ago, RuthC said:

If you are just getting up and planning to return, and don't want your place cleared, the signal is to put your napkin on the back of your chair. Long-time stewards also know to 'read' the signal of the chair tipped forward, with the back resting on the table. I don't know if newer stewards know that one.

 

I learned the hard way, on Cunard, that if you are in a bar.... an upside-down drink napkin means you don’t want anything to drink.  Except it was like that when we sat down and I (wrongly) assumed the waiter would “clean the table” when he came to take our order.  Needless to say we did not get our pre-dinner cocktail that evening.  😤

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3 hours ago, Yodalicious said:

  

Honestly, I expected better of HAL customers

 

Sadly, that isn't necessarily the case.  On our recent 28 day cruise on the Eurodam, we encountered more rude and self-centered people than on any other.  We thought it might just be our imagination but we soon learned that others felt the same way.  People pushed to get ahead on shuttles, tenders and even seats for shows.  When some people were asked to move so that others (who had waited for an hour) could see the Equator crossing ceremony, a woman said "They look comfortable back there ….. I intend to stand here the whole time".  

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12 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Am I right in understanding that you had staked a claim on four loungers for the two of you and were upset when another couple sat in the pair you weren't using? 

👍👍👍  Spot on - great use of the rhetorical question!!! 

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12 hours ago, Yodalicious said:

We always pay for the lido cabanas so we do not need to worry about chair hogs And/or chair thieves.  We have our shaded lounge chairs whenever we want them.  They are ours for the duration of the cruise.  I burn very quickly and always seek shade.  People can be so rude in claiming their spots.  

Once on HMC, we had 2 lounge chairs by the water and also rented a pop up sunshade.  My husband left to use the restroom.  (Maybe 10 mins)  I was in the sun shade, next to the 2 loungers .   Two people came and started to pull our loungers away.  They claimed that since I was not currently sitting in the chairs or had a flip flop on them, the chairs were up for grabs.  Considering that I am both bigger and louder than a flip flop, I vehemently disagreed.   Outside of tossing them off the chairs (which I was sorely tempted to do) they planted themselves 2 feet away from us and stayed.  

Honestly, I expected better of HAL customers

 

 

This can’t be for real.

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22 hours ago, gigianne said:

RNB - we were hoping to meet you on board - now I know why we didn't see you.  You were either up too early or holed up in your cabin.  LOL

 

Maybe you did?

 

Mostly in the cabin. Since I lost my "Privacy Sign" I had to borrow a sign outside the Lincoln Center and place in front of our cabin door.

 

"Quiet Please. Performance in Progress"  :classic_biggrin:  Did you see it?

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The only time you can't get a table in the Lido pool area is around lunch time.   There are plenty of places to sit in the Lido Pool area that are out of the sun.   But there's no way I would even consider paying $50 on a sea day to rent a Lido Pool Cabana just so I could sit down to eat my Dive-In Dog.   I can see the expense for the deck 10 private cabanas.  You are out of the mob scene, have butler service, and it's very cozy, if you can afford it.   But the Lido Pool cabanas are, IMHO, a waste of precious table space, a waste of passenger money, because the area is still crowded and not very private, and a cash grab idea by HAL to the detriment of people who just want to sit down and enjoy their Dive In lunch.  And the fact that HAL charges $30 on port days but $50 on sea days shows that they know table space is at a premium on sea days, so that is a great opportunity for HAL to gouge you even more on days that table space is precious and rare.

Edited by TAD2005
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11 hours ago, avian777 said:

👍👍👍  Spot on - great use of the rhetorical question!!! 

No,  we had 2 lounge chairs and rented one of the little pop up covers on HMC.   Not a chair, a little tent where you had to sit in the sand.   My husband had been on his lounger until he had to use the restroom.  I would use the chair until the sun got to be too much.  I would sit under it for a bit, then go back to the chair.    He was gone for maybe 10 mins.   So we each had 1 lounge chair.  There were tons of other chairs.  No other ships were at HMC Are you insinuating that you cant leave a chair to use the restroom?   As to leaving a towel or flip flop on the chair.  We each had a towel on our chairs, which were thrown on the the sand.  As to a flip flop, as I mentioned before.  I am both bigger and louder than a flip flop and spoke up as soon as they started to sit on our chairs. Outside of a physical confrontation, there was no deterring them.   We are a little too civilized to get into a fist fight.  

 

 

 

23 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Am I right in understanding that you had staked a claim on four loungers for the two of you and were upset when another couple sat in the pair you weren't using? 

 

No.

See above

 

 

Edited by Yodalicious
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2 minutes ago, Yodalicious said:

See above

Thank you for the clarification. As the clam shells normally come with two loungers in them, when you said that you were in the clam shell, it never crossed my mind that you weren't sitting on a lounger.

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54 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Thank you for the clarification. As the clam shells normally come with two loungers in them, when you said that you were in the clam shell, it never crossed my mind that you weren't sitting on a lounger.

 

Same

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3 hours ago, Yodalicious said:

No,  we had 2 lounge chairs and rented one of the little pop up covers on HMC.   Not a chair, a little tent where you had to sit in the sand.   My husband had been on his lounger until he had to use the restroom.  I would use the chair until the sun got to be too much.  I would sit under it for a bit, then go back to the chair.    He was gone for maybe 10 mins.   So we each had 1 lounge chair.  There were tons of other chairs.  No other ships were at HMC Are you insinuating that you cant leave a chair to use the restroom?   As to leaving a towel or flip flop on the chair.  We each had a towel on our chairs, which were thrown on the the sand.  As to a flip flop, as I mentioned before.  I am both bigger and louder than a flip flop and spoke up as soon as they started to sit on our chairs. Outside of a physical confrontation, there was no deterring them.   We are a little too civilized to get into a fist fight.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

With knuckle draggers like that, and I know you don't want to get into a fist fight, the only option is to get one of the local island staff guys to assist you. If you can't find one nearby on the beach, there is an info booth in the Plaza, adjacent the medical hut. Behavior like you described above, exhibited even after you explained that you were still using those two loungers to those two Einsteins, is inexcusable 

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On 4/13/2019 at 8:41 PM, Yodalicious said:

 

Honestly, I expected better of HAL customers

 

 

ya know,  I did too but then I realize that each subpopulation of people is a microcosm of greater society so there will be examples of all types represented.

 

I took three of those wonderful HAL beach towels they provide on a catamaran excursion - all HAL passengers by the way - and came back with only one. I guess it's our fault for leaving them unattended on the catamaran while snorkeling but we just assumed that the other HAL passengers realize that we would get charged for those towels if we didnt bring them back. Nope. Someone got to take 2 HAL towels home with them! Hope it was worth it. 

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Can't we all get a long and share.

 

Several years ago I was at HMC with two boats; very crowded. Me and the Mrs. rented one of those clamshells w/two loungers. Arrived early; got crowded quick. Apparently all the shells were rented out. About 1 hour into our stay a couple next to us arrived next to us in their shell, put down their belongings and headed to the water. They asked us to watch their things. As soon as they left this lady decided to sit at the end of their loungers for which I said the chairs were taken, No Reply. Finally she said she needed to be out of the sun in the shade. Well for the next 2 hours she hoped between their lounger and ours sitting on the end of the lounger. Boy that was a great view! Bottom line, you just can't deal with people who are nuts.

Edited by RedneckBob
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We are 3* and most of the cruises have been Caribbean.  Last one was on the N Statendam in January.

 

I've got to say we've never experienced an issue with the lack of chairs/loungers.  Sometimes we don't get our preferred location but, for instance, if it's sun we are after, we always head to the upper decks and we have them to ourselves or a few other folks.

 

If it's lunchtime and we want to eat by the pool, we generally walk all the way around and eventually find an open table.  If it's breakfast, we have no problem getting any table and that's the best time to dine pool side.

 

If it's shade, we are in our cabin or on our balcony at the correct time of day.

 

If it's poolside, we easily score by heading to the aft pool area. 

 

On HMC, our strategy is to walk up the beach until the crowds disappear and find those great FREE hammocks. 

 

We did arrive 5 minutes before the lido pool movie once and had to sit way in the back....but we learned and planned to arrive earlier next time.

 

I feel sorry for chair hogs......the need to mark your territory and selfishly take up valuable real estate is sad...They must have had an issue in their childhood and as we say in the south...."bless their heart".  These folks do seem to congregate around the lido pool area..  And that's too crowded anyway and, let's face it, chair hog types have other personality flaws and it's best to just stay away. 

 

I can see it now, a HAL referee at the lido pool with a whistle and countdown clock.........IMO, sounds like we have a first world problem for snowflakes. 

 

 

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16 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Thank you for the clarification. As the clam shells normally come with two loungers in them, when you said that you were in the clam shell, it never crossed my mind that you weren't sitting on a lounger.

Ditto here.

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Another complaint, same problem - on my S/A, Antarctica cruise in Dec/Jan, the Wyjang had movies shown each day.  Some of them were only shown x 1, and if you wanted to see it, better show up 30'" ahead of time.  Problem was, some passengers came early and put coats, bags, etc. on several other seats.  This was also annoying to folks who planned for the screen time and came in 10-15" early only to not have any seats available.  Also happened a lot in the big theater for informative talks.

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