Chair Hogging - Best way to combat it?

[Cookiecookie]

Been on Oasis and Independence and always been able to find good seats. Don't think we will be to worried about sitting around the pool on our August cruise to Alaska !!

Gaynor.

 

 

To Come

Canadian Rockies Alaska cruise tour August 2014

 

Enjoyed

Oasis of the seas 2013

Independence of the seas 2008

[S.A.M.J.R.]

Honestly I can't imagine sitting somewhere and watching an unoccupied chair for 30 minutes to make sure someone didn't go into the pool or go to the bathroom.

 

If I see a chair is "claimed", I'm going to find another one and promptly forget that I wanted a "claimed" one.

[DirtyDawg]

This is such an overblown problem on Cruise Critic. We too have never had a problem finding chairs. If you want a good seat, get there early otherwise you'll have to scout them out. Touch other people's property and your asking for trouble. The whining on Cruise Critic just makes it look like a bigger problem than it is.

 

But if they couldn't whine about this overblown problem they would just end up whining even more about all the other overblown problems around here like formal nights, tipping, kids, etc. etc. etc. ;)

[marci22]

But if they couldn't whine about this overblown problem they would just end up whining even more about all the other overblown problems around here like formal nights, tipping, kids, etc. etc. etc. ;)

 

It's really not overblown if you are parents who want to be convenient to their chairs while watching their kids in the pool. It is really tough to beat the chair hogs at that location.

 

We are lucky that (having grown children) we can go up a deck and the chair finding is not as difficult.

[Big_G]

But if they couldn't whine about this overblown problem they would just end up whining even more about all the other overblown problems around here like formal nights, tipping, kids, etc. etc. etc. ;)

 

 

What was I thinking? :D

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[gerif]

It's really not overblown if you are parents who want to be convenient to their chairs while watching their kids in the pool. It is really tough to beat the chair hogs at that location.

 

We are lucky that (having grown children) we can go up a deck and the chair finding is not as difficult.

 

It's pretty hard to effectively watch kids in the pool from a lounge chair. Best to be actually IN the pool with them or at least sitting on the edge. Just think of the two kids who had to be pulled from the pool by strangers.

[Lazz]

I am an early riser. I love grabbing a cup of coffee and a pastry and watching the chair hog ballet :D.

[edjny]

If it's a towel & I see it not removed for say 30 min. or so, then I'll remove the towel. Personal belongings...A little more cautious there. I'd get an attendant to handle it. I only had an issue once. I basically told the offender who had been gone for over 2 hours while I was on the lounger to @#%$%$. She was really nasty & said she had the "right" to claim the seat as long as she wanted. Not polite, but oh well!

 

If they come back and get nasty, just tell them to talk to Security about it.

[BillOh]

I post their pictures on Cruise Critic!

 

 

Me too, I'm the author of the meet the allure chair hogs thread that got pulled. Rumor was a cruise critic member saw themselves and got it pulled.

 

Below is a legendary chair hog post that I saved from another member.

 

 

Below are some of my favorites from Allure 2011.

 

Because of threads like this, Chair hogs will sometimes appoint guards for the bounty. Below is an actual changing of the guard ceremony for some chair hog guards.

 

Edited March 2, 2014 by BillOh

[BillOh]

If they come back and get nasty, just tell them to talk to Security about it.

 

For those of you who have been on a Voyager class ship, the Solarium is symmetrical in design and sometimes when I get up I have to look around to figure out which way I'm headed. One time we got lucky and got 2 great seats by the pool on Navigator. We had been there about an hour when a guy came up to me and told me I was in his seats. I told him we had been there an hour and there was nothing on the chairs when we arrived. He then called me a liar twice in his next sentence telling me he had been gone only 10 minutes and had left a book and towel and demanded them back. I reiterated that we had been there an hour and had seen nothing. He started to threaten me and I was just evaluating that he was smaller than me and there was no crew in sight when his wife spoke up and said, "Honey, over here" He was in the same seats on the exact opposite side of the solarium.

[BillOh]

We go and find two empty loungers! I never have had a problem finding a lounger.

 

In my cruises, I have had at least 4 times on Sea Days when there were not 2 available chairs, in sun on sea days,

[BillOh]

This is such an overblown problem on Cruise Critic. We too have never had a problem finding chairs. If you want a good seat, get there early otherwise you'll have to scout them out. Touch other people's property and your asking for trouble. The whining on Cruise Critic just makes it look like a bigger problem than it is.

 

Wow, the arrogance level of that post! Because you have never seen a problem it doesn't exist and everyone else is a whiner. Wow. Everybody has things they like to do on a cruise. My wife and I like to lay by the pool for an hour or two and take an occasional dip in the pool. I'm more in an out of the pool. On any given Sea day 50-75% of chairs can be empty but "reserved" by self entitled people. Yea, I can sun 2 decks and half a ship away, but I do like to actually use the pool.

 

The cruise line can be helpful by more active monitoring of their own rules as this crew member was doing on Allure.

 

 

But crew members hate to be confrontational to guests. They could also help by having a cubby or some other place for towels and shoes of people who just like to use the pool. Usually I'll put my towel and shoes near me along side the pool and watch people till I see someone about to leave and ask if we can have their chairs.

[Big_G]

Sorry Bill but we see things through our own experiences and sorry I got sucked into this thread. I don't know how that happened. I usually skip right over the chair hog whining threads. I've never been unable to find a chair on four different cruise lines and I've never seen a confrontation at the pool let alone over a chair. Arrogant? Far from it. Arrogance is touching other people's things and taking their chairs just because you want it. :rolleyes:

[marci22]

It's pretty hard to effectively watch kids in the pool from a lounge chair. Best to be actually IN the pool with them or at least sitting on the edge. Just think of the two kids who had to be pulled from the pool by strangers.

 

But at least your chair with your stuff on it is a few steps away, and not another deck up. I wouldn't want to leave my stuff unattended on another deck, someone would probably confiscate it while I was watching my kids in the pool.

[gerif]

But at least your chair with your stuff on it is a few steps away, and not another deck up. I wouldn't want to leave my stuff unattended on another deck, someone would probably confiscate it while I was watching my kids in the pool.

 

Then don't get a chair until you're ready to sit in it so you won't be perceived as a chair hog.

[marci22]

Then don't get a chair until you're ready to sit in it so you won't be perceived as a chair hog.

 

Wanting to have access to your things and occasionally sit while your kids are in and out of the water is not chair hogging. Chair hogging is reserving a chair or 7 with an object and not planning to even be in the pool area for hours.

[gerif]

Wanting to have access to your things and occasionally sit while your kids are in and out of the water is not chair hogging. Chair hogging is reserving a chair or 7 with an object and not planning to even be in the pool area for hours.

 

If you are not out of the chair for more than a half hour for any reason you are not hogging the chair and shouldn't need to worry about someone moving your belongings. I had a lounger next to a woman in the solarium (crowded) once. She dropped off her stuff and promptly got in the pool, then sat on the edge chatting with people. I was there reading for three hours and she never returned to the chair - IMO, that's a hog.

[DirtyDawg]

Sorry Bill but we see things through our own experiences and sorry I got sucked into this thread. I don't know how that happened. I usually skip right over the chair hog whining threads. I've never been unable to find a chair on four different cruise lines and I've never seen a confrontation at the pool let alone over a chair. Arrogant? Far from it. Arrogance is touching other people's things and taking their chairs just because you want it. :rolleyes:

 

Sometimes these threads make me feel like the Al Pacino character, Micheal Corleone, in the The Godfather 3......

 

"Just when I thought I was out... they pull me back in." :D

[DrD]

Wait a reasonable amount of time. Remove items and give to RCI employee. When chair hog returns smile and say something in a foreign language and pretend you don't speak English.

 

I did that once but it was a bit awkward when the same group sat near me at a show and heard me speaking English. They didn't seem to recognize me though.

 

I will use a chair that only has a towel. If the people come back I just let them have it back. That happens rarely.

 

If I'm up and about early and see obvious hogging I will sometimes remove the towels and move on. I wonder what happens if someone else reserves the chair later? I've probably caused some fights.

[ginadc]

We had a bizarre chair hog experience on our recent Allure cruise. We went out to the beach pool around 9 one day and there were 4 open chairs together (there are 5 of us)--two loungers right at the water's edge and two on either side of an umbrella table directly behind them. Neither had anything on them whatsoever. Nearby were two tween/teenage kids sitting on two chairs, with a couple of towels/books on a chair or two near them. We sat down and set up camp in the available chairs with books, towels, sunglasses, sandals, etc.

 

The tween/teens (probably 11-14), a boy and a girl, then came up to us and told us that those were chairs they had reserved for their parents. Husband and I politely explained to them that they did not have anything on those chairs, so they were not reserved, and they clearly had other chairs besides their own with stuff on them. (Not sure how many chairs they thought they needed...)

 

We didn't move, but the kids continued to pester us more than once about the chairs being "theirs." They weren't rude or aggressive, but they were relentless. We just ignored them. The parents finally came back and sat with them briefly on the chairs they *did* have stuff on...and then left not long after. Bizarre.

[Morecruisesplz]

If I'm up and about early and see obvious hogging I will sometimes remove the towels and move on. I wonder what happens if someone else reserves the chair later? I've probably caused some fights.

 

Now that would be worth taking a seat at a table by the windows to watch and wait to see what happens! Even funnier if the 2nd later arriving chair hog leaves towels and you removed those also. Now, when they all return close to noon after a few laps around the top deck, showering, enjoying a nice breakfast in the mdr, then returning to their cabins to suit up and apply sunscreen and stopping for drink to enjoy at... wait... where is my chair?

[Booking It]

They could also help by having a cubby or some other place for towels and shoes of people who just like to use the pool. Usually I'll put my towel and shoes near me along side the pool and watch people till I see someone about to leave and ask if we can have their chairs.

YES!!! I have been saying this for years. The husband and I don't sunbathe. No amount of SPF can protect us from a bad burn! But we do love to swim. I just want a place to put my things when I'm in the pool or whirlpool. I hate putting things on the ground because of the potential of them getting soaked. I just need a place for my towel, shirt/shorts, and shoes, and cubby holes would solve that problem. Since I have to put my things on my chair, I like to have them within sight of where I'm swimming so that I don't have to worry about somebody taking my stuff.

 

On sea days on the Allure, the pool deck was so crowded that we ended up leaving our cabin in just our bathing suits and cheap flip flops since we knew we wouldn't get a chair near where we would be swimming. I HATE walking around indoors in just my bathing suit, but it was better than worry about somebody moving our things around to where we wouldn't be able to find them.

[BND]

We prefer shade because DH has had melanoma and I burn easily so we try to get to the solarium early but only when we are there to stay. We can always find a lounger somewhere, but a lot of the time that somewhere is in the sun which doesn't work for us. We've watched people in the solarium sit in one chair in the sun and when they decide they've had enough they go sit in their chair in the shade that has a towel or something else on it. We've seen that on numerous occasions. We don't particularly care to sit right next to the pool so on the main deck, it's not an issue. We can almost always find a chair in the shade (under the overhang) on the pool deck. I've just never understood the mentality of thinking that reserving loungers all day for possible later use is okay. It's extremely selfish and I have seen it. We've also seen a loud in your face argument between two people in the solarium on EX. The ones who "won" literally never sat in the chairs. They left their stuff on them, got in the pool, got out and dried off and left. It was never about using the chairs, but it was very territorial and outright ridiculous. As far as I'm concerned, a towel, especially now that they are "free" shouldn't constitute a saved chair. You have to be willing to leave something valuable which means no one would leave for very long or risk losing it.

[DrD]

YES!!! I have been saying this for years. The husband and I don't sunbathe. No amount of SPF can protect us from a bad burn! But we do love to swim. I just want a place to put my things when I'm in the pool or whirlpool. I hate putting things on the ground because of the potential of them getting soaked. I just need a place for my towel, shirt/shorts, and shoes, and cubby holes would solve that problem. Since I have to put my things on my chair, I like to have them within sight of where I'm swimming so that I don't have to worry about somebody taking my stuff.

 

On sea days on the Allure, the pool deck was so crowded that we ended up leaving our cabin in just our bathing suits and cheap flip flops since we knew we wouldn't get a chair near where we would be swimming. I HATE walking around indoors in just my bathing suit, but it was better than worry about somebody moving our things around to where we wouldn't be able to find them.

 

 

On FOS last year I never had trouble finding a chair, just loungers. I left my stuff on chair and then sat there to read.

[deltatraveler]

Sorry Bill but we see things through our own experiences and sorry I got sucked into this thread. I don't know how that happened. I usually skip right over the chair hog whining threads. I've never been unable to find a chair on four different cruise lines and I've never seen a confrontation at the pool let alone over a chair. Arrogant? Far from it. Arrogance is touching other people's things and taking their chairs just because you want it. :rolleyes:

 

When looking for seat we usually go where it is quieter and off the beaten track so we have not had a problem. If we are in the pool area we a find that others always offer up, "these people have been gone for 2 hours." Then we approach a staff member and they look after it, remove the articles, intercept if the person comes back.. ...this has been on RC and Celebrity.

To say there is not an issue though is incorrect. We sailed Norwegian at Christmas and for this reason alone we will never sail them again. They have a policy in place of 30 minutes but none of the staff would step in. By 8:00 am every morning all seats had something on them, including cutlery. The fighting that would go on, we even witnessed a person throwing water on someone else. There were no seats anywhere-they could not accommodate a full ship. The absolute rudest thing we witnessed was a lady would come out every at sea morning at 8:00 am and hold 20 seats. The rest of her party did not show up till between 10:00 and 11:30. She would yell and scream if anyone came near the seats. She yelled at the attendants. Not really much of a holiday for her, I hope the rest of her party were buying her drinks. The sad part was think of all the people who could enjoyed those chairs for a couple of hours. We went back each day to the area to people watch, it was quite a show.

Remember to be kind, enjoy your much deserved holiday and get a staff member involved if there is an issue.