Deck Chair Hogs

My last 7 night cruise apparently was haunted because there were lots of ghosts using deck chairs. Oh you could see their belongings sure enough, just not them. Is this still a problem?

It is ALWAYS a problem. Every warm-weather cruise, every ship. *shrug*

And it will continue as long as RCCL does not enforce its own rules and passangers take advantage of this failure

It was certainly a problem recently on Adventure southern itinerary...the deck patrol was very active though (don't usually see that) putting little post-it's on the bottom legs of the lounge chairs with a time written on them...and saw many towels and items being taken up to the towel station...good for this particular crew :D

It's not just a "cruise ship" problem...go to a resort hotel, and see ALL the loungers at the pool occupied by a towel and 1 flip flop!

Does anyone have suggestions on how to combat this problem? It seems pretty annoyoing to me.

Ships/hotels have to enforce the rules. We've been to several resorts that will drop a tag on a chair and after 45-60 minutes the stuff is moved. We got into it with some people who saved their chairs and we sat down after the staff removed it. We had been sitting in ther hairs for at least 3 hours when they came back claim to have just left for a few minutes. We were also on Celebrity last summer and they were very good about deck hogs.

i love this topic, most season cruise know this is a issue and is usually groups of friend that don't think twice about it cos their on holiday.

My partner is one of those lazy cruises that will get up way before me and go have a big breakfast then head to the pool area and find a great seat near the pool and there he stays for the day.

he will only leave his seat for a food top up and the very odd swim. headphones in listening to his tunes he sits and people watches. i find this great cos i alway have a base around the pool area to leave my things and if a lounger is available ill have a little lay down (about an hour is my sit still factor).

unlike others he is the last to save a seat, in fact I've been know to come back from a swim or a wonder and he has invited someone looking for a chair to take mine, I'm not currently using it!!!

i think he meet more people than me doing this.

My other observation is that there is not area or even lockers to leave your things in to take a swim and i often wonder if that is why some people leave items on chairs? I think a locker area to leave thinks like sea pass, towels, watches, glasses etc would be great, just a thought.

sylva

Does anyone have suggestions on how to combat this problem? It seems pretty annoyoing to me.

Balcony... I prefer to sit on my balcony and enjoy the peace and quiet. Never have problems finding a chair either. :)

It depends on the ship, on Jewel they were very strict in putting labels on loungers and removing belongings after a set time, in fact sometimes we were in the pool and after a few minutes the attendant would put a sticker on and we would just give him a wave to let him know we were around.

On the other side, we were recently on Anthem, we are early risers so would go to the solarium for a dip in the hot tub and to watch sunrise, we saw lots of people coming along, one flip flop on each bed, towels down then off somewhere else coming back later, we did let some other people know who were later searching for a lounger and left it to them if they wanted to get the attendant to clear it, we saw no attendants being proactive though even though it was obvious who were just leaving them for a while.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to combat this problem? It seems pretty annoyoing to me.

I personally prefer to do my sunning early in the morning, and it's not usually too busy then, so I don't really find it to be a problem.

If I ever run into an issue, I ask one of the deck crew for assistance. They know the problem exists, and they will happily find you a chair, or remove articles if need be.

Now, if you show up at 11:30am on an sea day looking for six chairs together, you're plum out of luck...

There are usually four of us that cruise together. We try to get one chair in the sun and one in the shade under the canopy/overhang. We share the two loungers because one or two are usually in the pool swimming or sitting dangling their feet in the water. One is at the bar or grabbing food. Someone will run back to the cabin or to one of the shops. Someone will get tired of the heat and want to sit in the shade with a cold drink. We've never tried saving four loungers. It's rare for this to be an inconvenience for us. I have seen one person come early and save an entire row of loungers, leave and not return for HOURS. These loungers are never all occupied, but the one person there will tell anyone coming near them they are all occupied.

My last 7 night cruise apparently was haunted because there were lots of ghosts using deck chairs. Oh you could see their belongings sure enough, just not them. Is this still a problem?

I take a pic, go tell the RCL deck folks, wait 45 mins, take another pic, go back & tell them again. If they don't move the crap, I do and I don't even give another thought.

My last 7 night cruise apparently was haunted because there were lots of ghosts using deck chairs. Oh you could see their belongings sure enough, just not them. Is this still a problem?

I love a good deck chair hog thread! The problem comes and goes, is more severe one time over another, week to week ship to ship. Some people will feel compelled to say why they don't think its a problem. I have some great photos of chair hogs in action, but I'm not allowed to post them. But I'll look forward to participating in another discussion. I saw far less than normal on my last Oasis cruise. Maybe that is because I was busy celebrating spending 35 years with my wife? Looking forward to reading other replies.

Chair hogs used to bother me no end. Now, however, I've come to realize that I can hardly change anything. Glad to know some ships are doing something positive. I don't obsess anymore because we always find 2 chairs SOMEWHERE. I don't need to be on top of the pool. I just want a comfy place to read my kindle and relax. It's never a problem.

I take a pic, go tell the RCL deck folks, wait 45 mins, take another pic, go back & tell them again. If they don't move the crap, I do and I don't even give another thought.

I like this approach, we have been resort folks for the past 15 years or so and are easing back to cruising...we have seen some of the same things at resorts worldwide but they seem to be more proactive about the policing and taking action. Some here have mentioned if the cruise line only enforced their rules it would not be a problem, could someone direct me to the specific rule that is not being enforced or followed, so in the event on our 7 day ABC cruise coming up on Saturday, I can then direct either the crew or the offender/s to the referenced rule.

On a very recent Disney cruise, the attendants were there in full force. They were making sure that unattended loungers were cleared up and that underage folks didn't disturb the area. But, they were very professional about it. Dedication and consistency are the key.

i love this topic, most season cruise know this is a issue and is usually groups of friend that don't think twice about it cos their on holiday.

 

My partner is one of those lazy cruises that will get up way before me and go have a big breakfast then head to the pool area and find a great seat near the pool and there he stays for the day.

 

he will only leave his seat for a food top up and the very odd swim. headphones in listening to his tunes he sits and people watches. i find this great cos i alway have a base around the pool area to leave my things and if a lounger is available ill have a little lay down (about an hour is my sit still factor).

 

unlike others he is the last to save a seat, in fact I've been know to come back from a swim or a wonder and he has invited someone looking for a chair to take mine, I'm not currently using it!!!

 

i think he meet more people than me doing this.

 

My other observation is that there is not area or even lockers to leave your things in to take a swim and i often wonder if that is why some people leave items on chairs? I think a locker area to leave thinks like sea pass, towels, watches, glasses etc would be great, just a thought.

 

sylva

Great post. sounds like it good have been written about my wife. They are actually using the chairs, so they aren't chair hogs. But the OP talked about combating the problem, My wife will make acquaintance with a nearby person in case she has to leave for just a few minutes. I may spend an hour at a time with her, then I wander, but I'll come back and see if she needs anything. She is also quick to let someone know if a chair has been unoccupied for an hour.

Since solutions were asked for...

I've always thought they should put sea pass card swiped timers on the chairs. While you are in it who cares, but if you get up to grab a bite to eat or take a dip you would swipe your card and a 30 - 45 minute timer starts counting down. At zero you lose your chair.

Chair hogging could still take place but it would be a much bigger PITA to accomplish.

That would cost money for equipment though so it will never happen. A cheaper alternative is station a lot of crew up by the pool early in the morning and have them observe and inform people where their stuff will be if they aren't back in a reasonable amount of time. If the early morning all day chair hogs could be reduced I think the problem would become much less noticeable.

Balcony... I prefer to sit on my balcony and enjoy the peace and quiet. Never have problems finding a chair either. :)

I second the balcony! However, I do love getting up in the morning, grabbing a cup of coffee and a roll, and watching the hogs trying to claim the best spots in the pen. It is like a free show!

On our Anthem cruise last week (June 11-16) the chair hogs were out in full force, but so were the pool police :) They would put tags on the chairs with the time the chair was left unoccupied, along with the time they would be removing the belongings if the people hadn't come back...and they did remove the belongings at that time. We saw this every day.

I also have a couple pics of a woman giving major attitude to one of the pool police, needless to say she did not win her argument and the chair was handed over to someone else who had been waiting.

On our Anthem cruise last week (June 11-16) the chair hogs were out in full force, but so were the pool police :) They would put tags on the chairs with the time the chair was left unoccupied, along with the time they would be removing the belongings if the people hadn't come back...and they did remove the belongings at that time. We saw this every day.

I also have a couple pics of a woman giving major attitude to one of the pool police, needless to say she did not win her argument and the chair was handed over to someone else who had been waiting.

These pictures were taken at approx. 7:35am

On our Anthem cruise last week (June 11-16) the chair hogs were out in full force, but so were the pool police :) They would put tags on the chairs with the time the chair was left unoccupied, along with the time they would be removing the belongings if the people hadn't come back...and they did remove the belongings at that time. We saw this every day. ...

What an excellent idea, I wish all the ships enforced the rule this way.

My last 7 night cruise apparently was haunted because there were lots of ghosts using deck chairs. Oh you could see their belongings sure enough, just not them. Is this still a problem?

This is always a problem no matter what type of cruise especially on sea days.

I was recently on the Ovation and there seems to be a conscious effort on the part of the crew to try to combat these selfish chair hogs. The Ovation has a few of the big round loungers that I love. Went up early one morning just to look around and of course people had already "claimed" them with stuff, bags, sunglasses, towels, books. Anyway I also saw little stickies with times written on at least one them. When I came back through the lounger had been cleared.

I also have no problem taking a "claimed" lounger especially if I have been through and I know the stuff has been there for over an hour. I got one of the attendants, told him the towels had been there for quite sometime. The guy who was "watching" the empty chairs said they were coming back that they had only gone for lunch. I assumed he meant dinner because this was 8:30pm. This was movie night and it was already crowded. The attendant took the towels, we sat, the "chair hogs" came through about 9:30pm wondering why someone was sitting in their chairs. Did I feel guilty? Not one bit and I actually enjoyed Star Wars.

Since solutions were asked for...

 

I've always thought they should put sea pass card swiped timers on the chairs. While you are in it who cares, but if you get up to grab a bite to eat or take a dip you would swipe your card and a 30 - 45 minute timer starts counting down. At zero you lose your chair.

 

Chair hogging could still take place but it would be a much bigger PITA to accomplish.

 

That would cost money for equipment though so it will never happen. A cheaper alternative is station a lot of crew up by the pool early in the morning and have them observe and inform people where their stuff will be if they aren't back in a reasonable amount of time. If the early morning all day chair hogs could be reduced I think the problem would become much less noticeable.

Make the chairs snap shut like a bear trap when the timer expires. Sounds like a great idea to me!