Wish Royal would adopt something like Carnival's new chair hog policy

[Mum2Mercury]

Carnival has started a new policy that's actually supposed to address the chair hog problem.  Simple:  Staff members will place a note with the time on a chair.  After 40 minutes, the items on the chair will be removed:  https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-makes-a-move-thats-firm-with-guests/84384 

 

It's a great step.  I'd love to see Royal do something similar.  

 

 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 minute ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Carnival has started a new policy that's actually supposed to address the chair hog problem.  Simple:  Staff members will place a note with the time on a chair.  After 40 minutes, the items on the chair will be removed:  https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-makes-a-move-thats-firm-with-guests/84384 

 

It's a great step.  I'd love to see Royal do something similar.  

 

 

Royal has policies on chair accuracy. 
 

Having a policy and enforcing it are 2 different issues. I expect nothing will change on Carnival. 

[Mum2Mercury]

5 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Royal has policies on chair accuracy. 
 

Having a policy and enforcing it are 2 different issues. I expect nothing will change on Carnival. 

Royal puts forth zero effort to enforce their don't-reserve-chairs policy. 

 

But you're right that a policy isn't a policy unless it's enforced.  This wouldn't be hard to enforce -- and they didn't make this new rule for no reason.  I hope they do enforce it.  

[Jerseygirl1416]

15 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Carnival has started a new policy that's actually supposed to address the chair hog problem.  Simple:  Staff members will place a note with the time on a chair.  After 40 minutes, the items on the chair will be removed:  https://www.cruisehive.com/carnival-cruise-line-makes-a-move-thats-firm-with-guests/84384 

 

It's a great step.  I'd love to see Royal do something similar.  

 

 

Carnival has been doing that inconsistently for years and years. I’ve seen it done at the beach pool on Oasis but before the shut down. They didn’t use post it’s they just had a crew member there all morning monitoring chairs. 
 

If you want a chair by the pool simply get up early in the morning and get one. Usually by 8-9am is good. Then don’t leave for more than thirty minutes until you’re done with it. It’s really not that hard.

Edited October 17, 2022 by Jerseygirl1416

[smokeybandit]

It'd be a bear of a process, but it'd be nice if they had a chair reservation process. Free for an hour, then a charge if you want it more than an hour at a time.

[rudeney]

They make you check-out towels, surely they can come up with a system where you have to check-out a chair.  

[aubreyc1988]

On Allure, even if you found a chair at 8-9 am, the towel station would be OUT OF TOWELS. When asked why, the attendant would gesture about the sea of towels on chairs and shrug. Like cmon, they could do something about it but choose not to. 

 

Sometimes I will sit at the bar and watch a particular chair and wait the 30 min and then move the towel. SMH. 

[cynt]

26 minutes ago, rudeney said:

They make you check-out towels, surely they can come up with a system where you have to check-out a chair.  

 

NO! I do not want to check out or reserve ANYTHING ELSE on a cruise! Let the chair hogs have their chairs by the pool. I don't want them anyway. I'm perfectly fine lounging in a chair with shade. We reserve enough things on Royal ships. HARD NO to reserving lounge chairs. 

[crewsweeper]

Used to be able to grab a chair in a fairly good location on the Solarium before 8AM.  I think you need to be there before 6AM these days.  The pool is the last place I'd want to spend time at.

[neverbeenhere]

Royal has a pretty reliable lounge chair reservation system, it's called book a suite.  No other system needed.

[rudeney]

10 minutes ago, cynt said:

 

NO! I do not want to check out or reserve ANYTHING ELSE on a cruise! Let the chair hogs have their chairs by the pool. I don't want them anyway. I'm perfectly fine lounging in a chair with shade. We reserve enough things on Royal ships. HARD NO to reserving lounge chairs. 

 

I wasn't really saying you have to "reserve" a chair.  What I was trying to say is make it a monetary penalty, like the $25 they charge for failure to return a towel.  They can put up signs and threaten to remove belongings, but until chair-hogs get hit in the wallet, they will keep doing it.  So maybe instead of reserving a chair, you go to the towel stand and have your SeaPass card scanned where you get a card to place on a chair that you are using.  To get your deposit back, you have to return the card.  The crew can watch and whenever a card sits on a chair for more than 30 minutes, they collect them and the hog loses the deposit.  

[rudeney]

2 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

Royal has a pretty reliable lounge chair reservation system, it's called book a suite.  No other system needed.

 

Good point!  I've never had an issue getting a chair in the suite section.  

[BND]

37 minutes ago, neverbeenhere said:

Royal has a pretty reliable lounge chair reservation system, it's called book a suite.  No other system needed.

Depends on the ship.  Vision class does not have a suite area.  Also, our experience is the suite areas are always in the direct sun, so no thanks.  When we want to spend a lot of the day in the Solarium, DH gets up at his normal time, usually between 630 and 7 and heads up and grabs two chairs in what we hope stays shade all day.  I'm usually up there within 30 min of him and we grab a quick breakfast to eat at our seat and do the same for lunch.  Randomly, seats will open up throughout the day.  The worst person we ever saw in the solarium had a lounger in the sun and one in the shade. She would move back and forth.  I've also seen people drop towels on loungers, get in the pool or hot tub, get out and grab their towels and leave and never sit in the chair.  Not sure why they each need a lounger for a towel.  

[ARandomTraveler]

I vote YES on this. It would be nice if they'd actually enforce the policy. 
 

The problem is, the chair hogs come back and get mad at the staff member, and the staff member has no incentive or backup to want to put themselves in that position.

 

What I foresee happening is the chair hogs making a big fuss about it until the only solution left is for the cruiseline to require paid reservations for certain deck chairs. 
 

They're giving people a chance to follow the policy and keep chairs free, but if the chair hogs continue their selfish behavior, it'll start costing everyone else money.

 

That being said, there are beach resorts that require paid reservations for palapas now, and even though it ends up costing $75/day, it creates a much more civilized environment and completely eliminates the chair hogs. I'm ok with that if it comes to it. 
 

 

Edited October 17, 2022 by ARandomTraveler

[Jerseygirl1416]

1 hour ago, aubreyc1988 said:

On Allure, even if you found a chair at 8-9 am, the towel station would be OUT OF TOWELS. When asked why, the attendant would gesture about the sea of towels on chairs and shrug. Like cmon, they could do something about it but choose not to. 

 

Sometimes I will sit at the bar and watch a particular chair and wait the 30 min and then move the towel. SMH. 

I always get a clean towel on my way back to my cabin at the end of the day so I’m prepared the next day.

[mac_tlc]

I really hate that you have to check out towels. I prefer this:

 

 

A towel on every chair. 
 

mac_tlc

Edited October 17, 2022 by mac_tlc

[aubreyc1988]

9 minutes ago, Jerseygirl1416 said:

I always get a clean towel on my way back to my cabin at the end of the day so I’m prepared the next day.

the QR code thing in the room worked well for me, but seriously though, they shouldn't be out of towels at the beginning of the day because most people are seat saving...blows my mind to be honest. 

[Jerseygirl1416]

4 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

the QR code thing in the room worked well for me, but seriously though, they shouldn't be out of towels at the beginning of the day because most people are seat saving...blows my mind to be honest. 

Agreed.

[aubreyc1988]

17 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

I really hate that you have to check out towels. I prefer this:

 

 

A towel on every chair. 
 

mac_tlc

Why would the cruiseline pay someone to do this when passengers do it for free 😉 

[coaster]

I like Carnival's policy. They will just need more security after the chair hogs might get irate after doing something they should not of done though. Wish Royal was this proactive.

[coaster]

Towel thing is bad. Returned ours on Harmony and still got charged. They reversed the charge after we saw the charge to give Royal credit. Celebrity doesn't do this, but Royal seems to think those of us who sail them over Celebrity are more prone to steal towels.

[PWP-001]

Until Royal institutes something that works and they are willing to enforce, how about this:

 

We live in a society where small children can do no wrong:  running wild, being loud, misbehaving... all without discipline.  So I think a few mommy and daddies should TRAIN their young'uns to laugh and run through the pool areas, PULLING EVERY TOWEL OFF of an empty lounger and dropping them in a pile over to the side!

 

"Oh, I'm sorry, but there wasn't anything on any of the chairs when I came out, so I don't know what you mean about reserving this chair."

[VernRDH]

On Adventure this August we saw staff putting sticky notes on unattended chairs. Problem was people were in the pool or hot tub or had gone to get a bite to eat. So those folks came back maybe 10 minutes later to find a note on their chair. Pissed them off. 

I will not apologize for using a chair in the shade all day. DH and I like the quieter spaces, so we tend to go further away from the pool in the Solarium. On sea days, that is where we stay. We may go in the hot tub or pool for a bit, but we enjoy relaxing there, enjoying the view, making new friends or just reading or playing games.

[time4u2go]

Post some big signs about the dangers of skin cancer around the pool.  Maybe that will discourage some (but I doubt it).

[BND]

I have seen sticky notes put on chairs in the Solarium several times over the last 5 years or so.  The stickers are only as issue if someone doesn't come back within 1/2 hour.