Reserving chairs at the pool on "at sea" days

Going on the Mariner shortly and our first 2 days are at sea, therefore I would imagine the pools on the ship to be PACKED! With this in mind, I was planning on getting up early and going to the pool to put some of our stuff on 2 of the chairs to reserve them, is this allowed? Just curious for the best way to ensure we get some chairs by the pool, and roughly how quick these seats fill up on cruising days. Thanks!

Technically this is NOT allowed and there are signs around the pool area (at least on Navigator there were) stating the fact that there is no saving of chairs. However, an awful lot of people were doing this. My suggestion would be to just plan on getting to the pool deck early and staying there. If you are traveling with another you can take turns getting up and moving around the ship as long as one person stays and you aren't gone too long. That is what my DH and I did. One day we were out there in the hot tub at 7:30 am and didn't unoccupy our chairs until 3pm! And we weren't even taking up prime real estate. I prefer to be on the deck just above the pool deck and looking down on the pool side entertainment. We were directly above the band stand and felt it was a perfect location.

I don't think anyone really appreciates Chair Hogs. We did not find the seating around the main pool very crowded on the sea days on our last RCI cruise. Lots of older guests stayed out of the sun. The solarium was very crowded. They could take your stuff to the towel hut for you to retrieve if your chairs remain unoccupied for too long.

Reserving chairs is discouraged, but widely practiced. Getting the chair you want becomes more difficult if there is an event at the pool such as the belly flop contest. On "at sea" days it can be difficult to get a large number of chairs together. Most of the time there are plenty of chairs so these are minor inconveninces and not worth the extra effort. I've often found it easier to get a chair than a towel!

Saving deck chairs is definitely frowned upon. We usually get out there early (8:30 AM) or so and stay for the day!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1572580

I was going to say I had no doubt of the sincerity of the OP, but I was going to suggest you do a search on CHAIR HOGS, there is quite a bit on here and I'm guilty of contributing to these frequent threads. They are amusing, but can get quite heated.

My MEET THE ALLURE CHAIR HOGS was quite a popular thread, but it was pulled from the board. One rainy day I may make it into a website and just post an occasional link. I wish they would have told me they were pulling it.

Going on the Mariner shortly and our first 2 days are at sea, therefore I would imagine the pools on the ship to be PACKED! With this in mind, I was planning on getting up early and going to the pool to put some of our stuff on 2 of the chairs to reserve them, is this allowed? Just curious for the best way to ensure we get some chairs by the pool, and roughly how quick these seats fill up on cruising days. Thanks!

There are plenty of chairs for everyone on the ship, the trick is that people have to give them up when they don't them so that others can use them. Also, there are only so many chairs that are right NEXT to the pool, but lots more to be found a little ways back, or our preference, a deck up!

haha good deal, thanks for the replies! I certainly am not a chair hog nor ever been in a situation where doing it would even be needed. I have never been on a cruise with a full at sea day so I was just curious as to how packed it gets. Seems like it is not as bad as I was expecting! Thanks for the input!! If anyone has a time they noticed that I should make sure we are up there to get a couple good chairs, that info would be very helpful!

I love chair hogs. They give me a great selection of books to read every day and I never have to check out a towel on my Sea Pass.

No...there will be chairs aplenty. Of course, they may not be right BESIDE the pool, but that area is slam-packed like sardines anyway. Don't be a chair hog!!!

No...there will be chairs aplenty. Of course, they may not be right BESIDE the pool, but that area is slam-packed like sardines anyway. Don't be a chair hog!!!

Personally I'd rather get a nice seat facing the ocean. I can't sit out in the sun too long anyway without getting itchy. I also don't like being in the pool with a whole bunch of people. Never saw the point, the pool gets so packed you can't even really swim from one end to the other.

There are plenty of chairs for everyone on the ship, the trick is that people have to give them up when they don't them so that others can use them.

This is genius! Not just for chairs. I manage a computer system with limited licenses. 33 for 60 potential users. When #34 tries to log in they get a "no more licenses" message. People are constantly told to "get in, do your stuff and log out!" to no avail. They have learned to "sit" on a license all day even though in the long run it hurts the company (and their chance for year-end bonus) because they fear they will be #34. BUT, if everyone DID "get in, do their stuff and log out" nobody would ever get a no license message. Maybe I need to explain to them about Chogs on cruise ships. :D

This is genius! Not just for chairs. I manage a computer system with limited licenses. 33 for 60 potential users. When #34 tries to log in they get a "no more licenses" message. People are constantly told to "get in, do your stuff and log out!" to no avail. They have learned to "sit" on a license all day even though in the long run it hurts the company (and their chance for year-end bonus) because they fear they will be #34. BUT, if everyone DID "get in, do their stuff and log out" nobody would ever get a no license message. Maybe I need to explain to them about Chogs on cruise ships. :D

Chairs by the pool should be like public bathrooms in Paris. You go in, a song plays and when your time is over the door swings open whether you're done or not. Only maybe for chairs there is spring on the seat that launches you off. ;)

I love chair hogs. They give me a great selection of books to read every day and I never have to check out a towel on my Sea Pass.

I know ! I bring an extra suitcase for stuff I find left on chairs.

When I get home I put them on E-bay, pays for my next cruise!

Just kidding folks, but I did make you smile!

But my last cruise, there where no more than 12 people, in the adult area, Just loved it !!!!!

haha good deal, thanks for the replies! I certainly am not a chair hog nor ever been in a situation where doing it would even be needed. I have never been on a cruise with a full at sea day so I was just curious as to how packed it gets. Seems like it is not as bad as I was expecting! Thanks for the input!! If anyone has a time they noticed that I should make sure we are up there to get a couple good chairs, that info would be very helpful!

Ok, now explain your user name! ;) It can vary to answer your question though. On Voyager, Majesty and Freedom we had no problems getting a chair near a pool, especially in the adult Solarium area. On Navigator we did a 5 day and on the sea day if you didn't have a chair by 8:45 you weren't going to get two together even a deck above the pool On Alllure one by the pook was gone by 9am, but plenty were always available one deck above.

Personally I'd rather get a nice seat facing the ocean. I can't sit out in the sun too long anyway without getting itchy. I also don't like being in the pool with a whole bunch of people. Never saw the point, the pool gets so packed you can't even really swim from one end to the other.

I agree! I can sit in a chair facing a pool at home, It's rare that I get to sit in a chair facing the ocean!

When I see a chair that is being held by something that is not valuable such as a book, I either pick up the stuff and toss it out or relocate it to another part of the ship. Another thing that you can do with books is to "donate" them to the ship library.

If it is valuable and anyone who leaves valuable stuff unattended on a chair deserves to have it lost, I pick it up and turn it into lost and found.

DON

I agree! I can sit in a chair facing a pool at home, It's rare that I get to sit in a chair facing the ocean!

Easy for you Floridians to say ;) I can do the same but their maybe a foot of snow on the pool cover.

Easy for you Floridians to say ;) I can do the same but their maybe a foot of snow on the pool cover.

What is there to look at though? Overweight men in speedos? ;)

I love chair hogs. They give me a great selection of books to read every day and I never have to check out a towel on my Sea Pass.

I like the way you think!!!! LMAO :D

Be careful!!!! On LOS 2010 CREW MEMBERS DID TAKE TOWELS AND THERE SUN GLASSES... BOOKS ....SHOES..... ETC........25.00 A TOWEL.... Everyone was complaining no body was using those chairs except for the TOWELS and STUFF !

I think they should make some lockers for our junk and let the chairs be free of junk. Then the person who wants to use it, can sit down when they want.

Be careful!!!! On LOS 2010 CREW MEMBERS DID TAKE TOWELS AND THERE SUN GLASSES... BOOKS ....SHOES..... ETC........25.00 A TOWEL.... Everyone was complaining no body was using those chairs except for the TOWELS and STUFF !

Ok, shoes I think is the one thing you can leave on/near your chair. There is no where else to put them if you're going into the pool and kind of proves you are in the pool and not wandering around the ship/in your cabin. I mean unless you want to be sneaky and put a spare pair of shoes down on the chair.

and kind of proves you are in the pool

Why we have our laminated sign...

one side - "IN POOL"

other side - "GONE TO RESTROOM" (we use this side for bar too)

...attached to chair slats with little alligator clips. Otherwise one of us is always present and we take turns fetching food.