New to Celebrity! Chair hogs??? How bad is it on Equinox?

The worst chair hogs I ever encountered was on a Princess cruise.

:halo: I don't mind chair hogs, as long as their bodies are on said chairs... I don't even mind if they head off for lunch, as long as they come back in about 30 / 45 minutes.. but what cracks me up is people who take chairs, some in the sun and of course some in the shade, for the whole day, but don't appear.. or maybe have taken a half dozen bed and there only be 2 people at them at any one time!

Last year, I was looking for a bed for my hubby and I, when a lady called me over, right at the edge of the pool, she said the beds beside her had towels etc on them all day, but the whole time they had been there, no-one had appeared at them. She told me to get the pool attendant and she would tell them... which I did, he removed the belongings... about an hour later, a lady appeared, told me I was on her bed! I pointed her in the direction of the pool attendant..

It's nice to be nice and this applies when we are on holidays too, but I sometimes think people leave their courtesy and manners on the port when getting on board..;)

Also keep your eye on chairs with just towels on them- if no one comes back in about 30 - 45 minutes have the Pool Butler clear them. IMHO if people would remove their used towels when they leave the pool there would be plenty of chairs throughout the day.

This is a good point - keep your eye on people actually leaving. Sometimes people don't take their used towels, so it looks like the chair is still in use.

I would give another vote to going to the deck above to group your beds, chairs....You can still hear the music but not so loud, there are usually some chairs as well as sun beds which can be better for a larger group coming and going and there is also a little more space to spread out.

If you have trouble finding chairs on the pool deck, definitely take a look at the deck above - I agree with chemmo - it is sometimes even more relaxing and the layout makes the trip 'down' to the pool deck extremely convenient.

I've been on the Equinox many times, and have found it different each time, with no 'obvious pattern'. On one cruise, I did have to go out around 8am if I wanted any chance of a chair on the pool deck for the morning/day. On that same cruise, people would come out early and 'reserve' 4, 6, 8, 10 chairs by putting a few bags on them (presumably, to go then get breakfast). However, one block was left like that for hours and hours (pool butlers didn't remove anything). I have no problem with someone reserving a chair to go get a quick bite to eat or coffee....but blocks of chairs for hours and hours, is a bit too much IMHO.

@The Fun Researcher - enjoy your cruise...despite the 'chair hog' concept, I don' think it will negatively impact your cruise in any way....Equinox is a great ship!

I was just on the Equinox. The worst "chair hoarders" were near the pool, in the shade, and in the cabana's for two. More than once I did see staff members collecting things that were left unattended for too long and freeing up the spots.

My wife and I are new to Celebrity, and so are the other four couples that are going on the same cruise with us. (None of us are new to cruising however.) We will be on the Equinox in August this year.

 

There seems to be more talk about CHAIR HOGS on the Celebrity forum than other cruise lines that I've looked into.

 

On a sea day, are there lounge chairs available on the pool deck? We don't need to be right up by the pool, even 4-5 rows deep is fine. :) We just need a spot to put our stuff and lounge when we aren't in the pool. We are a group all in our late 30's to mid 40's, and we'll be near or in the pool a decent amount on sea days. How bad is it?

 

Thanks,

Dan

We are just off the Reflection. It was awful. I was up at 7:45 and it took me 10 minutes to find two chairs together and that was a few rows back from the pool. All the saving was ridiculous. I watched and most took 2-3 hours to ever show up. One family that reserved 7 chairs rolled in 3 hours after me one at a time over the next hour and a half. So rude! I did witness several complaining to pool butlers. One of them, in the solarium, got out her tablet and started giving the "30 minute" warning to all the saved chairs in the area. Needless to say, no one returned in that 30 minutes so their stuff was removed. This should happen everywhere on board. I don't have a problem with someone going to get breakfast for 30-45 minutes or lunch either but this 2 to 3 hour nonsense is very rude. Every cruise line should stop this hogging practice. If they would enforce the 30 minute rule, I think the problem might subside because everyone with a hangover won't be able to go back to bed for a couple hours. Just my opinion. Good luck!!

It was my one complaint on my last cruises. B2B Equinox Mardi Gras and the one following. It's so obvious that this is happening. I wish they would not let you put anything on a chair unless there is a body with it! That would stop this disgusting practice. :p

I don't understand why X does not use the same procedure as RCI. They require a seapass to get towels, so you return them when finished.

I was on 3 S-class ships in the past 3 months and the chair hogs were alive and well on all 3 cruises.

We are early risers and go to breakfast as soon as it is open. We are at the pool by 8 and there will be maybe 10 actual people near the pool yet 90% of the chairs have a towel and one other item on the chair, and many of those chairs remain unoccupied by the time we leave the area around 11 am. It is very clear to me what is happening and when. If Celebrity would just post a pool butler at the pool from 6 till 9 who could hand anyone coming to the pool a card saying their items will be removed in 30 minutes if left unoccupied (and then follow through), it would save such a lot of frustration for so many people.

On the Equinox, they did put cards with the policy on the chairs one of the first days of the cruise but that's the only time I saw them.

It seems like such a simple problem to fix. A different colour card for each hour of the day. For example, pool butler puts a yellow card on each "reserved" chair at 8am. At 8:45, he removes all items from chairs that still have the yellow card on them with no human nearby. At 9, same thing with red cards.

Of course, no staff member wants an angry passenger harassing them when their belongings have been moved. I suggest that Celebrity hire volunteer passengers to be honorary pool police. For the low price of a dinner for two at Luminae, I volunteer to monitor and act on the chair hog situation for 4 hours for one morning of my cruise.

I guess I can dream. [emoji851]

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I was on 3 S-class ships in the past 3 months and the chair hogs were alive and well on all 3 cruises.

 

We are early risers and go to breakfast as soon as it is open. We are at the pool by 8 and there will be maybe 10 actual people near the pool yet 90% of the chairs have a towel and one other item on the chair, and many of those chairs remain unoccupied by the time we leave the area around 11 am. It is very clear to me what is happening and when. If Celebrity would just post a pool butler at the pool from 6 till 9 who could hand anyone coming to the pool a card saying their items will be removed in 30 minutes if left unoccupied (and then follow through), it would save such a lot of frustration for so many people.

I'm an early riser and have often had conversations with the pool butlers who are out early in the morning. One was laughing as I was taking pictures and said, "don't worry, their belongings will be gathered in an hour".

I'm an early riser and have often had conversations with the pool butlers who are out early in the morning. One was laughing as I was taking pictures and said, "don't worry, their belongings will be gathered in an hour".

I'd love to see it actually happen. I don't think the pool butlers are generally all that pro-active, and usually only act when a passenger points out chairs that have been unoccupied for a long time. If there is lots of availability, the butlers probably feel that there's no reason to make people angry as long as other chairs are open; however, it's always the chairs closest to the pool that are hogged, it seems. Taking a chair in a less than optimal place and then watching the best chairs remain empty for hours is annoying.

Just wondering where does the staff put the collected items for the hogs to collect when they show up hours later? Personally bring my own chair on wheels so finding a chair isn't a problem it's finding a spot to park an not be in a busy walkway. Joys of a wheelchair user.

ALL of the cruise lines and ships have "chair hogs"....being in the group of loungers around the pool is crammed packed, so you can even access your lounger from the side! Go up a deck and the chairs actually have space around them! If all of you will be in the pool at the same time, simply tell the folks sitting nearby that you'll be back, so if anyone is thinking your chairs are abandoned, your "neighbors" can say they are being used. It's not as hard as you're thinking it will be.

I love the Pool Butlers and have found they absolutely do a fantastic job of taking things away from 'saved' chairs after about 30 minutes, particularly early in the morning until about 10... you know the people who put towels out at 7 am and don't show up until 11 am. Those people are now out of luck [emoji3]I think this is great!

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We are just off the Reflection. It was awful. I was up at 7:45 and it took me 10 minutes to find two chairs together and that was a few rows back from the pool. All the saving was ridiculous. I watched and most took 2-3 hours to ever show up. One family that reserved 7 chairs rolled in 3 hours after me one at a time over the next hour and a half. So rude! I did witness several complaining to pool butlers. One of them, in the solarium, got out her tablet and started giving the "30 minute" warning to all the saved chairs in the area. Needless to say, no one returned in that 30 minutes so their stuff was removed. This should happen everywhere on board. I don't have a problem with someone going to get breakfast for 30-45 minutes or lunch either but this 2 to 3 hour nonsense is very rude. Every cruise line should stop this hogging practice. If they would enforce the 30 minute rule, I think the problem might subside because everyone with a hangover won't be able to go back to bed for a couple hours. Just my opinion. Good luck!!

On our last Silhouette cruise (Feb) the hogs put out the towel and a book. Made it look more believable, I guess. But the books were from the ship's library, so if they never came back, they didn't care. No personal property lost.

I was on the Reflection in January and it was also awful on my cruise. By early morning all chairs (both in the sun and in the shade) were either saved or someone was in them. The pool deck butlers were actually telling people if they wanted to save their lounger to leave personal items on the lounger, because if it just had a towel, they would take the towel. I couldn't believe that the pool butlers were not only condoning the saving of loungers, they were telling folks how to save them.

Oh that is awful!!

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My wife and I are new to Celebrity, and so are the other four couples that are going on the same cruise with us. (None of us are new to cruising however.) We will be on the Equinox in August this year.

 

There seems to be more talk about CHAIR HOGS on the Celebrity forum than other cruise lines that I've looked into.

 

On a sea day, are there lounge chairs available on the pool deck? We don't need to be right up by the pool, even 4-5 rows deep is fine. :) We just need a spot to put our stuff and lounge when we aren't in the pool. We are a group all in our late 30's to mid 40's, and we'll be near or in the pool a decent amount on sea days. How bad is it?

 

Thanks,

Dan

It's pretty bad on ALL lines. What I do is scout around awhile. I'll pass by wet loungers. They are obviously in use. Pool butlers are pretty useless & the signs are ignored. I then check & ask pax around some loungers if they have been used as of late. If they say "Haven't seen anyone in a hour or so" I'll then remove the items & turn them into the pool butlers. The new plastic "Clothes Pins" seem to be all the rage. I simply remove them. Few pax have gotten nasty, those that do, are told where to go! I love these clods that will be gone for hours, God knows doing what & then feel it's their right to "own" these lounges. It's simple, you need to have a little "balls" when dealing with these clods! If not, then be prepared to stand around all day. Same garbage happens in the theater. Celebrity, however really cracked down on that in our Jan. Eclipse cruise. Do remember, however that your group comes out to about 10 people, if I'm correct.. It's a lot easier for a group of 2 like my spouse & I. It might be difficult. Also DO please be considerate of other pax & don't stay ALL day, unless you're actually there all day.(minus bathroom breaks & swimming, of course)