Deck Chair Saving

[bryanem]

It’s been three years since my last RC cruise, do they still allow deck chair saving by putting towels or personal items on chairs? 
I am going on Oasis in January and wondering if this still is as commonplace as before.  In the past, I very rarely was able to get a deck or pool chair, and 1/4 to 1/3 of the chairs were “saved” with no one there. I have heard some cruise lines monitor this and after an hour of no one there,  they remove the items and leave a tag for the person to retrieve their items at some designated place. I now get a balcony room as no one can save my chair on my balcony, or else I go to non deck or non pool areas of the ship and there are open chairs there. However. It would be cool to get a pool or top deck chair every now and then without resorting to turning into a chair saver myself. 

Edited October 13, 2019 by bryanem

[Clarea]

10 minutes ago, bryanem said:

It’s been three years since my last RC cruise, do they still allow deck chair saving by putting towels or personal items on chairs?  ...

 

Yes.

[John&LaLa]

29 minutes ago, bryanem said:

It’s been three years since my last RC cruise, do they still allow deck chair saving by putting towels or personal items on chairs? 
I am going on Oasis in January and wondering if this still is as commonplace as before.  In the past, I very rarely was able to get a deck or pool chair, and 1/4 to 1/3 of the chairs were “saved” with no one there. I have heard some cruise lines monitor this and after an hour of no one there,  they remove the items and leave a tag for the person to retrieve their items at some designated place. I now get a balcony room as no one can save my chair on my balcony, or else I go to non deck or non pool areas of the ship and there are open chairs there. However. It would be cool to get a pool or top deck chair every now and then without resorting to turning into a chair saver myself. 

 

There are signs stating that reserving seats is bot allowed. There are reports, that some ships enforce this, but the problems still exist.

 

 

 

[brillohead]

I got into it with a crusty old chair hog on Mariner last month.  

He claimed that his wife was gonna "be right back" even though she'd been gone for at least 45 minutes at that point.  (Three hours later, when he left, his wife had never shown up.)

He even made the deck guy (who picks up dishes, mops the floor, etc.) bring over a "supervisor" to try to kick me out of "his wife's chair", claiming there was no such thing as a 30-minute rule.  

The supervisor admitted that there is a rule.... but he also didn't want to say it for fear of offending the crusty chair hog.  

It sure would be nice if Royal cared as much about offending the NICE passengers who actually use the loungers on the pool/Solarium decks as they do about the SELFISH passengers who reserve seats for nobody for hours on end.  

[bryanem]

I admire you for standing up to these people, way to go ! 

[brillohead]

27 minutes ago, bryanem said:

I admire you for standing up to these people, way to go ! 

He was a nasty old guy... throwing F-bombs at me, calling me names, all kinds of stuff.  

Just made himself look stupid, though, especially since his wife never came back -- she probably didn't like him any better than I did, if he always acts like such a jerk!  

I even told him that I would leave if his wife came back to use the chair, and that still didn't satisfy him -- he thought it was his god-given right to save as many chairs as he wants for however long he wants.   

[doones2]

6 hours ago, brillohead said:

I got into it with a crusty old chair hog on Mariner last month.  

He claimed that his wife was gonna "be right back" even though she'd been gone for at least 45 minutes at that point.  (Three hours later, when he left, his wife had never shown up.)

He even made the deck guy (who picks up dishes, mops the floor, etc.) bring over a "supervisor" to try to kick me out of "his wife's chair", claiming there was no such thing as a 30-minute rule.  

The supervisor admitted that there is a rule.... but he also didn't want to say it for fear of offending the crusty chair hog.  

It sure would be nice if Royal cared as much about offending the NICE passengers who actually use the loungers on the pool/Solarium decks as they do about the SELFISH passengers who reserve seats for nobody for hours on end.  

It’s not just Royal, NCL and Celebrity have the same problem.  Worse is the people that save a row of seats at a show while announcement is being made about no seat saving.  Saw it last week on Allure

[Snit13]

3 hours ago, brillohead said:

He was a nasty old guy... throwing F-bombs at me, calling me names, all kinds of stuff.  

Just made himself look stupid, though, especially since his wife never came back -- she probably didn't like him any better than I did, if he always acts like such a jerk!  

I even told him that I would leave if his wife came back to use the chair, and that still didn't satisfy him -- he thought it was his god-given right to save as many chairs as he wants for however long he wants.   

Nice job.  More people need to stand their ground with the stupid, rule breakers.  

[sjb317]

Chair hogs were alive and well on Harmony. My favorite was the couple who had  8x10 laminated pictures of themselves clipped to the top of their chairs. 😂😂😂

 

It was also rampant at the ice show and theater.

 

Sherri🙂

[MightyMike]

Imagine a cruise where no one saved chairs more than to get a drink or go to the bathroom or go back to the room to get something. Imagine how everyone would easily be able to find a chair whenever they walked up to the pool deck. Imagine how happy everyone would be when they realized that there really are enough chairs for everyone.

[bilyclub]

34 minutes ago, MightyMike said:

Imagine a cruise where no one saved chairs more than to get a drink or go to the bathroom or go back to the room to get something. Imagine how everyone would easily be able to find a chair whenever they walked up to the pool deck. Imagine how happy everyone would be when they realized that there really are enough chairs for everyone.

 

Cue the music....

 

 

[time4u2go]

Just put up a few signs about the dangers of skin cancer.  That should eliminate at least some of the chair hogs.

[not-enough-cruising]

I don’t need the cruise line to monitor the chair hogs, I can do it myself. It’s very simple to do, just move the towel to the side and take the chair. When (more like IF) someone returns I just say, “sorry, there was nothing on this chair when I sat down an hour ago!”

[swmonty]

Maybe I am in the middle of the chair saving group?  I do reserve chairs for my family, but I stay with them (except for a couple runs for coffee refills).

 

I am an early bird, so I go down to the pool early and reserve 4 chairs (for my group of 8 people) and have a cup of coffee and my family joins a few hours later.  I enjoy the peace and quite early in the morning at the pool.  

 

It does upset me a little that I am there around 7am, yet the best of the best chairs are taken with no one in sight.  I get good chairs so i am not that disappointed, but a little irritated.  

 

[time4u2go]

4 minutes ago, swmonty said:

Maybe I am in the middle of the chair saving group?  I do reserve chairs for my family, but I stay with them (except for a couple runs for coffee refills).

 

I am an early bird, so I go down to the pool early and reserve 4 chairs (for my group of 8 people) and have a cup of coffee and my family joins a few hours later.  I enjoy the peace and quite early in the morning at the pool.  

 

It does upset me a little that I am there around 7am, yet the best of the best chairs are taken with no one in sight.  I get good chairs so i am not that disappointed, but a little irritated.  

 

If I'm understand you correctly, you are occupying one chair and saving 3 unoccupied chairs for "a few hours".  Not to sound harsh, but it sounds like you are contributing to the problem.  I don't think that being there with the unoccupied chairs makes it OK.

[islandwannabee]

6 minutes ago, swmonty said:

Maybe I am in the middle of the chair saving group?  I do reserve chairs for my family, but I stay with them (except for a couple runs for coffee refills).

 

I am an early bird, so I go down to the pool early and reserve 4 chairs (for my group of 8 people) and have a cup of coffee and my family joins a few hours later.  I enjoy the peace and quite early in the morning at the pool.  

 

It does upset me a little that I am there around 7am, yet the best of the best chairs are taken with no one in sight.  I get good chairs so i am not that disappointed, but a little irritated.  

 

And here in lies the problems, 1 person holding up 4-6 or who knows how many for hours.

[Alter Ego]

1 hour ago, sjb317 said:

My favorite was the couple who had  8x10 laminated pictures of themselves clipped to the top of their chairs. 😂😂😂

 

Sherri🙂

Omigosh - that’s awesome.  Now everyone knows what they look like; I might be inclined to comment if I saw them eating lunch or wherever.  

I would suggest using someone else’s photo...

 

(PS - I did watch staff take away belongings after 45/60’ish minutes.  Was the Rhapsody solarium during bad weather.  They were originally going to only clear one chair, but the people waiting for the seats commented to clear the other.  The reason they didn’t want to touch it - they left their purse.  So, moral of the story is, forget the photos, leave a purse!

 

I did want to add - they came back 30 minutes afterwards; so they really weren’t that bad.  It was just about the horrible weather and everyone wanted to be there.)

Edited October 13, 2019 by Alter Ego

[Kwaj girl]

I guess it may be important to get a chair 'around the pool' IF you plan to use the pool.....but what's the big draw of a poolside chair otherwise? Go find a quiet area elsewhere and enjoy your quiet time away from the masses.

[shopaholic6]

36 minutes ago, swmonty said:

Maybe I am in the middle of the chair saving group?  I do reserve chairs for my family, but I stay with them (except for a couple runs for coffee refills).

 

I am an early bird, so I go down to the pool early and reserve 4 chairs (for my group of 8 people) and have a cup of coffee and my family joins a few hours later.  I enjoy the peace and quite early in the morning at the pool.  

 

 It does upset me a little that I am there around 7am, yet the best of the best chairs are taken with no one in sight.  I get good chairs so i am not that disappointed, but a little irritated. 

 

You don’t seem to see the irony in your comment! ‘It does upset me a little that I am there around 7am, yet the best of the best chairs are taken with no one in sight.  I get good chairs so i am not that disappointed, but a little irritated.‘ Did you ever stop to think about the people who might want to sit, yes, actually SIT, on the ‘good’ chairs you are saving for your family when they deign to turn up a few hours later? 😂😂

[Tree_skier]

2 hours ago, MightyMike said:

Imagine a cruise where no one saved chairs more than to get a drink or go to the bathroom or go back to the room to get something. Imagine how everyone would easily be able to find a chair whenever they walked up to the pool deck. Imagine how happy everyone would be when they realized that there really are enough chairs for everyone.

 

 

 

I can imagine world peace more easily.

 

[compman9]

DW and I find two chairs and use them

 

When we have finished we take our towels and leave the chairs

 

We have never once saved a chair, but occasionally one of us will leave to get two drinks - we are never away from the chairs we are using for more than ten minutes

 

Use of chairs any other way is disrespectful to every other passenger on the ship - No exceptions

[Tree_skier]

4 minutes ago, compman9 said:

DW and I find two chairs and use them

 

When we have finished we take our towels and leave the chairs

 

We have never once saved a chair, but occasionally one of us will leave to get two drinks - we are never away from the chairs we are using for more than ten minutes

 

Use of chairs any other way is disrespectful to every other passenger on the ship - No exceptions

I'm not a sunbather, I'm very sensitive to sun but I do like to sit in those big clam shell thingys. Fortunately you can find them in different locations that aren't considered premium locations and haven't had a problem when I have been looking.

 

Unless you are actually swimming I have never understood the attraction of seating by the pool.  It certainly isn't peaceful and it certainly isn't conducive to reading and relaxing.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Tree_skier

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, swmonty said:

Maybe I am in the middle of the chair saving group?  I do reserve chairs for my family, but I stay with them (except for a couple runs for coffee refills).

 

I am an early bird, so I go down to the pool early and reserve 4 chairs (for my group of 8 people) and have a cup of coffee and my family joins a few hours later.  I enjoy the peace and quite early in the morning at the pool.  

 

It does upset me a little that I am there around 7am, yet the best of the best chairs are taken with no one in sight.  I get good chairs so i am not that disappointed, but a little irritated.  

 

You are a chair hog and no different than those chair hogs that irritate you that are marking their territory before you do. Welcome to CC. 

[matj2000]

I get up early than them and claim my seats.

 

This way I beat the chair hogs at their own game..

[MalteseMama2]

DH and I are early risers. We will go to breakfast then one of us goes to find 2 chairs while the other picks up our kindles, iPods, etc from the cabin, a task that takes about 5 to 15 minutes depending the size of the ship. Once there I love to people watch and I can see many “claimed” chairs that go unused. Occasionally, we have been unable to find chairs but not often.