Chair hoggers - interesting response

[ldubs]

2 minutes ago, chipmaster said:

 

The ratio of lounge chairs with good sun, on a cruise, simply isn't close to supply enough for the demand even for those willing  to pay.  I am more likely to pony up 10 bucks a day for a couple hours for any lounge chair near the pool with good sun then for a bad drink, and there are no shortage of people popping for expensive drinks/drink package, the demand to availability for lounger would either escalate to crazy price, cause a black market, and generate terrible more bad will than the current chair hog situation.

 

Haha, I like the black market idea.  I can see it now, scalpers at the embark terminal selling prime chair tickets.  Or, maybe a fast thinking TA could buy them in lots and add them as perks!     😁😀😀

[erdoran]

I wonder what would happen if folks who saw people claiming chairs at the crack of dawn actually said something to them like ...”are ten people really going to be using those chairs in the next 30 minutes?”  Perhaps embarrass them?

[NLH Arizona]

13 minutes ago, erdoran said:

I wonder what would happen if folks who saw people claiming chairs at the crack of dawn actually said something to them like ...”are ten people really going to be using those chairs in the next 30 minutes?”  Perhaps embarrass them?

I always thought it would be funny if a bunch of folks got up at the crack of dawn and put things on each and every lounger and then watched as the real chair hogs came out to stake their claim and every lounger is already taken.

[davekathy]

28 minutes ago, erdoran said:

I wonder what would happen if folks who saw people claiming chairs at the crack of dawn actually said something to them like ...”are ten people really going to be using those chairs in the next 30 minutes?”  Perhaps embarrass them?

I believe there would be confrontation with some. Chair hogs are very territorial. Besides that they are in way too much of a hurry to claim a lounger and hurry back to their cabins and go back to bed for a few hours. So they would just ignore others. 

Edited August 15, 2019 by davekathy

[AmazedByCruising]

5 hours ago, ed01106 said:

I don’t think technology is the issue.  Potential backlash from customers who see this as the final straw of nickel and diming is the only thing preventing this.

 

They can also charge for chairs according to demand. Sunny day? Sea day? Prices go up. In port on a rainy day? Prices go down. And then, instead of sending the money to the shareholders, give all guests their share of the money in the form of OBC.

Nobody would accuse the ship of nickel and diming, and if you're willing to pay for it, there's always a chair. 

Also, the shops would love to see people having $3.53 in OBC when the cheapest shirts start at $10. 

[clo]

31 minutes ago, erdoran said:

I wonder what would happen if folks who saw people claiming chairs at the crack of dawn actually said something to them like ...”are ten people really going to be using those chairs in the next 30 minutes?”  Perhaps embarrass them?

I'm a firm believer in calling people out for this kinda 'stuff.'

[clo]

I haven't read this whole thread.  Has anyone attempted to defend these 'people'?

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, erdoran said:

I wonder what would happen if folks who saw people claiming chairs at the crack of dawn actually said something to them like ...”are ten people really going to be using those chairs in the next 30 minutes?”  Perhaps embarrass them?

Do you really believe that the sort of people who conduct those “dawn raids” to stake out chairs, perhaps hours before they will actually use them, are even capable of feeling embarrassment?

 

[erdoran]

Um...well—I have two opposite stories to tell...

 

story 1 - 10 am or so, hubby and I are on an upper deck, saving two chairs for family members who WERE slow coming out (but not hours).  A woman walked up to me and said “no saving chairs” and parked herself and family in the two chairs we were saving - 5 mins later here comes family, nowhere to sit.  Of course I was a doormat then, so I gave up my seat for them because I did such a bad job saving their seats :>dumb (but first cruise in 20+ years)

 

story 2 - I legit had a chair right by the pool and was using it - no hogging going on.  I had the NERVE to get in the pool and about 10 minutes later saw someone getting ready to take over my chair.  I got out of the pool and was told “well, you got up!”

 

Same type of thing another time - DH and I took turns going to the buffet and bringing our food back to our chairs, if we were gone too long we had to fight off the chair police who didn’t believe one of us had just gotten up to get food - isn’t the rule 30-45 mins, not 10 mins?

[$hip$hape]

15 hours ago, GTO-Girl said:

On one of our  cruises a number of years ago

we watched the pool deck attendant.

 

 Guess they got too many complaints...🙄🙄

Funny... how pool deck attendants are no longer available. 😎

Only waiters,  to sell drinks.

Edited August 15, 2019 by $hip$hape

[GTO-Girl]

8 hours ago, $hip$hape said:

Funny... how pool deck attendants are no longer available. 😎

Only waiters,  to sell drinks.

 

And now with the push for everyone to buy a drink package waiters on the pool deck are beginning to be almost non-existent too!!  

[chipmaster]

4 hours ago, GTO-Girl said:

 

And now with the push for everyone to buy a drink package waiters on the pool deck are beginning to be almost non-existent too!!  

 

Of course you got all you can drink, they want to make you work to get that extra free drink, LOL

[clo]

Reading this thread makes me even happier that we'll never be sitting in those areas.  Don't like sun or water.  I should notify them that there will be two fewer folks duking it out 🙂

[ladyt]

I haven’t cruised since 2007. We have been going on all inclusive land vacations. We are considering going on another cruise. We experienced chair hogs back then. We get up super early, used to it because of work, and when we go to the pool area whatever chair we choose to sit in that is not occupied and appears to be saved, we remove the items. We will use our seats from about 6:00am until 1:00pm. I remain in the seat as my husband gets our food. There is no reason to leave seats unoccupied unless you are in the pool or hot tub. If we can manage it this way so can others. This crap with saving seats is ridiculous. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

On 8/15/2019 at 2:30 AM, fyree39 said:

It's getting kind of hoity toity in here. I'll see what the chair hogging is like on Crystal. I predict it won't be bad since the ship only carries something like 800 people.  

 

We had no problems on Crystal Symphony last year. The seating in the shade was always popular, but not chair hogged, and there were plenty of empty sunloungers. 

[momofmab]

There are numerous ways to effectively deal with the issue - the mainline CL's just choose not to.  They'd rather let the passengers police it amongst themselves (which is often better entertainment than the headline shows!) and only intervene at the threat of physical violence.

 

I think they should handle it like it's restaurant seating.  Rope off the prime areas near the pools on sea days and have a pool "host/hostess".  Passengers line up and are escorted to seats (seats are only given to physical bodies who are present - no saving at all).  Other ship employees could easily monitor which seats go unoccupied for more than 30 minutes and re-assign the seats (if the CL's have a published policy regarding pool chair procedures, there's really no basis for someone complaining that their stuff was moved to a safe location by ship employees).

 

There seems to be no end to things that people will pay extra for on a cruise vacation (go-carts, VIBE, waterparks, beach cabanas, specialty restaurants, etc.) so I have no doubt that paying extra for a prime pool chair location will eventually be a reality, and that people will line up to pay for it.

[ducklite]

7 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We had no problems on Crystal Symphony last year. The seating in the shade was always popular, but not chair hogged, and there were plenty of empty sunloungers. 

My personal experience is that the lower the cruise fare, the more the hogging goes on. 

 

[DarrenM]

On 8/14/2019 at 2:09 PM, klfrodo said:

I didn't go to the Wharton School of Business, nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night. This sounds like a revenue generating opportunity.

We don't remove peoples items from their chairs because it generates too many complaints.

We also receive too many complaints when we don't remove items from saved chairs.

Therefore, Complaints are the problem

 

Get rid of the complaints.

Charge a fee to rent the chairs you want. The closer to the pool, the higher the rental costs.

I think cruise firms rip people off enough thank you very much.

 

 

[ducklite]

38 minutes ago, DarrenM said:

I think cruise firms rip people off enough thank you very much.

 

 

If you are so against them, why do you keep giving them your money?

[DarrenM]

You need that answering?

 

OK, I will indulge you.

 

Because I like the cruises.

 

But I dont like being ripped off by money hungry corporations.

 

The worst of their behaviour being the ridiculous charge for WIFI. They charge it because they can. Not because they need to. They dont have a team working behind the scenes on the WIFI Engine. Its just a thing. Its there if no one uses it and its there if 2000 folk use it. Its just a rip off. A scam.

 

So I pay for what I want upfront, decent cabin, drinks package, and nowt else.

 

There you go. Up the revolution.

 

 

[DarrenM]

Oh and their organised tours three times the cost of local ones.

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, DarrenM said:

Oh and their organised tours three times the cost of local ones.

Which helps keep the cost of your cruise down. 

[DarrenM]

Do they? Are you absolutely sure about that?

 

Are you sure its not just an additional income stream?

 

I know what I believe.

[Warm Breezes]

28 minutes ago, DarrenM said:

Do they? Are you absolutely sure about that?

 

Are you sure its not just an additional income stream?

 

I know what I believe.

Of course it is additional income stream.  They are a business.  A business whose job is to maximize the revenues of it's shareholders or they wouldn't be a business.  They are not a non-profit organization.  But they are also not the bad guy out to personally get you.  I'm not sure why you hold that against them.  Your job as the consumer is to spend your money wisely on the things you want or need, or not if you so choose.  But you do have a choice and the buying power to take your business elsewhere.  Apparently there are enough buyers of Carnival's excursions and wi-fi that it is profitable for their business.  If they didn't they wouldn't be selling them.  Excellent business decision on their part is what I believe.

[4x4bob]

I told this story a few years ago, but it still is funny, so one more time.

 

I had gotten up early to take some photos of the sunrise.  I grabbed a cup of coffee and was sitting on the deck above the pool overlooking the lounges around the pool.

 

Looking down I watched a man walk up to the lounges with several towels over one arm and holding some books and slippers.  He walked up to the first lounge, dropped a towel, looked around and moved to the next lounge.  Dropped another towel, looked around, and moved to the next lounge.  Then he dropped a book.  

 

At that time I let out a whistle which made him look up.  I was holding my camera by the strap while it swung back and forth.  He saw the camera, dropped the remaining items and took off like a track star.  The speed he displayed would have made him a good member of a track team. 😁

 

What was so funny about the whole event, was, that I had not taken any photo's, just watched him in action. 

 

Bob