Deck Chair Saving

[John&LaLa]

43 minutes ago, johnjen said:

Might not be related but I will ask anyway...

 

Upcoming next summer is our first Baltic. Think we will have any problems with not getting chairs thanks to chair hogs?

 

We did Serenade 7 day out of Copenhagen.  Never went to the pool all week, and this was August

[voyager70]

50 minutes ago, johnjen said:

Might not be related but I will ask anyway...

 

Upcoming next summer is our first Baltic. Think we will have any problems with not getting chairs thanks to chair hogs?

 

We did a 13-night Baltics cruise in July 2014.  Weren't expecting pool weather but it was between 75-90 F the entire time.  Lots of people in the pools on sea days but plenty of chairs/loungers available.  That was on Brilliance.

 

[parsec0298]

On 10/14/2019 at 6:46 AM, Nutsok said:

Ok, opinion on this. The wife and I layout everyday. Some days when it’s so hot, we end up standing in the pool almost all day minus the occasional going back to the chairs for sun block, oil or chapstick. Am I supposed to remove my stuff so someone can sit there?  Or are one of you chair police going to remove my stuff because you believe I’m just hogging a chair?

See, situations like this are why all of this is so sticky in my mind.  For me I think it depends on WHICH chair you are taking up.  Is your chair one of the clam-shell day beds, one of the ones in the water by the beach pool, or right in front of the glass in the Solarium?  Or is it one toward the back or even the deck above the pools (deck 16 on Oasis class)?  On Symphony in January you could usually find one or two chairs SOMEWHERE, just not in prime locations.  If you're using your chair mainly for storage while you enjoy the pool then I think the courteous thing to do would be to use a chair in a non-prime location.

 

The problem is, how the hell would Royal enforce a policy like that?  I agree that having some sort of storage cubbies would be great, ideally by the towel stations.  Otherwise, I would like to see them at least be more strict with the day beds.  There shouldn't be a 30 minute rule for those at all.  There should always be a butt in them or they're free for the taking, stuff or not.  Do you have one, by yourself, and you need to go to the bathroom?  Too bad.

[johnjen]

47 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

We did Serenade 7 day out of Copenhagen.  Never went to the pool all week, and this was August

 

42 minutes ago, voyager70 said:

 

We did a 13-night Baltics cruise in July 2014.  Weren't expecting pool weather but it was between 75-90 F the entire time.  Lots of people in the pools on sea days but plenty of chairs/loungers available.  That was on Brilliance.

 

Wow to both. We are expecting to bring our "Iceland June weather" clothes, which is a jacket, sweaters, some long pants, shorts, etc. Very surprising at the weather variances but yes, thanks to both for the good feedback. Really looking forward to this one!

[LESLIEKURZ]

On 10/14/2019 at 9:06 AM, compman9 said:

 

Are saying you use a chair for storage of chapstick while you are using the pool?

 

 

 

I'm OK with that.  At least they're at/in the pool.  

 

My late husband once threw a chair hog's book and flip flops in the pool.  The two items were saving 4 prime poolside chairs on the Oasis from about 7:30 to 10AM.  It was not the right way to handle the situation for sure and I was not happy with him HOWEVER... their faces when they showed up around 3 PM to find their chairs occupied and their stuff poolside and soaking wet was kinda funny.  It's all well and good to want a good, poolside seat but seriously, people might come and go by the time you even decide to roll out of bed and sit in it.  You're not on a 3000+ capacity ship alone.  Have some courtesy no?

[The Sunset Glow]

1 hour ago, HBE4 said:

 

I've gone back to post #3 and I do not see the phrase "butt must be in chair", it just says "unattended". So you don't even need to sit in the chair for 2-3 minutes. Just walk by, maybe touch it with your foot or pick up the towel and put it back down, and your good to go back to the pool! 👍

 

I agree. If you're using the pool and/or hot tub intermittently then it is not chair hogging. As long as you're coming back or keeping an eye on it then you're fine.

Definition of unattended

: not attended : not watched or looked after : lacking a guard, escort, caretaker, etc

 

We rarely use the pools or hot tubs and prefer to be on the top deck in the wind. We rarely have difficulty finding chairs and we only go when we are ready to use them and take our stuff when we will be gone more than 30 minutes.

 

I wish RCI would get some cubbies for people who only want to use the pool or hot tubs so they have somewhere to store their stuff without taking up a chair.

 

Also, I think RCI should reserve some chairs around the pool areas for parents with children. When our kids were younger and needed supervision it was difficult to find chairs in the first row and we only typically needed one or two for the 4 of us (depending on the age of the kids and level of supervision required).

[HBE4]

12 minutes ago, The Sunset Glow said:

We rarely use the pools or hot tubs and prefer to be on the top deck in the wind. We rarely have difficulty finding chairs and we only go when we are ready to use them and take our stuff when we will be gone more than 30 minutes.

 

We actually prefer the top deck overlooking the pools as well. Never have a problem finding a suitable chair. And since there are usually plenty of empty chairs, I don't feel guilty about going to the hot tub / pool / pool bar for more than 30 minutes. Maybe 45-60 minutes. Certainly never more than an hour (I'll shrivel up) If there top deck is packed then we'll return more frequently, mainly to check to see if our stuff is still there.

 

And if we go to get lunch or the cabin for a nap, we always take our stuff.

 

If people just used common sense and courtesy and treated others as they like to be treated,  this wouldn't be an issue.

[HBE4]

 

Come to think of it, I never had an issue getting a chair, even mid-day on a sold out ship.

 

I guess the issue is chairs in prime locations. Maybe Royal should start doing what some all-inclusive resorts do and charge to reserve a chair in prime locations for the day.

 

Better yet, thru the magic of WOW band technology, track your location and if you are away from your chair for 30 minutes, start charging a $1 for every minute you are away. And maybe give you a little electrical shock for good measure. 😅

[voyager70]

54 minutes ago, johnjen said:

 

Wow to both. We are expecting to bring our "Iceland June weather" clothes, which is a jacket, sweaters, some long pants, shorts, etc. Very surprising at the weather variances but yes, thanks to both for the good feedback. Really looking forward to this one!

 

You're very welcome.  Enjoy your Baltic cruise.  One of our favorites ever.

 

[brillohead]

11 hours ago, InVelvetSlumber said:

I only use a chair for sitting on. If I go in the pool, I put my towel, shoes etc in a little pile in a corner. It would be great if there were shelves or something to use instead. Maybe this would also discourage others from using chairs for storage.

There are cubbies for this purpose in the Solarium of Voyager class ships, and I'm pretty sure in Freedom class as well.

[Cruiser_1977]

I have sailed solo on my last two cruises. If I get a chair on the Lido deck it's because I want to rotate between being in the water and sunbathing/reading. If I am in the water I need to be able to keep an eye on my things. I can't have them on the deck above. I also do not keep an eye on the time. Could be 10 minutes, could be an hour. I don't think I am doing anything wrong, rude or "hoggish". On the other hand, when I went with my friend we shared one chair by the pool for our things. He is not a lay out kinda guy and even when I was, he was still sitting/standing in the pool chatting. If I am alone and need to use the restroom, I will ask someone near to me or a crew member to please keep an eye on my things (towel, sunscreen, book, chair).

[Jenal2]

On 10/13/2019 at 11:55 AM, time4u2go said:

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.

They are not contributing to the problem, they are the problem

[sjb317]

4 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

I've gone back to post #3 and I do not see the phrase "butt must be in chair", it just says "unattended". So you don't even need to sit in the chair for 2-3 minutes. Just walk by, maybe touch it with your foot or pick up the towel and put it back down, and your good to go back to the pool! 👍

 

😂😂😂

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, johnjen said:

 

Wow to both. We are expecting to bring our "Iceland June weather" clothes, which is a jacket, sweaters, some long pants, shorts, etc. Very surprising at the weather variances but yes, thanks to both for the good feedback. Really looking forward to this one!

 

St Petersburg was the coldest that week

 

The rest were very nice, just not pool weather to us

[charmy98]

You could always make up some nice little blue and white tags that say "Your chair was vacant for more than 30 mins, you will find your items at the towel station". 🙂 Then take their stuff and leave it with the towel station. It won't be a big deal for me as I hate sitting in the sun. 

[biomedbob]

I'm from a different time zone.  Up early, bored.  See a bunch of towels.  Don't have to answer to my wife.  Collect them.  Put them in the towel things.  Go to breakfast.  Do the bathroom thing.  Go back and watch the fun!

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, biomedbob said:

I'm from a different time zone.  Up early, bored.  See a bunch of towels.  Don't have to answer to my wife.  Collect them.  Put them in the towel things.  Go to breakfast.  Do the bathroom thing.  Go back and watch the fun!

I'm up early every morning to walk the track. I get a birds eye view of the chair hogs on sea days marking their territory. You would add to my walking enjoyment. 

[OSUZorba]

7 hours ago, parsec0298 said:

See, situations like this are why all of this is so sticky in my mind.  For me I think it depends on WHICH chair you are taking up.  Is your chair one of the clam-shell day beds, one of the ones in the water by the beach pool, or right in front of the glass in the Solarium?  Or is it one toward the back or even the deck above the pools (deck 16 on Oasis class)?  On Symphony in January you could usually find one or two chairs SOMEWHERE, just not in prime locations.  If you're using your chair mainly for storage while you enjoy the pool then I think the courteous thing to do would be to use a chair in a non-prime location.

 

The problem is, how the hell would Royal enforce a policy like that?  I agree that having some sort of storage cubbies would be great, ideally by the towel stations.  Otherwise, I would like to see them at least be more strict with the day beds.  There shouldn't be a 30 minute rule for those at all.  There should always be a butt in them or they're free for the taking, stuff or not.  Do you have one, by yourself, and you need to go to the bathroom?  Too bad.

I really think daybeds, love seats, hammocks, etc should all require a butt in it. If you need to get up for some reason, it's someone else's turn. Biggest pet peeves I have about castaway cay is every hammock there is just holding someone's stuff all day when there are a thousand unused beach chairs around.

 

I haven't ran into this issue on the RCL islands.

Edited October 16, 2019 by OSUZorba

[mayleeman]

Obviously, there should be signs requiring people using the pool or hot tubs to take all their stuff with them into the water.

[davekathy]

30 minutes ago, OSUZorba said:

I really think daybeds, love seats, hammocks, etc should all require a butt in it. If you need to get up for some reason, it's someone else's turn. Biggest pet peeves I have about castaway cay is every hammock there is just holding someone's stuff all day when there are a thousand unused beach chairs around.

 

I haven't ran into this issue on the RCL islands.

30 minutes or less, disagree. 30 minutes or longer, agree. Post #3. 

Edited October 16, 2019 by davekathy

[parsec0298]

16 minutes ago, davekathy said:

30 minutes or less, disagree. 30 minutes or longer, agree. Post #3. 

I think we all understand what the policy IS.  We’re suggesting that it should be amended.

[shopaholic6]

9 hours ago, biomedbob said:

I'm from a different time zone.  Up early, bored.  See a bunch of towels.  Don't have to answer to my wife.  Collect them.  Put them in the towel things.  Go to breakfast.  Do the bathroom thing.  Go back and watch the fun!

Get the popcorn 😂😂

[MichellePerth]

14 hours ago, brillohead said:

There are cubbies for this purpose in the Solarium of Voyager class ships, and I'm pretty sure in Freedom class as well.

I always thought those were from an earlier time when towels were not charged and people would just grab what they needed when they needed them. 

[sjb317]

5 hours ago, MichellePerth said:

I always thought those were from an earlier time when towels were not charged and people would just grab what they needed when they needed them. 

They are,  back in the good old days before towel checkouts, there used to be stacks of folded towels in them for people to use. But I guess people could use them as a place for their stuff.  Everyone could just stuff their stuff in them😂

 

Sherri🙂