Theater Chair Hogs

[Garn]

Ok, I'm probably going to get flamed here, but...

 

Pool chair hogs- I get it- they are keeping other people from using chairs by letting their towels get a nice tan. Selfish, unfair, etc.

 

What I don't get is why it's bad to save seats in the theater, if the rest of your party is coming. It seems to be entirely different than deck chairs, where a chair is sitting empty during "prime time".

 

I'd also say it's bad if you save them for people who "thought that maybe they'd come", and then they don't. But if it is for people who will, for sure, be there, again, where's the harm?

 

For that matter, any chair saving equally bad, or if we are a party of 8, and my wife needs to go back to the cabin with my (young) daughter, is it "wrong" for the 6 of us to save them a seat? Or, if we all go down there early, and my son needs to go to the bathroom, is he out of luck?

 

I want to do the "right thing"- I just want to understand the logic behind it.

 

Thanks!

[cb at sea]

I don't think it's "right" for 1 person to get there super early and hold a whole (or half) row of seats---everyone should be there if you have specific seats you want.

(Getting up to go to the bathroom is NOT saving a seat--you've simply vacated it for a "call of nature!")

See, there's a concept of "1st come, 1st served"...and if you want a block of seats in the front row, everyone should get there and get their seats! Simple!

[Krazy Kruizers]

There is nothing wrong with all of you going to the theater and someone has to leave to use the bathroom and you save that person a seat. I see it all the time.

Also there is nothing wrong with saving 2 seats when 6 of you are there.

DH and I always go to the seats -- select our seats -- then take turns using the restroom so that we don't have to disturb anyone during the show.

[Arwenmark]

Also MOST cruiselines have a rule of no seat saving in the theater so that is reason enough. I agree with the others saving one or two seats when there are several of you sitting there or going to the restroom is not the same thing as staking out a bunch of seats with one person sitting or just leaving coats etc. on seats.

Personally I wish they people would leave the very limited wheel chair seating area free. every time last cruise I tried to go to the theater this area at the back was full of people NOT in wheelchairs, not with people in wheelchairs. As I say usually such seats are in the very back and even then people stand in front of you.

[Aquahound]

What I don't get is why it's bad to save seats in the theater, if the rest of your party is coming.

 

It's when you park one person at both ends of a row and hold the entire row (or almost the whole row) that it is rude.

 

On one of my cruises a couple years ago, there was a couple that got to the theater early enough to save the very front row for 10-12 people every single night. Of course, the majority of the group did not arrive until right before showtime, so you could imagine the frustrations and arguments that arose. It did not help that the people were very arrogant about saving their seats. After 4 or 5 days, people caught on to their antics and began sitting there just despite them.

[morriscats]

We make the effort to get to the theater at least 1/2 hour before to get our seats. Maybe it is just me but I hate to see whole rows of seats being saved by 2 or 3 people who are standing, looking and waving for the late comers to see them. On our last cruise there were seat savers in front of us. An elderly couple came late, the wife had Alzheimers. Her DH put her in the only non saved seat and he stood 3 rows behind her against a wall and the seat savers never gave up their saved seats. Their friends never showed.

[eandj]

I agree that people that save seats are being rude and selfish. We've been told we couldn't sit somewhere because there were 4 people who wanted to gamble until the show started a half hour later. Are you kidding? Well I guess the "sitters" DID tell the truth. :rolleyes: If it weren't for my DH spotting another two seats open, I might have taken them on. :eek: It was one show that we really wanted to see and the closer the better. Most we don't care too much about.

[yogi2929]

In a booth once, someone had actually wrote on several cocktail napkins 'Reserved'. No one in the booth. The waitress disposed of them and we sat down. They came back, drinks in hand, just as the lights went dim. Boy, were they pisssed to find 6 of us there. Four of them tried to sit on that little bench in front of the booths, blocking our sight. It was truly pitiful.

 

If a few from their group were in the booth, we wouldn't have sat down. Those signs just pissed us off.

[Karysa]

I can think of at least half a dozen things that I would rather do for half an hour then sit in a theater and wait for a show. We always time it that we arrive with no more than 5 minutes to spare. We have always gotten a decent seat.

Karysa

[Tisha49]

I think reserving maybe 1 or 2 seats out of a large party is fine and most people woudn't have an issue. However, if I and my family can stop what we are doing, get ready and make it to the theatre so we can have nice seats, we should have rights over those who are too lazy or too busy to get their patushkis there. Saving whole rows is just wrong and I think if that happens to my family on this cruise and we would have to take lousy seats, I'm parking where I want to sit for my family of 4. The people can just be steamed...

[Oak Hill Cruisers]

In addition to the mandatory lifeboat drill, there should be a mandatory theater seating drill where the seat saving thing could be aired out in a public forum. :)

 

Or, the cruise director should, at the first couple of shows, make a big deal about seat saving so that the culprits will know that we know.

[Arwenmark]

Personally I would like to know why the Cruiseline does not take responsibilty for some of these Hot button issues. Almost all of them have a notice in the daily paper and often in the theater that there is no saving of seats. same with the pools but they should be stationing at least ONE employee in each of these places to enforce those rules. Problems quickly arise when the guests try to settle it themselves and fist fights have been known to happen, if it is clearly posted and the employee in charge is there to tell people, I am sorry you cannot reserve the row etc. They really don't have a leg to stand on. Also they, the employee can easily call security for back up the guest cannot. And guests should not have to leave the theater in search of an employee to help who usully feigns ignorance or says it is not their job etc.

I am so tired of the cruiseline employees being afraid of enforcing their own rules, because it might annoy a paying customer, well not doing so annoys alot more paying customers, ones that are playing by the rules, so who do you want to offend if your the cruiseline the good customers or the trouble makers?

Never quite understood the reasoning there.

[Tisha49]

I love that they post it in the flyer! I"m taking that with me to shows and just say very sweetly, "oh I"m sorry, you must not have seen THIS (flyer in their face). You can't save seats". Then we park it.

 

Tisha

[erinmarie424]

I love that they post it in the flyer! I"m taking that with me to shows and just say very sweetly, "oh I"m sorry, you must not have seen THIS (flyer in their face). You can't save seats". Then we park it.

 

Tisha

 

I think we were separated at birth! Toooooooo funny!

[Michiganmom25]

Personally I would like to know why the Cruiseline does not take responsibilty for some of these Hot button issues. Almost all of them have a notice in the daily paper and often in the theater that there is no saving of seats. same with the pools but they should be stationing at least ONE employee in each of these places to enforce those rules. Problems quickly arise when the guests try to settle it themselves and fist fights have been known to happen, if it is clearly posted and the employee in charge is there to tell people, I am sorry you cannot reserve the row etc. They really don't have a leg to stand on. Also they, the employee can easily call security for back up the guest cannot. And guests should not have to leave the theater in search of an employee to help who usully feigns ignorance or says it is not their job etc.

I am so tired of the cruiseline employees being afraid of enforcing their own rules, because it might annoy a paying customer, well not doing so annoys alot more paying customers, ones that are playing by the rules, so who do you want to offend if your the cruiseline the good customers or the trouble makers?

Never quite understood the reasoning there.

 

To; Arwenmark.... You said it so well! I couldn't agree more. Perhaps if they had more paying customers like you and I that actually spoke up and asked NICELY, that they enforce their rules, then maybe they would. Let's only hope.

[Tisha49]

erinmarie, LOL! Truly, I'm not a confrontational person at all. But if I can stop whatever I"m doing and my children, get down there, why should I have to sit 6 rows back or whatever because someone else is saving seats for people who won't do what I just did. I think I would just have to say something. I wouldn't be rude, or sarcastic...but I'll have that flyer with me and I have no problems saying something. I'm sure my children will be appalled.

[can786]

Personally, if I see one or two people saving a number of seats I will be sure to sit right there. I don't care if they tell me those seats are taken, I just tell them that I don't see anyone in them and sit down. And if there are two people saving a bunch of empty seats between them, I try to sit smack in the middle so their group is separated. The only way to handle rude people is to call their bluff and not let them get away with it. Like others have said, I have no problem with someone who is saving one empty seat for their companion who has gone to use the restroom. I have often been the one who does the saving in this case!

[cruiserbryce]

if you all want to sit together...you should all get to the theater in a timely manner...why should the other 500 people wanting to see the show get there and have to sit around one person that is saving seats for 4 others that couldnt/didnt get there in a more timely manner

[lysolqn]

What I don't get is why it's bad to save seats in the theater, if the rest of your party is coming.

 

I want to do the "right thing"- I just want to understand the logic behind it.

 

Thanks!

 

Chair hogging is rude - whether out by the pool or in the theater.

 

Saving a seat for someone who has gone to the restroom is not chair hogging; sending a scout into the theater to stake out four, five or an entire row of seats for folks who think they are too important to have to get to the theater early enough to secure a seat on their own is.

[grandmato4]

IMHO common sense should prevail as to if saving chairs in the theater is really rude or not. Is it for one or two minutes or is it for 30 minutes?? How would you feel if the following situations were reversed? I've been to shows where there were actually quite a few seats empty shortly before a show. Saving seats wouldn't have made much difference to finding a good place to sit for those walking in before the show started. I've been in cruiseline theaters where the sightlines are horrible and while there were quite a few empty seats none gave a good view of the stage while all the empty seats with a good view of the stage were being saved which is not fair to those that got their own butts to the theater in a timely fashion. I've also been to shows where 25 minutes before a show there were no seats left anywhere except those being saved and people who arrived to the show ahead of time and wished to watch the show had no place to sit. So, depending on the situation IMHO it can be very rude to save seats just becuase you know someone is eventually going to show up if it prevents someone who gets their own butt to the theater early from getting a seat or a seat where they can actually see the show. On the other hand sometimes it really shouldn't be a big deal as there are plenty of descent places to sit and view the show.

 

Not likely many people are going to have any problem with a single person in the group or even one adult and one child getting up and going to the bathroom after first sitting in seats because you won't be gone long and those around you know you are occupying those chairs. Just don't leave the two empty chairs together at the end of the row as that really does look like there are two empty seats to someone looking for seats especially if it should be one of those standing room only shows that can be frustrating to think you've found a place to sit only to be told when you get there that those chairs are being saved.

[Cruisin' Chick]

A few weeks ago, someone was reminding my daughter's singing teacher about what happened at last year's recital. There were signs on the end chairs of the first couple of rows stating that the rows were reserved for the performing students. Some adults came in and sat down in those rows. Others pointed out to them that the kids need to sit there, but the adults held fast. I have also seen parents show up and save many, many seats (one woman put down her business cards on the seats). Not fair to others. You don't really need to sit altogether. Same thing with these shows.

[mactrio]

On the Spirit Saturday night we were in the front row of the theatre and the theatre manager came and placed 15 napkins on the chairs, 8 in the 1st row and 7 in the 2nd row and placed a slip of paper with a cabin number on it. Well the lady behind me became irate and said "I thought there was no saving seats" and he replied "well we need to save them for the VIP guests: and she went ballistic and told him "well I think we are all VIP's are you telling me that others are more important than me?" then people around us got mad and were griping about it and all of a sudden this man comes in, rips the napkins off the seats and yells "there is no saving seats in here" so the lady says "well the manager saved them for some vip in the penthouse" and he yells "oh well these are my seats, I'm in suite # and then proceedes to yell for his family of 15 to join him in their saved seats"

then the daughter asks me if we reserved the seats we were in because she needed 2 more, and I think she honestly expected me to move. :rolleyes:

[caber]

We were in the ship`s theatre and I decided to go back out to the toilet. The place was half empty at the time but this man sat down in my seat. My husband told him I was sitting there and I had just popped out to the toilet.

The guy then went mad, shouting that he couldn`t reserve seats in the theatre.

I returned to find the guy standing over my husband, threatening him. Other cruisers persuaded the man to go and sit elsewhere.

We were not in the front row and there were vacant seats all around.

[owl61]

I want to do the "right thing"- I just want to understand the logic behind it.

Thanks!

Have you gotten the answer to your request for knowing what the right thing is? The logic behind it is the same as the logic behind good manners in general, that is, to make social interaction easier and more pleasant.

[Perfect Stranger]

We pick out our favorite seats a half hour before the show. It's annoying when we want to take turns using the restroom right before showtime and while one of us is gone, late arrivers will try to come and take our empty spot. Likewise, when we each need the little table to play bingo, which is often before the show, and people who aren't even playing arrive late and want us to crowd together, leaving one of us without the table.