New 30-minute pool lounger save policy instituted on the Splendor

[SireDoime]

How is this possible, to save a lounger? I assumed luxury ships were never at full capacity due to their price points. How hard can it be to find a place to sit on the pool deck on a luxury ship?

 

(PS: I have sailed on RSS yet, ALL of my past bookings from 2020 to 2021 kept getting pushed back. Maybe I'll finally make it aboard this November).

[SireDoime]

13 hours ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

One of the main reasons I booked Regent was not worrying about chairhog nonsense… I (incorrectly) assumed that there would be enough chairs for everyone…🤦‍♂️

 

This is what I assumed as well. That these ships were too expensive and therefore would never be fully loaded. If they were, it was mostly with the elderly who don't hang out at the pool.

 

But it seems a lot of millenials and GenZers are getting onboard with their Bitcoin & NFT fortunes 🤑 and whatnot. Oh, well...that's why I booked a Suite with a large enough balcony, but I want to be on the pool deck. Hopefully, on my sailing there won't be as many people - it's a 21 day, and I've learned from my last 14 days on NCL Bliss that long haul sails don't usually have a full passenger load due the cruise length. And that cruise was the FIRST time I was ever on the pool deck of any cruise I'd been on, with the others being so crowded.

 

But I did hear that medium and large Groups are booking Regent now, so...that could change.

It'll be  interesting to see what the lounger situation looks like while crossing the Atlantic.

[2SailingNomads]

Unfortunately chair hogs are not unique to Regent.  We have done 20 Seabourn cruises and have seen this behavior on every cruise.  People "reserving" chairs and then going ashore.  A frequent poster on that board whining about people doing it, yet he and his partner had one in the shade and another in the sun.  Hypocritic.  So why can't people just be respectful of others?  If we go for a long lunch and have a lounge chair we remove our stuff and if one is available when we come back fine, otherwise we look for another option.  

[Pack Leader]

We complained about having no free sunbeds available on Princess as they were all reserved with books and towels and they sent a member of staff who went round clearing all the unoccupied beds of personal belongings. If I encounter this on my upcoming Regent cruise I will ask someone to clear the reserved beds

[papaflamingo]

1 minute ago, Pack Leader said:

We complained about having no free sunbeds available on Princess as they were all reserved with books and towels and they sent a member of staff who went round clearing all the unoccupied beds of personal belongings. If I encounter this on my upcoming Regent cruise I will ask someone to clear the reserved beds

That's definitely the best way to handle it.  

[wcsdkqh]

You know what they say about people who assume. Regent ships are almost always full, the exception being post pandemic when ships were not at full capacity on purpose.

[Stefken]

Wondering if the loungers etc. on deck overlooking the pool, would be available, then just a wee walk down the stairs to the pool, and jacuzzi’s. Hope so as love watching the sea, so would be happy using this area. Wouldn’t lounger hog, but it could be an option. 
 

looking forward to this voyage, anyway. Also hoping no groups on board, as seems to have happened on the cruise that left Miami on Saturday. Seems to have upset the dynamics of the cruise for B2Backers.

[ivyleaguegent]

The Seabourn Quest has two hot tubs on a lower deck with numerous lounge chairs on the back of the ship.  I was always the only person there and it was wonderful!

[-Lew-]

2 hours ago, Pack Leader said:

We complained about having no free sunbeds available on Princess as they were all reserved with books and towels and they sent a member of staff who went round clearing all the unoccupied beds of personal belongings. If I encounter this on my upcoming Regent cruise I will ask someone to clear the reserved beds

 

In 50+ Princess cruises, before we left for Celebrity and Regent, we could never coerce deck staff to remove items left to reserve loungers...even after Princess stated a policy.  We resorted to removing items ourselves and never experienced any issue upon the return of the items' owner.  NOTE: I'm not recommending this course of action.

[wishIweretravelling]

11 hours ago, SireDoime said:

How is this possible, to save a lounger? I assumed luxury ships were never at full capacity due to their price points. How hard can it be to find a place to sit on the pool deck on a luxury ship?

 

(PS: I have sailed on RSS yet, ALL of my past bookings from 2020 to 2021 kept getting pushed back. Maybe I'll finally make it aboard this November).

They often run at full capacity, at least pre-covid. It’s just that the capacity is much lower than on mass market cruises.

 

But there are usually enough loungers for all who want them. The problem is with the more desirable loungers. Those would be the ones on the pool deck in the shade. Most of the ships also have some on the sports deck in the shade, but that’s one deck up from the pool and there often isn’t bar waiter service up there. There are usually plenty of chairs in the sun. But Regent attracts mostly a demographic that has learned better than to sit in the sun for an extended period.

[-Lew-]

5 minutes ago, wishIweretravelling said:

But there are usually enough loungers for all who want them.

The Splendor carries a maximum of about 730.  A quick estimate of lounge capacity on the pool deck is no more than 300.  I didn't count deck 12 capacity, but I'd guess ~100.

[wishIweretravelling]

2 hours ago, -Lew- said:

The Splendor carries a maximum of about 730.  A quick estimate of lounge capacity on the pool deck is no more than 300.  I didn't count deck 12 capacity, but I'd guess ~100.

That's enough for all who want them. You will never find all the passengers out on the decks. Ever. I've sailed more than 400 nights on Regent, and never once seen anything close to every seat taken or "reserved." Even when it's crowded, not all the chairs are taken. Only the more desirable ones.

[mrstanley]

The problem is very few passengers want to sit in the sun. The loungers in the sun are often unoccupied. 

[Sunprince]

14 hours ago, SireDoime said:

But it seems a lot of millenials and GenZers are getting onboard with their Bitcoin & NFT fortunes 🤑 and whatnot.

Although possible, this is not necessarily  true in my experience/observation.  It’s usually the “older crowd” who are regulars. And they all know better…they are just selfish and choose to ignore common courtesy behaviour. 

[Sunprince]

14 hours ago, 2SailingNomads said:

We have done 20 Seabourn cruises and have seen this behavior on every cruise.  People "reserving" chairs and then going ashore.  A frequent poster on that board whining about people doing it, yet he and his partner had one in the shade and another in the sun. 

I bet I can make an accurate guess as to who that is 😀 No names to be mentioned though!

[seasickphil]

46 minutes ago, mrstanley said:

The problem is very few passengers want to sit in the sun. The loungers in the sun are often unoccupied. 

That depends what waters you are sailing in, if you are in Scandinavia/ Baltics than a lounger in the sun would be most welcome, if not essential, as it would be some what chilly to say the least to sit in the shade.

[mnocket]

1 hour ago, mrstanley said:

The problem is very few passengers want to sit in the sun. The loungers in the sun are often unoccupied. 

Or stated another way.... the problem is that the ship's designers didn't properly consider the customer preferences when designing the pool deck.  

[Roccaforte]

We were on Splendor last week (1/21 to 2/1).  It was a southern Caribbean cruise.  Every lounge chair in the shade was occupied or covered with personal belongings by 9:00.  Those in the sun were available.  The demographic on this cruise were not the type to lay in the hot sun all day.  Too many encounters with a Mohs surgeon.  We tried the few chairs at the spa infinity pool but they were likewise occupied.  There are other areas for relaxing outdoors but not around the pool.  
We didn’t encounter any noise or rowdy behavior - maybe because it was an 11 day cruise.  Based on comments here, I’ll avoid seven day itineraries.

[cruiseluv]

5 hours ago, wcsdkqh said:

You know what they say about people who assume. Regent ships are almost always full, the exception being post pandemic when ships were not at full capacity on purpose.

On my 11 night Splendor cruise that just ended we were told the ship was 96% full

[Pcardad]

Don't give up on the shorter cruises - they can be a lot of fun and the situation described above is not typical.

[cruiseluv]

8 minutes ago, Roccaforte said:

We were on Splendor last week (1/21 to 2/1).  It was a southern Caribbean cruise.  Every lounge chair in the shade was occupied or covered with personal belongings by 9:00.  Those in the sun were available.  The demographic on this cruise were not the type to lay in the hot sun all day.  Too many encounters with a Mohs surgeon.  We tried the few chairs at the spa infinity pool but they were likewise occupied.  There are other areas for relaxing outdoors but not around the pool.  
We didn’t encounter any noise or rowdy behavior - maybe because it was an 11 day cruise.  Based on comments here, I’ll avoid seven day itineraries.

I was in your cruise and agree 100%, although I sometimes saw chairs in the sun being “ reserved” as well

[CJANDH]

On 2/2/2023 at 9:07 PM, Lonedaddy said:

On explorer lovely sea day sailing the coral sea.

Just out of interest, how did the muster drill go for you now that they have gone back to the in-person altogether procedure?

[Dr. Cocktail]

2 hours ago, mnocket said:

Or stated another way.... the problem is that the ship's designers didn't properly consider the customer preferences when designing the pool deck.  

We have a winner!

 

Its kinda' crazy .... I'm stressing about my upcoming Splendor cruise but looking for forward to my cruise on Explora 1. The images of the various pool decks are frankly astonishing in their variety and skillful use of every square foot.

[slidebite]

Absolutely zero problem with this policy but agree some tuning will likely be needed. Some gentle "education" might be all that's required for 99% of the cruisers, the "entitled" ones will be the problem but they'll never be satisfied if there is any rule they disagree with.. because rules are for other people to follow.

That said, I've never had a problem getting a lounger but I also will wear a hat when in the sun and don't mind it. I also "plan ahead" with a lounger so if it looks like it will be in the shade in an hour or so, the better.

 

Personally I'd have little problem noting a "reserved" chair being unoccupied for an hour and moving the "reservation" belongings to the side if a staff member is reluctant to. But I'm also the kind of guy that would empty a washing machine with clothes that have been sitting there for over 30 minutes holding up a machine if none of the others are free. Don't want me to touch your stuff? I'd rather not either, but I'm not the inconsiderate one.

 

Want to go for lunch for 45-60 minutes or take a dip in a pool? IMHO, if you don't have a S.O. or friend there to hold it in person, it should be forfeit and that is probably the problem in a nutshell. 10, even 20 minutes to grab a drink from the bar or some food from the pool grill? That's absolutely understandable. But gone for 30+? Just so you can go to get a bite? Or even your cabin? That is part of the problem imho. 30 easily slides to 45 which slides to 60 before you know it.

 

 

[Gpilon]

31 minutes ago, slidebite said:

Absolutely zero problem with this policy but agree some tuning will likely be needed. Some gentle "education" might be all that's required for 99% of the cruisers, the "entitled" ones will be the problem but they'll never be satisfied if there is any rule they disagree with.. because rules are for other people to follow.

That said, I've never had a problem getting a lounger but I also will wear a hat when in the sun and don't mind it. I also "plan ahead" with a lounger so if it looks like it will be in the shade in an hour or so, the better.

 

Personally I'd have little problem noting a "reserved" chair being unoccupied for an hour and moving the "reservation" belongings to the side if a staff member is reluctant to. But I'm also the kind of guy that would empty a washing machine with clothes that have been sitting there for over 30 minutes holding up a machine if none of the others are free. Don't want me to touch your stuff? I'd rather not either, but I'm not the inconsiderate one.

 

Want to go for lunch for 45-60 minutes or take a dip in a pool? IMHO, if you don't have a S.O. or friend there to hold it in person, it should be forfeit and that is probably the problem in a nutshell. 10, even 20 minutes to grab a drink from the bar or some food from the pool grill? That's absolutely understandable. But gone for 30+? Just so you can go to get a bite? Or even your cabin? That is part of the problem imho. 30 easily slides to 45 which slides to 60 before you know it.

 

 

Sorry we will be on different TA crossings in March/April. With your “hobby”, I was looking forward to you resolving the problem with the chair hogs. Have a great cruise.