Chair Hogs

[cooncat]

Hi folks,

 

I know that there have been many discussions on the Royal Caribbean threads about people waking up early to save chairs at the pool. Do people do the same thing on Celebrity and is there enforcement of the rules by the staff?

 

I am looking forward to my cruise in 2011 on the Eclipse, my first Celebrity cruise.

[CPT Trips]

We just returned from our first Celebrity cruise (the Connie repo 10/30-11/9). The chair hogs were out in full force each day. If you want a lounge by the pool, I suggest being on deck by 8 AM. The staff did not enforce their policy of not reserving chairs. Later in the afternoon, you may be able to find a chair with just wet towels piled on it- that is apparently Celebrity passengers' indication that they had left for the day. Pool attendants rarely removed towels (and never removed personal items that were left there all day).

[eandj]

We do not worry about chair hogs.

 

First of all if you want to sit right at the sunny pool, those seats for some are premium. Most other areas, if you walk the ship, will have chairs free. If you want one moved, ask someone or do it yourself.

 

That being said....my DH does not like to be out in the hot sun and is always looking for shade. A more difficult chair to find somedays. He will do his usual walking excercise around the upper deck and while doing that watches chairs below. If no one appears to claim their chair in the 35 or 40 min of walking, he gets a new towel, lays it OVER the invisible occupant, puts thier personal items, if any, next to the chair and begins his book. If someone shows up...(sometimes they do) while he is there, they often will let him stay, knowing they blew it. If they ask him to leave, he removes his towel and moves to another "open" chair. No argument.

 

I have never had to do that and I usually am out around 10:30-11:00.

 

I REFUSE to play that early morning game. If it happens that chairs are left unattended for more than a half hour, I WILL use them. Bathroom breaks, dips in the pool, a half hour for lunch...good reasons to leave the chair in "hold". But I've seen people leave to gamble for 2 hours or attend a seminar. NO WAY will I not use THAT chair.

[thefish]

I love these chair hogging threads. It gives me a chance to once again post the following on a different board.

 

 

Years ago I saved up my coke bottle deposit money and bought a pair of X-ray vision glasses that I had found advertised in the back of a comic book that promised you could see through clothes. My adolescent disappointment was high when I discovered that they did not actually work. They had a flimsy plastic frame and cardboard lenses. In the middle of the lenses was a viewing hole that was covered with pantyhose material. I now know that this was pantyhose material because I get the same visual affects when I pull my wife’s pantyhose over my head when I get out of the shower and walk around singing the Hiawatha Love Song. This action also makes our tomcat Spencer hiss like an air matress with a hole in it.

 

I still have these gag glasses and take them on the cruise with me. I go up to the pool deck and find the gal (you know who you are) that sits by the pool in that Italian designer swim wear made out of dental floss. Nothing gives her the heebie jeebies more than a pot bellied middle aged man standing there looking at her with a pair of cardboard glasses with “X-ray Vision” written in bold letters across the front of them. After a while she will get up muttering something about your ancestors and leave you a vacant lounge chair.

 

Make sure when you try this that her muscle beach boyfriend Burt is not around or he will pound your SPF 2000 buttered butt into a pulp. I promise this hurts like heck.

 

Now that you have an empty chair lather yourself up in that Quaker States Suntan Lotion you bought at the Army Surplus. I know it’s hard not to keep sliding off the lounger but I found by locking your arms around the edge of the lounge chair and intertwining your feet with the last few vinyl straps you can manage to hold on while pointing your white butt crack towards the sky like some droopy swim trunk offering to the sun gods.

 

I know that you are thinking that this is a great idea and you will try it on your next cruise but what about the chair hogs that leave their “reserved” lounge chair unattended for hours. There are several solutions that I can come up with that are logical, civilized and fair, but let’s not go there.

Two words come to mind and I say them with tongue in cheek as opposed to the more painful tongue in teeth, “Public Execution”.

 

Remember the good ole days when after a morning fire and brimstone sermon we would all meet at the Town Square for a picnic and a hangin. Well I really don’t remember this but that would have been the way I would have remembered it if I did remember. I know that someone dancing at the end of a rope is just entertainment for the just and righteous but it may give pause to his fellow evil doers. They might reconsider and think that robbing banks, ignoring stop signs and cheating on their income tax is not such a good idea after all.

 

Wouldn’t it be a hoot if the Ship’s Captain came out in a Blackbeard outfit waving a cutlass above his head dispensing ARRRGGHHs left and right while he sends some poor chair hogger to their demise at the end of a yard arm, or meter arm in Europe, or off a plank on the pool deck?

 

I know what your thinking, “My God! Are you suggesting that the cruise line execute a paying customer for hogging chairs? What about the lost bingo and casino profits? What if the cruise line feels that they have to compensate the surviving spouse with a free drink or onboard credit?” No no, au contraire. I am not suggesting something so drastic but there are a lot of crew members and one of them might be having a bad week, performing sub par so to speak.

 

All it would take is the Captain to shout, “This is what we do to chair hogging swill” before he tosses this poor chap into the foaming sea. This would not only take care of the chair hog problem for the rest of the cruise but it would also make the food in the dining room taste a heck of a lot better.

 

I would only recommend that this be done only once during the cruise because I am a non-violent person, especially violence from a muscle beach dude named Burt.

[derf5585]

Is it true that chair hogs get swing flu?

[snausman]

Is it true that chair hogs get swing flu?

 

That was funny!

[hylasgirl]

dafish... FUNNY! Yep, this would only have to happen once. The word would spread. I am in full support.

[Toothfairy754]

I really had to laugh on our last cruise... there was an older guy (in his 80's) that would come deckside everymorning and lay everything on 6 deck chairs to *save* them. I don't think I saw anyone in those chairs the entire 16 day cruise... but it did give him something to do every morning at 6:30 am.

[Woobstr112G]

Simple solution....Wait 30 minutes then move the stuff yourself.

 

Bob

[neilrr]

Simple solution....Wait 30 minutes then move the stuff yourself.

 

Bob

 

Woobstr112G - I totally agree with you... Being the shy Ex -New Yorker from DA BRONX :eek: we move those towels faster than taking laundry out of the dryer... Also, now that we are from Florida (upscale and elegant) -- we just wait for the northerners to burn up in the tropical sun on the first day of the cruise and then we have no problem finding chairs. Also, having late dining helps --gets rid of the chair hogs early... Sends them to the trough -- oink oink!!!:)

Neil

[Jewels57]

Woobstr112G - I totally agree with you... Being the shy Ex -New Yorker from DA BRONX :eek: we move those towels faster than taking laundry out of the dryer... Also, now that we are from Florida (upscale and elegant) -- we just wait for the northerners to burn up in the tropical sun on the first day of the cruise and then we have no problem finding chairs. Also, having late dining helps --gets rid of the chair hogs early... Sends them to the trough -- oink oink!!!:)

Neil

 

We ran into difficulties with this on the Celebrity Infinity, the chairs that are padded and on the inside, opposite the Therapy Pool were always full of stuff!!! People were holding on to them for the whole cruise, even keeping them when they were out on excursions! We brought this to the attention of the pool butler's and security staff. They quickly responded by moving the belongings of the 'Chair Hogs'!! If they came back, two hours later... too bad. We asked people that were using the chairs, If they knew how long the chair was without an owner. The staff acted according to this info. These chairs were cleared, and it was made known that hogging chairs would not be tolerated. I had tried to get one of these chairs throughout the whole cruise, and was only able to get one once, because of these rude individuals:(!!!

[lais]

So what am I going to do all day? I booked an inside room and I don't want to hang out in there!! I need to have a space (chair) to keep my stuff so that I can walk around the ship and explore as long as I want and then have my space when I come back!! Why can't you people just go hang out on your balconies!!! Just kidding. But that is what is happening.

[Orator]

I'll be "hogging" the chair on my balcony tomorrow.

[lais]

I'll be "hogging" the chair on my balcony tomorrow.

Good for you! Wish I were going tomorrow.

[hockeyken]

:) I simply move the offending items a very short distance away, off the chair and then use it. If someone comes by later and makes an issue of it, I tell them that the items were there, and the chair free, when I got here, and sorry, no I didn't see who moved your belongings. Oh, and by the way , you do know that saving chairs is not allowed don't you? Have a nice day.

[snausman]

I'll be "hogging" the chair on my balcony tomorrow.

 

I am soooo jealous.

[pspercy]

I guess this is a good thread to ask a balcony question; we've reserved a balcony, 2B I believe, on the Millennium. It's s'posed to be bigger than normal. Anyway, what's the standard issue balcony gear ? Any lounger(s) or just chairs & a small table or ??

Thanks

[lais]

I guess this is a good thread to ask a balcony question; we've reserved a balcony, 2B I believe, on the Millennium. It's s'posed to be bigger than normal. Anyway, what's the standard issue balcony gear ? Any lounger(s) or just chairs & a small table or ??

Thanks

Standard balcony will have 2 chairs and a small table. If it is a really big balcony it will also have a lounge chair or two. You will really enjoy your balcony.

[taracruiser]

I don't bake in the sun much, but if I did, I'd wait 30 minutes and move the stuff. If they came back later and asked for the chair back, I'd say their name wasn't written on it and tough noogies. If you give 'em back the chair after being gone several hours, they'll keep doing it.

[snausman]

I like to just say, wow, funny the person sitting here before me told me I could have the chair when they got up.:rolleyes:

[SW.FloridaPhil]

When I go to work, I put a book on the recliner in the family room. I will leave work at odd times of the day just to see if anyone dared to move my belongings, and if they did, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!

[derf5585]

When I go to work, I put a book on the recliner in the family room. I will leave work at odd times of the day just to see if anyone dared to move my belongings, and if they did, OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!

 

A better idea is to set up a webcam hooked up to the internet so you can watch your chair at work.