Chairhogs?

[inforem]

I know this might be opening up a can of worms, but I did notice one thing on this pass weeks Summit cruise.

Every morning at sea I ,my wife and mother would get up early and go upstairs to the t-pool. We would get lounge chairs and relax there an entire day...till around three. To me this is not being a "chairhog" as I am using the chair except when we go into the pool or whirlpool. What truly amazes me are the guest who come up after 11:00 and expect to get two lounges together and make comments about "chair hogs". REALLY,SERIOUSLY. These are the same people who go to the movies to see a first run movie on a Saturday night @ 8:00 and expect 2 seats together in the middle even though the movie starts in 2 minutes. REALLY,SERIOUSLY.

What I do resent is when someone doesn't remove their towel when they leave to go back to their room. People that are looking for a chair do not know it is free to use.

Got that off my chest....now let the flames begin

[Scrapnana]

No flames here. I usually am in my deck chair all day unless I am in the pool. I don't consider that being a "chairhog". To me a chairhog is someone who puts down a towel (and maybe a book) and never comes back.

[thomasale]

I am sure they were NOT referring to you but to the towel plopping savers!

[Lsimon]

The complaints about chair hogs are valid.

 

There is nothing wrong in the OP's approach and their actions are not anything near what I'd call a chair hog.

 

A chair hog is someone who maintains a "claim" on a chair by leaving something on it for extended periods while they are not using it and are not even in the immediate area. This would include chairs being "claimed" either by leaving articles on them or by others in their group.

 

I believe everyone would agree on the above definition although there is a lot of disagreement over the acceptable length of time it is OK to be away from a chair.

 

I also believe it is inappropriate to head to the pool early to claim a chair for later in the day. I've been out walking early and seen people coming out as early as 6AM to place "claim" items on a chair just to hold it for some later time. I think the pool butlers should immediately remove items if someone places items on chair for later without using the chair first since the basic rule is that there is no reserving of chairs.

 

Towels are a different issue and in my opinion a chair with only a towel left on it fully available and one should feel free to remove the towel and use the chair. The reason for this is that that the ship is full of people who are too lazy to throw their towels into the towel bin when they leave. Also, I've seen the pool staff place fresh towels on every chair when they set up in the morning. Because of these two situations it is impossible to tell if a chair with only a towel on it (fresh or used) is being held or is completely unused.

 

As for the OP's comment about not understanding people who complain about not finding chairs together if they arrive at prime time: This would be valid if none of the chairs are being "hogged" but complaints resulting from seeing lots of potentially hogged chairs are valid. The problem with hogged chairs is the difficulty in determining if the chairs have been unused for only an OK short period (for example if the occupants are in the pool or bathroom) or if they've been hogged for long periods while the hoggers are off elsewhere on the ship.

[Benpb]

I know this might be opening up a can of worms, but I did notice one thing on this pass weeks Summit cruise.

Every morning at sea I ,my wife and mother would get up early and go upstairs to the t-pool. We would get lounge chairs and relax there an entire day...till around three. To me this is not being a "chairhog" as I am using the chair except when we go into the pool or whirlpool. What truly amazes me are the guest who come up after 11:00 and expect to get two lounges together and make comments about "chair hogs". REALLY,SERIOUSLY. These are the same people who go to the movies to see a first run movie on a Saturday night @ 8:00 and expect 2 seats together in the middle even though the movie starts in 2 minutes. REALLY,SERIOUSLY.

What I do resent is when someone doesn't remove their towel when they leave to go back to their room. People that are looking for a chair do not know it is free to use.

Got that off my chest....now let the flames begin

 

As far as I am concerned, you describe the actions of someone who is simply enjoying their holiday.

An occupied chair cannot be "hogged". If you want to lounge there all day then that is entirely your right and decision. It is after all, your holiday!

 

As mentioned above, the real issue is when people leave towels/books on chairs for long periods to "reserve" them for themselves or others.

 

I personally feel that if you are out of the actual area for more than 30-40min (excluding being in the pool/hot-tub), then the lounger is fair game, especially if it is a sea day when space is at a premium.

 

The biggest problem is how to tell if the seat has been vacant for a while or only a few minutes.

 

I tend to ask people in the vicinity if they have seen anyone using them recently. If they confirm they have been vacant for some time, I carefully remove and store under the bed any non-towel articles (books, magazines etc...) and take the place.

 

I do not feel that this is too harsh a stance, although some CC members are of the opinion that if you get up at 5am and throw a towel out, then that entitles you to that seat all day, even if you are on a shore excursion until 3pm!!! :confused:

[Happy2cruise]

No flames here. I usually am in my deck chair all day unless I am in the pool. I don't consider that being a "chairhog". To me a chairhog is someone who puts down a towel (and maybe a book) and never comes back.

Agree totally with you:)

[spearmint]

Let me tell you about the ultimate in chairhogs! A few years ago, an older couple than I (I was almost 65 then) spent most of the day on a pair of loungers in the sun up towards the forward bar just beyond the shade provided by the deck above. They came and went briefly for lunch or whatever during that time. Now, I have no problem with that, as anyone should be able to do that within reason. That is not what makes them chairhogs.

 

However, I was somewhat stunned when they decided that they had enough sun...for now. They got up, came into the shade under the deck, removed some stuff from two loungers there and lay down again. They left some other stuff on the previous two loungers in the sun so that should they want some more sun, they had the places to go. That's what made them chairhogs.....doubly so, and at one time! I felt bad for the fair number of people who had come along during the day looking for loungers and saw none available.

 

I have never seen anything so blatantly selfish on a cruise....(maybe I am naive:confused:) but these two asxxxx.. ah....jerks...needed a kick right square in their ........................... oh, never mind! :rolleyes:

 

Bill

[Tiggertastic]

To the OP, if you are using it then you are not a chair hog

 

In March we went onto the deck to find every single bed covered in towels, tshirts, books etc. We had just sailed out of NYC the day before and it was cold but we had on our coats and a book in hand and wanted to read.

 

We asked the pool guys to move towels, they refused and sent us to the man with the stripes, he said ' I will find you 2 beds' and wondered around for 15 minutes and came back and said sorry. We then saw 2 guests come out, look round and we watched as they started to throw all the towels off the beds. A bit over the top but making a statement.

 

It took the food and beverage manager to come out and say 'get all these towels off these beds' before the pool guys took action. We eventually got a bed after being outside for 45 minutes.

 

After 2 hours sat reading, the sun was out, the beds filled up and we were approached on the beds and told 'we only left it for 15 minutes to get a coffee, you are on our beds' and then they flipped the bird at us.

[Mumsysailor]

flipped the bird at us.

 

Excuse my ignorance but what does this mean?

 

Mumsy.

[Benpb]

Excuse my ignorance but what does this mean?

 

Mumsy.

 

Gave them the (middle) finger.

 

...we don't really say the bird thing in the UK. :D

 

I am disgusted but unfortunately not surprised. Some people seem to have a false sense of entitlement and base their actions on the fact that most people won't challenge them. When they are challenged they lash out so not to lose face (in their own self involved perception of events).

 

Sad really...

 

Well done to you for taking the loungers!

[Mumsysailor]

Gave them the (middle) finger.

 

...we don't really say the bird thing in the UK. :D

 

OK thanks. I thought I was pretty good at American English but obviously I'm still learning.

 

Mumsy.

[K.T.B.]

On my first Celebrity cruise, there were a few chairhogs, but it wasn't too bad. Certainly no worse than any other cruise I've been on. So unless I see something other than a towel on a chair, I take the chair. I remove the towel and get a clean one and settle on in. Though I am not above turning things into "lost & found" if, for an example, I see people leaving one shoe on a chair to "hold" it. :D

[jfer8580]

I was on the 7/14 sailing of the Summit and had some pretty entertaining drama up on the deck on day 2 at sea. On the first sea day, we went up to the pool around 9am and had no problem getting 4 chairs.....it wasn’t until we were there for around a half hour that it filled up. We used them until around 1 and took our towels and headed to our cabin. We only left them to get a burger or go into the pool. There was a lot of people looking for chairs while we were there and a lot of grumbling. On the second day we went up around 9am again but this time ALL the chairs around the pool and most on the upper deck were “reserved”. We we able to find 4 together on the upper deck though.

The seats across from us we all “reserved” except for one lone one in the middle of the long row and one way down on the end. No actual people in sight. So while we are sitting there a woman comes along and takes the one in the middle she then proceeds to move all the rest of them down a bit (touching other peoples things in the process) and brings the one on the end over and squeezes it in making the row so tight that you can’t even get you legs in between the chairs. She now leaves. About an hour later three of the original people come back which was now at least two hours for them as I was not there when they took the chairs but it is around that time frame. They do not like the tightness of the chairs, determine that one was added and proceed to remove it, they take it back to the end of the row. They sit on their chairs and within a few minutes the first chair mover comes over and then the fun begins!! She asks them why they moved her chair and they tell her that it’s not hers, blah....blah....blah, it’s at the end of the row where it belongs” and she starts raising her voice goes gets the chair and moves it back into the small spot. They are yelling at her and she is yelling back and I am enjoying the show. They all kind of give up and sit down in the very tight row. In less than ten minutes the three leave again.

Right after that, the people next to me decide to leave, I guess they figure the show is over anyway so the chair mover takes their chairs now on our side....she gets settled and her husband or boyfriend walks over.....I think he was at the bar too embarrassed to join her when they were arguing. Anyway, I hear her telling him that she doesn’t care what anyone says, she was not getting a chair so far from the pool like the day before, this was her vacation and pretty much the heck with everyone else!! Maybe a half hour later, they leave......never to be sighted again.

We were there another 2 hours or so and neither she or the other three ever came back!! They had personal belongings on the chairs, I guess they came back later for their stuff. BTW..I didn’t see most of the row being used in all the time we were there and no pool butlers to remove the belongings!!

[Miss SeaBee]

Chair hogs were a problem for the entire week on my most recent Reflection cruise in April, as they have been on every cruise, as well as at every Caribbean island resort I have been to on land vacations, as well! Oddly enough, never saw a pool butler lift a finger to remove any used towels or belongings UNTIL the final full day of the cruise, which was a sea day. On that day, and that day only, they were out in force, doing their job clearing chairs as soon as it was obvious they were available. I assume this is because it was the day the survey cards were to be filled out and returned. I guess they wanted to get good ratings for being good pool butlers. :rolleyes:

[Feelin' Nauti']

As far as I am concerned, you describe the actions of someone who is simply enjoying their holiday.

An occupied chair cannot be "hogged". If you want to lounge there all day then that is entirely your right and decision. It is after all, your holiday!

 

As mentioned above, the real issue is when people leave towels/books on chairs for long periods to "reserve" them for themselves or others.

 

I personally feel that if you are out of the actual area for more than 30-40min (excluding being in the pool/hot-tub), then the lounger is fair game, especially if it is a sea day when space is at a premium.

 

We usually cruise with a bunch of people, some are late risers, while some are real early risers. Is it wrong for the early birds to claim loungers this way all of us can be together near the pool?

[Orator]

Gee, we haven't had a "Chair Hog" thread in at least a week. Thanks for giving me a reason to get some popcorn. Hold my chair, I'll be back in a few minutes.

[A Sixth?]

Gee, we haven't had a "Chair Hog" thread in at least a week. Thanks for giving me a reason to get some popcorn. Hold my chair, I'll be back in a few minutes.

 

You can have some of mine.... :p

 

[WestLakeGirl]

After 10,000 plus posts I'm surprised you have to ask the question and wonder if you think you'll get a different answer here than on the Carnival board where you asked the same thing

[A Sixth?]

After 10,000 plus posts I'm surprised you have to ask the question and wonder if you think you'll get a different answer here than on the Carnival board where you asked the same thing

 

Noticed that on the Carmival board she included a ;)

[Lady Arwen]

We usually cruise with a bunch of people' date=' some are late risers, while some are real early risers. Is it wrong for the early birds to claim loungers this way all of us can be together near the pool?[/quote']

 

Yep, IMHO it's wrong. If they want a lounger so badly, they can get out of bed like everyone else. And, if they leave that lounge with a book on it to go back to bed, it becomes public property again! I'm really done with people that think that since "it's their vacation" they are entitled to do whatever they want and to heck with everybody else!

[stellarose]

Sat upstairs on deck 12 summitt. No worries. Plenty of awesome chairs, quiet, no pool. This is by the bball court. Back of ship. Go there!

[retafcruiser]

We usually cruise with a bunch of people' date=' some are late risers, while some are real early risers. Is it wrong for the early birds to claim loungers this way all of us can be together near the pool?[/quote']

 

Absolutely wrong, selfish, and inconsiderate.

[turning46]

These threads always make me so glad I'm not a sunseeker!

 

To the OP: that's not chair-hogging, as most people understand it. Chair hogging is what an earlier person described (I'm not sure if the early-birds/late-risers post was in jest or not - I'm giving that poster the benefit of the doubt): "saving" a chair for yourself or another person who isn't there yet. People who do that are obnoxious.

[Presto2]

Chair hogging is why an aft cabin is soooo special on a sea day ------- great view, quiet, sun and shade and cabin service. Perfect.:)

[pbnjrockette]

After reading this thread I now remember what I hate most about cruising... 4 months until I have to deal with the trauma/drama of finding a deck lounger to just read and enjoy "my" vacation.