Observation Lounge Chair Hogs On Panama Canal Cruise

[vpearlkc]

We have booked a Panama Canal transit cruise on the Encore for 2021. Have noticed that the only non Haven place to get a forward view is the observation lounge. Is there a problem with chair hogs on these transit cruises. We have a large balcony but may want to get a view from the front of the ship.  

[LrgPizza]

The info you seek is here.

[elwood_98034]

3 hours ago, vpearlkc said:

We have booked a Panama Canal transit cruise on the Encore for 2021. Have noticed that the only non Haven place to get a forward view is the observation lounge. Is there a problem with chair hogs on these transit cruises. We have a large balcony but may want to get a view from the front of the ship.  

I hate to say it, but that is why we booked the Haven. Good luck.

[Birdie And Sue]

Someone will almost always get up earlier than you do and get a "better" chair.  That does not make them a hog.  It makes them someone who got there before you did.  Get there earlier next time.

[Sauer-kraut]

36 minutes ago, Birdie And Sue said:

Someone will almost always get up earlier than you do and get a "better" chair.  That does not make them a hog.  It makes them someone who got there before you did.  Get there earlier next time.

They might have gotten there earlier, but if their butt isn't in the seat and they don't come back after 30 minutes they might be upset that their place holder will be found in the lost and found.

[Greenpea2]

1 hour ago, Birdie And Sue said:

Someone will almost always get up earlier than you do and get a "better" chair.  That does not make them a hog.  It makes them someone who got there before you did.  Get there earlier next time.

Lounge hogs don’t just get there early. That is someone who gets there early. A lounge chair hog gets there early, places items on a chair and disappears. I hope that is not happening in the observation lounge too!

[tallnthensome]

7 minutes ago, Greenpea2 said:

Lounge hogs don’t just get there early. That is someone who gets there early. A lounge chair hog gets there early, places items on a chair and disappears. I hope that is not happening in the observation lounge too!

That's how it was on our April Bliss sailing through the Panama Canal ....... People sleeping everywhere in the OL ....

[Birdie And Sue]

4 hours ago, Greenpea2 said:

Lounge hogs don’t just get there early. That is someone who gets there early. A lounge chair hog gets there early, places items on a chair and disappears. I hope that is not happening in the observation lounge too!

 

 

Just because you do not see the person sitting in the chair does not necessarily mean they have disappeared.  There are all kinds of legit reasons why someone may step away from his selected seat for a period of time.  Unless the person who is upset that they did not get there first actually observes said seat going continually unused longer than the allotted time frame, any assumption of the occupant being that mythical creature 'chair hog' is just that, an assumption.

 

[Birdie And Sue]

5 hours ago, Sauer-kraut said:

They might have gotten there earlier, but if their butt isn't in the seat and they don't come back after 30 minutes they might be upset that their place holder will be found in the lost and found.

 

 

Yeah passive aggressive theft is a GREAT way to be on a cruise!  Also unless you stand there for the entire 30 minutes (or however long the NCL rules dictate) and observe the seatin question going unoccupied, you are making nothing but an assumption. 

 

[vpearlkc]

9 hours ago, tallnthensome said:

That's how it was on our April Bliss sailing through the Panama Canal ....... People sleeping everywhere in the OL ....

 

Thanks for the information. Being a healthy 69 year old who still chooses standing tickets in front of the stage at concerts, I will stand in front of the window when I want forward view. I have no intention to get up at the crack of dawn to get a seat and am planning to move around the ship to see the canal from different vantage points. I would never be so rude as to reserve a seat in one area while roaming the ship for other views. 

[UFMOM]

On our Bliss eastbound Panama Canal Cruise the observation lounge was quite crowded during the actual transit. Even then I was always able to find a fairly decent seat. During that time it was much easier to find seats for singles or couples rather than large groups. You could also walk to different areas to get all the views, but there were people 3 and 4 deep in front of the windows in prime areas. The only problem I saw was a large group of able bodied people taking up a good portion of the area designated for wheelchairs and scooters. They refused to leave even with people giving them the stink eye and crew did nothing.

  During non transit times the lounge ranged from fairly full to half or more empty. Personally I was able to find some very good  seating during transit as a single. Although this was more on the side rather than the really prime front views.

 

 

 

Mary Ann

[ImADaneFan]

On our Inaugural PC on the Bliss May 2018 they opened the bow area for everyone. They even had canopies out so you didn’t have to stand in the rain/sun. 

But I must admit the Haven sun deck was the perfect place for the transit. 

Linda

[vpearlkc]

1 hour ago, ImADaneFan said:

On our Inaugural PC on the Bliss May 2018 they opened the bow area for everyone. They even had canopies out so you didn’t have to stand in the rain/sun. 

But I must admit the Haven sun deck was the perfect place for the transit. 

Linda

 

1 hour ago, ImADaneFan said:

On our Inaugural PC on the Bliss May 2018 they opened the bow area for everyone. They even had canopies out so you didn’t have to stand in the rain/sun. 

But I must admit the Haven sun deck was the perfect place for the transit. 

Linda

[vpearlkc]

I hope they do this on our Panama Canal transit.

[Birdie And Sue]

12 hours ago, vpearlkc said:

 

Thanks for the information. Being a healthy 69 year old who still chooses standing tickets in front of the stage at concerts, I will stand in front of the window when I want forward view. I have no intention to get up at the crack of dawn to get a seat and am planning to move around the ship to see the canal from different vantage points. I would never be so rude as to reserve a seat in one area while roaming the ship for other views. 

 

 

That is odd, I would never be so rude as to assume that just because I do not see a person sitting in a chair, that theya re off roaming the ship.

[tallnthensome]

8 hours ago, vpearlkc said:

I hope they do this on our Panama Canal transit.

I was up front on the Bow when they opened it ....... I would suggest the observation lounge or the front of lido. It gets so crowded on the bow and the process takes forever. If you like standing in one spot in the heat for hours and hours then it might be your thing. I'm 6'7" and could see over everyone but after an hour I wanted back inside. Grab a cozy good view inside asap is my suggestion. 

[vpearlkc]

1 hour ago, tallnthensome said:

 I was up front on the Bow when they opened it ....... I would suggest the observation lounge or the front of lido. It gets so crowded on the bow and the process takes forever. If you like standing in one spot in the heat for hours and hours then it might be your thing. I'm 6'7" and could see over everyone but after an hour I wanted back inside. Grab a cozy good view inside asap is my suggestion. 

 

It looks to me like all the upper decks above the observation lounge are part of the Haven or Buffet. We won't be able to just go to the bow on deck 8 and look around for a short period of time with out a big hassle? 

[tallnthensome]

1 minute ago, vpearlkc said:

 

It looks to me like all the upper decks above the observation lounge are part of the Haven or Buffet. We won't be able to just go to the bow on deck 8 and look around for a short period of time with out a big hassle? 

It's the buffet and was prime seating. Sure, you can go out the bow and take pics but just remember that's where everyone else wants to be as well so front row standing goes quick. You'll be 10 people/rows deep if you're not the first ones out there when they open it up. Looking over the side into the locks is hard when people are crammed in like cattle. Best views are from the highest vantage points while the bow is one of the lowest ..... Yes the upper most outside decks will be the Haven and Vibe Club.  just an fyi. 

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, vpearlkc said:

 

It looks to me like all the upper decks above the observation lounge are part of the Haven or Buffet. We won't be able to just go to the bow on deck 8 and look around for a short period of time with out a big hassle? 

 

During the transit of the Canal, don't spend the entire day in one spot.  You'll really want to see the lock operations from all perspectives -- high, low, forward-facing, stern-facing, and from the sides.   The bow will be very crowded in the morning, but as the day wears on, you should find fewer and fewer people out there, and it will be easier to find a spot.

[Von & John]

We did our 2011 Canal Transit on another line...

I agree w/ Turtles recommendation - we were all over the ship during the Transit

Up Top

Down Low

Front

Aft

Hot Tubs

Our Balcony...

It was an amazing day & quite the memories 🙂

Enjoy your Cruise!!!!

[need2cruisesoon]

Some pics of our Bliss 11/18 PC cruise.

 

4:00am observation lounge and afternoon pics of the bow.

[vpearlkc]

Great pics. Wow the transit starts before 4am?

[need2cruisesoon]

39 minutes ago, vpearlkc said:

Great pics. Wow the transit starts before 4am?

yeah we were early even going under the Bridge of Americas.

 

Like other posters state get up and move around the ship for different vantage points.

 

Entering locks Caribbean ocean.

[TPgal]

The time the ship gets to start the transit is determined by the POC, so there's no guarantee as to the time.   We started our transit at 5 am (ish) even though it was dark and foggy it was exciting to watch all the action from our starboard balcony as the pilot and other various folks boarded our ship.   

 

Ours was a partial transit, so we were able to get off and do the rest of the canal in a ferry.  Up close and personal to the locks.  It was an exciting day with a LOT of hurry up and waiting in between each step.   

[zqvol]

On 6/12/2019 at 10:48 AM, vpearlkc said:

We have booked a Panama Canal transit cruise on the Encore for 2021. Have noticed that the only non Haven place to get a forward view is the observation lounge. Is there a problem with chair hogs on these transit cruises. We have a large balcony but may want to get a view from the front of the ship.  

 

They will likely open other places forward, however you don't want to stay in one place for the whole transit which will take a couple of hours each way. There are some great views from the sides, and there are plenty of spots outside where you can see forward.