Who will admit it?

[screwsmcernst]

We always see complaints about chair hogs around the pools on ships, but no one ever admits to being the people to get up at who knows when early to put their stuff on the chairs.

 

So, if you are one, fess up, and tell us how early you get up to save the chairs??? :)

[screwsmcernst]

And, BTW, I am not a chair hog, but I have been up and walking on the decks around 7:30 a.m., and stuff is already out.

 

Sometimes I think the staff puts the lost and found items out when they set up the chairs in the morning. (Just kidding) :D

[Hlitner]

I am a chair hog! Yes, I admit it, but we do follow all the rules. I get up as early as necessary to get the chairs we want. But we do not leave those chairs all day, except to go to the bathroom or to take a dip in the pool. Even at lunch, we will usually get something from the grill (or other ondeck option depending on cruise line) and eat at our chair. Why do we do this? Because DW and I like to spend our sea days reading outdoors. When we take long cruises (and we have taken cruises over 60 days long with more then 20 sea days) we are usually at our deck chairs every day (weather permitting). We often do notice the folks who save chairs by putting stuff on them...and many times those people do not return for hours. We have long suggested to others that ask, that they simply remove those items and turn them in at Lost and Found. We will even tell them which chairs we have noticed go unused for hours.

 

But there is a distinction between those of us who actually use their deck chairs...and those who want to save them. We fault the crew of every cruise line (and we have been on 14 different cruise lines) for not simply enforcing their own rules. It is a simple matter to remove items from empty chairs and hold them (or send them to lost and found) until the passengers return.

 

Hank

Edited August 17, 2014 by Hlitner

[screwsmcernst]

I am a chair hog! Yes, I admit it, but we do follow all the rules. I get up as early as necessary to get the chairs we want. But we do not leave those chairs all day, except to go to the bathroom or to take a dip in the pool. Even at lunch, we will usually get something from the grill (or other ondeck option depending on cruise line) and eat at our chair. Why do we do this? Because DW and I like to spend our sea days reading outdoors. When we take long cruises (and we have taken cruises over 60 days long with more then 20 sea days) we are usually at our deck chairs every day (weather permitting). We often do notice the folks who save chairs by putting stuff on them...and many times those people do not return for hours. We have long suggested to others that ask, that they simply remove those items and turn them in at Lost and Found. We will even tell them which chairs we have noticed go unused for hours.

 

But there is a distinction between those of us who actually use their deck chairs...and those who want to save them. We fault the crew of every cruise line (and we have been on 14 different cruise lines) for not simply enforcing their own rules. It is a simple matter to remove items from empty chairs and hold them (or send them to lost and found) until the passengers return.

 

Hank

 

I don't think you are a traditional chair hog. You actually use your chairs. :D

[pris993]

We have a balcony, last thing I would want is a chair around the pool. So not me.

[taglovestocruise]

We have a balcony, last thing I would want is a chair around the pool. So not me.

 

You would need a big chair to go around the pool, or a very small pool.

[hospvol]

We have a balcony, last thing I would want is a chair around the pool. So not me.

 

This is why we get a balcony cabin.

[A2Mich]

I am a chair hog! Yes, I admit it, but we do follow all the rules. I get up as early as necessary to get the chairs we want. But we do not leave those chairs all day, except to go to the bathroom or to take a dip in the pool. Even at lunch, we will usually get something from the grill (or other ondeck option depending on cruise line) and eat at our chair. Why do we do this? Because DW and I like to spend our sea days reading outdoors. When we take long cruises (and we have taken cruises over 60 days long with more then 20 sea days) we are usually at our deck chairs every day (weather permitting). We often do notice the folks who save chairs by putting stuff on them...and many times those people do not return for hours. We have long suggested to others that ask, that they simply remove those items and turn them in at Lost and Found. We will even tell them which chairs we have noticed go unused for hours.

 

But there is a distinction between those of us who actually use their deck chairs...and those who want to save them. We fault the crew of every cruise line (and we have been on 14 different cruise lines) for not simply enforcing their own rules. It is a simple matter to remove items from empty chairs and hold them (or send them to lost and found) until the passengers return.

 

Hank

 

As said by someone else - not a chair hog when you actually use them. Now if you got up at 4 am to put your crap on a chair, go back to bed, then to breakfast, and return at the crack of noon - now we're talkin' major CHOG!

[DesertPesce7751]

I was once the "third" in a non-balcony cabin with two snoring travel companions (not naming names ;) ) and finally got so fed up that I went up to retire on the pool deck in the wee morning hours.

 

Though not a chair hog myself, I can tell you, it's never wise to accidentally cross one. At, maybe 5:30 AM, I was awakened by the robust voice of a woman screaming to her husband (Alan, evidently) on her walkie-talkie, "AH-LIIIIIN! SOME LADY GRABBED OUR CHAIRS!" Awake and terrified, I began to gather my things to get up to leave. A tired "Alan" was arriving just as I started to walk away. The now elated woman bellowed across the deck to him, "AH-LIN! I GOT THE DECK CHAIRS, AH-LIN!!!". Poor Alan seemed like he wanted to go back to bed...

 

On the bright side, whenever we see chair hogs now (the mostly absentee kind), we just laugh to ourselves and whisper, "Alan! I got the deck chairs, Alan!"

[cb at sea]

If you are USING the chair, and that includes swimming, going to the restroom, getting a drink at the bar, talking to others, etc....then you are NOT....I repeat, NOT a "chair hog". A chair hog is someone who puts all manner of belongings on a chair with NO intention of using said chair for hours!

 

Being at the pool means swimming, walking about, getting a drink, etc....just because your butt isn't in the chair the entire time, doesn't mean you aren't USING the lounger!

[1025cruise]

At one point a few years ago there was a post here where someone admitted to being a chair hog and was upset that their stuff was removed. The post was removed after a lot of back and forth calling them a hog and they not agreeing to it....

[sail7seas]

If you are USING the chair, and that includes swimming, going to the restroom, getting a drink at the bar, talking to others, etc....then you are NOT....I repeat, NOT a "chair hog". A chair hog is someone who puts all manner of belongings on a chair with NO intention of using said chair for hours!

 

Being at the pool means swimming, walking about, getting a drink, etc....just because your butt isn't in the chair the entire time, doesn't mean you aren't USING the lounger!

 

 

 

There were some posters a while ago in a similar thread who said anyone who used the same chairs all day were chair hogs. Their thinking was there should be a time limit how long one can use the same chair. :rolleyes: Her 'notion ' was shot down but she wanted to come to the pool 12 noon - 1:00 P.M. and have someone vacate their 'prime' location chair as she figured they had been in it long enough. :D :eek:

 

Edited August 18, 2014 by sail7seas

[DesertPesce7751]

There were some posters a while ago in a similar thread who said anyone who used the same chairs all day were chair hogs. Their thinking was there should be a time limit how long one can use the same chair. :rolleyes: Her 'notion ' was shot down but she wanted to come to the pool 12 noon - 1:00 P.M. and have someone vacate their 'prime' location chair as she figured they had been in it long enough. :D :eek:

 

 

If you sacrifice your chance to sleep in, a hot breakfast at a table, any of the day's entertainment and whatever else might be happening on board, you've earned your prime time seat on a deck chair. Just my humble opinion. That's dedication right there--dedication I'd probably never have on holiday myself!

[sail7seas]

My late DH and I have been on at least 80+ HAL cruises, a great many of them to warm weather locations, and DH never had any problem going any time of the day to the outdoor, aft pool and getting a lounge chair. He always had a chair when he wanted one and didn't have 'dedicate' himself to it. :D Years ago, I would sit out there sometimes but lately don't want to sit in the sun much but he loved it.

[Illyria]

I was once the "third" in a non-balcony cabin with two snoring travel companions (not naming names ;) ) and finally got so fed up that I went up to retire on the pool deck in the wee morning hours.

 

Though not a chair hog myself, I can tell you, it's never wise to accidentally cross one. At, maybe 5:30 AM, I was awakened by the robust voice of a woman screaming to her husband (Alan, evidently) on her walkie-talkie, "AH-LIIIIIN! SOME LADY GRABBED OUR CHAIRS!" Awake and terrified, I began to gather my things to get up to leave. A tired "Alan" was arriving just as I started to walk away. The now elated woman bellowed across the deck to him, "AH-LIN! I GOT THE DECK CHAIRS, AH-LIN!!!". Poor Alan seemed like he wanted to go back to bed...

 

On the bright side, whenever we see chair hogs now (the mostly absentee kind), we just laugh to ourselves and whisper, "Alan! I got the deck chairs, Alan!"

 

That's pretty funny (and kinda sad at the same time). I can understand that a confrontation may be the last thing you want at 5:30 in the morning, but I would have stayed in that chair at that point as long as possible, just out of principle! (I might have also told her exactly where she can shove it and how deep...)

 

I hardly ever use pool chairs, just because I'm not really a pool person, plus I usually try to pick "colder" itineraries for my cruises, so the weather isn't great for it anyway.

[Cruisin' Chick]

I am a chair hog! Yes, I admit it, but we do follow all the rules. I get up as early as necessary to get the chairs we want. But we do not leave those chairs all day, except to go to the bathroom or to take a dip in the pool. Even at lunch, we will usually get something from the grill (or other ondeck option depending on cruise line) and eat at our chair. Why do we do this? Because DW and I like to spend our sea days reading outdoors. When we take long cruises (and we have taken cruises over 60 days long with more then 20 sea days) we are usually at our deck chairs every day (weather permitting). We often do notice the folks who save chairs by putting stuff on them...and many times those people do not return for hours. We have long suggested to others that ask, that they simply remove those items and turn them in at Lost and Found. We will even tell them which chairs we have noticed go unused for hours.

 

But there is a distinction between those of us who actually use their deck chairs...and those who want to save them. We fault the crew of every cruise line (and we have been on 14 different cruise lines) for not simply enforcing their own rules. It is a simple matter to remove items from empty chairs and hold them (or send them to lost and found) until the passengers return.

 

Hank

 

On my last cruise, I wanted to watch the late morning meeting on the Movies screen in the shade. The one chair fitting that category that didn't have someone with butt in chair had a shirt and book on it. I asked the people sitting around that chair if they had seen that person. Nope. Not one single person said, "Oh, that's my wife's stuff and she'll be right back," or even that they had seen the person. I asked if any of them have been there for at least a half hour and a few said yes. So I took the items off the chair and put on a little table nearby, and said, "None of you saw that." Even got a few laughs. Plopped down and it was more than a half hour when a woman showed up and took the items.

[Cruisin' Chick]

At one point a few years ago there was a post here where someone admitted to being a chair hog and was upset that their stuff was removed. The post was removed after a lot of back and forth calling them a hog and they not agreeing to it....

 

I remember someone on this forum...some years ago, made the mistake of saying that she thought it was all right to have the chair but then put her stuff there while she went for a spa treatment. Many of us said, nope, you take your stuff with you as at that point, you're not using the chair.

[cruising_family]

I agree that I wouldn't have given up my chair if I was there first, I don't care what she said/yelled. When I was younger, maybe. Now way would I do it now. I have as much right as she does to claim an empty chair.

[A2Mich]

That's pretty funny (and kinda sad at the same time). I can understand that a confrontation may be the last thing you want at 5:30 in the morning, but I would have stayed in that chair at that point as long as possible, just out of principle! (I might have also told her exactly where she can shove it and how deep...)

 

And I would back you up 1000%! I'm the same way - if there's a way to get under their skin and really pi$$ them off, it's worth it just to prove to them that they are wrong. I'm sure the morality police will be be along soon to comment, but from my perspective, I really don't care if I upset someone or hurt their feelings when they are clearly in the wrong.

[nolatravelgirl]

Chair hogs were my worst fear on my first cruise. I looked at the pictures of the pool decks and was worried that it would be like sardines! Thankfully Seabourn does not attract a chair hog crowd, even on warm sunny sea days. A couple of times I had to take a shady lounger, but within a half hour a prime sunny chair (my preference) opened up. I never felt the need to chair hog because there never seemed a point to hog on Seabourn. It was all quite civilized.

[poolreader]

We were on the Allure in June and we had trouble finding a seat in the shade. We finally found two right outside of the Solarium and enjoyed sitting and reading for about an hour.

We decided to go grab some lunch in the Solarium because it was so close. We left our towels on the chairs and went to grab some food, carefully noting the time. There was very little my husband liked there (in fact he called it the goat cheese place) so we just had a snack and ate it in there. We were gone for 15 minutes, but when we got back our towels were gone. The people in our chairs said the pool guy moved them because we had been gone too long the people who had been sitting near us shook there heads no. I told her is was not even more than 20 minutes, and the people who had been sitting near us shook there heads yes.

What irritated me was the place to get towels was so far away and I could see the towels were secured in the chairs the same way I had done them. Over, under, and back up with bunny ears. I almost asked for my towels back but she had on one of the little string bikinis.

[Jane2357]

When I lived in the "frozen tundra of the North - Michigan" - we would cruise the caribbean to get out of the blowing snow. With skin the color of snow we dreamed of laying out in the sun - ahhh a slice of heaven. Now living in Florida, with a pool and boat of our own, the sun holds no longer is a draw for us. Regardless we were never chogs but when I see them now - I laugh as I figure that many of are from the snowy north.

[njmomof2]

Mom and I don't sit in the sun so a chair right around the pool is not required. And only my younger son (12) goes into the pool for any length of time, and he's a great swimmer so I don't have to be watching from out in the bright sun.

 

Finding a suitable shade chair can be an issue, and we had that on Oasis. There were no chairs with a line of sight to the pool that my son was using unless we wanted to sit in the smoking section. We had to sit a bit away from him.

 

We're sailing on Freedom again next week and we have a location that we love, where we can see the pool and younger son, and still enjoy a spot out of the sun. Considering it's mid August and I have not a bit of color on me, you'd think I'd want some, but my dermatologist would not be happy with me if I did.

[ducklite]

I can count on one hand how many times I've sat by a pool. We use the loungers on our balcony on large ships, never had a problem finding open chairs on the small ones. So no reason to worry about it.

 

IMHO, the large ships should raise cruise fares $1 per day so they can hire pool attendants who would ask "sun or shade" and then lead people to chairs and give them towels which are charged to the ship account. When the towels are returned the guest gets a receipt and the charge removed. This would encourage people to "check out" when they actually leave the pool area, otherwise they'll end up paying for towels that they have just left around. When they check out, the chairs can then be offered to new guests.

[slidergirl]

Since I travel solo, I rarely have trouble finding a chair of my liking. That said, I never "pre-reserve" a chair. If I need to leave for a little while (pool, restroom), I will politely ask a person next to me to tell anyone inquiring that I am away for a moment and will be coming back. If I'm in a good mood, I'll ask that nice person if I can bring them back something (water, drink)…

 

The best chair hog fight I ever saw was at the Westin Rio Mar (now a Wyndham) in Puerto Rico. I went to the beach around 9am and found a chair. All the chairs around me had ONE item each on them. But no one ever sat on them. Around 11am, a father and young son approached and asked if the chairs were being used. I told them that they had not in the last 2 hours I was there. There was one "vacant", so the father took that one and then moved the one article of another so the son could have a chair. Come about 12:30, some very loud people with "New York Jewish" accents amble up and start screaming at the father and son that they stole their chairs. Father said "sorry, but we never saw anyone." I tried to help them by saying I had been there since 9 and no one was out there. One of the "gentlemen" in the group got up in the father's face and threatened him to get the F out of there. I looked right at those rude people and said loudly to the father that he and his son could use my chair since I had no desire to be around such nasty people. I even dragged my chair around a way from the group so he and his son could not have to be near them.

 

Another chair hog I see on trips are cruisers who "poach" beach chairs at a hotel when they aren't staying there… You know - those of us who are staying AT the hotel would like to actually USE the facilities we've PAID for - we can tell you are poachers because you show up in a herd, park for awhile, then leave just before we see the ships sailing over the horizon…

 

Hank - you are most definitely NOT a chair HOG - you are a chair USER...