How do you solve the problem of Sun Bed hoarders ?

[excitedofharpenden]

When this happens to us, I go straight to a pool attendant and ask them to help me find loungers. They usually pull towels off a couple of loungers that don't look like they've been used recently. If for some reason they aren't helpful, I look around the pool deck for an officer. They are sometimes on the upper deck surveying the area. I then go to them and ask them their opinion of passengers saving loungers by putting books and towels on loungers then not returning for hours. I explain that I went to a pool attendant and wasn't satisfied with the response I received. The couple of times I did this I observed staff collecting towels from loungers within a couple of minutes of my discussion, so could easily find an open lounger.

 

I feel like this is a real problem on every cruise ship, as well as land based resorts. The ships need to have a clear policy that prohibits "saving" and they should be diligent about enforcement. Pool staff should be scheduled to rotate around the deck picking up unattended items. If passengers see this happening they'll be less likely to violate the policy. When staff become lax you get upset customers on both sides of this fence.

I think this is the best approach and maybe if more guests did it Celebrity would get the message. Sadly, more than likely the crew will opt for the easy answer if they aren't forced to and will do nothing.

 

Phil

[yorky]

Easy answer is nothing will change. The attitude in modern society is look out for number one, unless you can change that you won’t stop chair hoggers, people reserving seats at the theatre, people demanding certain tables in the dinning room. The days of consideration and plain good manners finished sometime between the 1960/70s.

[buchhalm]

Genious solution at a resort on Mallorca we visited last year.

Every Sun lounge by the pool and beach had a bar code tag attached.

Staff were constantly roaming with bar code readers , like those price check thingies in large shops. Unattended chairs with stuff on them were scanned. When, on the nect round the situation was the same, they scanned again. After a certain time had passed they cleared the chairs and left a laminated note (in 5 languages, the first of which was German), so that the new occupiers of the lounge would not have to argue the issue. All this was explained to all guests at check in.

[excitedofharpenden]

It doesn’t really need a genius solution. Just a want to enforce by Celebrity and enough guests on the ship giving them a push to do it.

 

Phil

[redflag216]

9am?? Please, that’s nothing! Try having the majority of loungers occupied at 7am. I was on the Reflection a month ago and went up to get a smoothie and grab a couple chairs.....almost every chair had a towel or something on it. I am on vacation and don’t have the desire to be up at 5am to beat all the old goats getting a chair. With that said, two instances come to mind. First, there was a sea day where the two chairs beside us had not had a person sitting on them for literally hours - even though their “stuff” was there. I mentioned it to a couple pool butlers who had happened by and they just shrugged their shoulders. Which leads me to my second instance. My in laws had two chairs out in the sun, and we were sitting in the shade. My mother in law had come over to chat with us for a minute and then called my father in law over to where we were sitting. No more than 30 seconds after he got to us, a pool butler was tagging their chairs. My father in law lost it!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[CruisersTimesThree]

I am hoping that we don't have these problems on Solstice on our 30 March cruise out of Sydney.... I won't be very happy if we go to the pool area and find all the sun loungers with towels...etc... on and no-one sitting on them

 

Expect to have this happen on your cruise if you look for a chair anywhere around the pool or in the shade. It is one of the most annoying things that happen on a ship. You can usually find chairs on the level above the pool deck, but that depends on what time you get there.

This is a common occurrence on sea days. On a port day the pool area is pretty empty, so if you decide to stay onboard or come back from an excursion very early you can find a chair very easily.

As others have mentioned, look for the pool attendant if you have trouble finding a chair, and hopefully they do their job.

[marysb]

I am hoping that we don't have these problems on Solstice on our 30 March cruise out of Sydney.... I won't be very happy if we go to the pool area and find all the sun loungers with towels...etc... on and no-one sitting on them

 

 

You Will!

 

Could be caught early if the pool butlers (or whatever their shirts say) would stop people immediately if they drop stuff and leave. Tell them not allowed to save. If you want a chair use it then and there!

[sippican]

You Will!

 

Could be caught early if the pool butlers (or whatever their shirts say) would stop people immediately if they drop stuff and leave. Tell them not allowed to save. If you want a chair use it then and there!

 

So, you can't drop your stuff and go in the pool or off to garb a bite to eat?

[Forecheck]

Of course you can go in the pool ... I would say if you decide to head off to eat then you should vacate the chair for others to use .. That would be the courteous thing to do in my opinion. It's not yours to reserve .

Edited March 24, 2018 by Forecheck

[CruisersTimesThree]

So, you can't drop your stuff and go in the pool or off to garb a bite to eat?

 

Yes, you can, but it should be a reasonable amount of time away from your chair. Probably a half hour is what I would consider fair.

We usually bring our food from the buffet or the grill back to our seats and enjoy lunch, or take turns.

What most of us are talking about is the people that drop an item on the chairs as a "reserving the chair" tactic and don't use it for hours, but think they can come back whenever they please and expect that its "their" chair.

[CruisersTimesThree]

You Will!

 

Could be caught early if the pool butlers (or whatever their shirts say) would stop people immediately if they drop stuff and leave. Tell them not allowed to save. If you want a chair use it then and there!

 

Exactly what I suggested! When you see someone at 7am dropping stuff on 4, 6, 10 chairs, that should not be allowed and should be stopped by the staff. Wonder why they don't do this?

[cruisestitch]

Here's what I suggest if you are just going to the pool -- mention it to your neighbors -- so if someone comes looking for a lounger they can say "those people are in swimming now". Or even leave a note "Hi, it's 10:15 and we are in the pool now". Keeping your stuff on a lounge chair while you are in the water cooling off is a reasonable action,

 

But as for going off to lunch, well, you aren't supposed to be in the buffet in bathing suits anyway. But assume you have proper cover ups and head in there to grab the food and bring it back with your, no problem; but if you are going to be staying in the buffet for an hour or so, I would say, no, don't just leave your stuff when you go off for lunch.

[George C]

Rccl now makes you sign out for towels , but that really had little effect on chair saving

[MagPie60]

DH and I take it in turn to get our lunch. We aren't joined at the hip and don't need to do everything together....One if us will go and get a plate, and then the other one will go when the first one returns.

[chamima]

.

 

One thing I did notice on this Silhouette cruise last week, was that most of the chairs were actually occupied - on all decks, l :o.

 

 

On a recent cruise I was sitting (laying) and reading on a lounge chair. ALL of the chairs around me were occupied.

Around 11:30 or so a woman strolled up, obviously looking for a lounge. When she couldn't find one she stopped in the middle and yelled at all of us - "What is wrong with you people? Do you all get up in the middle of the night to get chairs? Do you all have inside cabins so you need to be up here to get a lounger?

 

She just stood there ranting and raving and we all pretended to be be engrossed in our books. Sorry we didn't reserve her chair for when she woke up and felt ready for it to be there for her.;p

[cruise kitty]

I am hoping that we don't have these problems on Solstice on our 30 March cruise out of Sydney.... I won't be very happy if we go to the pool area and find all the sun loungers with towels...etc... on and no-one sitting on them

 

You won't, at least we didn't. :) This experience seems to be mainly limited to the Caribbean type cruises. We did one of these about two years ago & will never do so again. They attract a very different demographic than Celebrity's other itineraries. Literally the rudest group of passengers it's ever been my misfortune to cruise with. On our NZ cruise, yes, lounges were full, but they were actually occupied with people, not just their belongings. Never had a problem finding a lounge in the shaded areas around the perimeter of the ship or in the solarium area. :) Enjoy.

[Forecheck]

The problem is people who are the abusers justify their actions by saying oh we are just heading to lunch or we got up early to reserve these chairs .. Blah blah ... In their minds they are not a problem ... If the problem is ever going to be solved it will be up to the pool butlers to police this and do their jobs ... Until that it will be every man/ women to themselves ... Good luck everyone[emoji3]

[Marelaine]

Honestly, I just don't understand the whole issue of chair hogging. We love using the Solarium areas and have never had an issue finding a spot. Maybe that's because it is a priority of ours so we get up early eanough to find a spot, claim it with our debris, go to breakfast, come back after eating, with a travel mug of tea or coffee, read the paper......, etc.

 

It's really quite simple, if you want a spot, get there early and use it. If you are sauntering in at 11:00 AM expecting prime poolside accommodations, then yup the hoggers will be a major thorn in your side. I have no problem telling the chair hunters that a lounger has not been occupied for hours, which then usually leads to them asking a pool attendant to move the belongings at my urging. Sometimes, I'll even shift some things over for those reluctant to do so. I don't understand those who say they will not move another's belongings. Well if you know that the chair is in fact unoccupied (the hoggers are wrong), and you are not willing to be assertive, then stop complaining. It's not going to change, it's been going on forever, the cruisline is not going to hire a ton of chair police with stopwatches. So join them or beat them at their own game. And if you want to have some fun. move some items around to other chairs, or even drag entire loungers to other locations (so nope - you didn't touch their personal things). :')

 

We haven't had problems finding loungers, either. For those, who like us, aren't early risers, don't expect to go to the pool at 11 a.m. and find loungers next to the pool. We sleep in, most mornings, go to late breakfast, take care of any little errands, go back to our cabin and change and chill out a bit. Then we head to the Solarium, if there are no vacancies, we make the rounds. There will be two loungers together, somewhere. We aren't fussy, except we prefer not to sit in the sun. Sometimes we get a drink at the Mast Bar and head back to the Solarium. Some of the early birds have usually begun to clear out from the pool area around 2.

 

If worse comes to worse, ask an attendant to help you choose loungers. What really drives me crazy are the slobs who leave their wet towels behind for someone else to clean up.

[Rosethorn40]

I suffer from insomnia, and on our cruise on the Summit 2-years ago it was really bad. I found myself waking up around 4:30 every morning. I would get up and quietly slip out of the cabin, so not to wake my sleeping (Like a log) husband, and walk around the decks. The first morning I go up to the Solarium and sure enough, there were several loungers in prime locations with towels on them. I was so sure they must have been left from the evening before, who would get up that early to try to reserve a lounger? Anyway, I removed all the towels (No personal items) and put them in the towel bin, and selected one of the double loungers and read until my husband joined me around 9:00. Later that morning we heard a woman complaining that she had come up at 4 am to put towels on 2 loungers to save them, and someone (That would be me) had removed them. This was at 11 am, and by that time the Solarium was fairly full.

[excitedofharpenden]

I suffer from insomnia, and on our cruise on the Summit 2-years ago it was really bad. I found myself waking up around 4:30 every morning. I would get up and quietly slip out of the cabin, so not to wake my sleeping (Like a log) husband, and walk around the decks. The first morning I go up to the Solarium and sure enough, there were several loungers in prime locations with towels on them. I was so sure they must have been left from the evening before, who would get up that early to try to reserve a lounger? Anyway, I removed all the towels (No personal items) and put them in the towel bin, and selected one of the double loungers and read until my husband joined me around 9:00. Later that morning we heard a woman complaining that she had come up at 4 am to put towels on 2 loungers to save them, and someone (That would be me) had removed them. This was at 11 am, and by that time the Solarium was fairly full.

Well, that is pretty determined!:eek: And ridiculous.

 

Phil

[ravenjls]

I suffer from insomnia, and on our cruise on the Summit 2-years ago it was really bad. I found myself waking up around 4:30 every morning. I would get up and quietly slip out of the cabin, so not to wake my sleeping (Like a log) husband, and walk around the decks. The first morning I go up to the Solarium and sure enough, there were several loungers in prime locations with towels on them. I was so sure they must have been left from the evening before, who would get up that early to try to reserve a lounger? Anyway, I removed all the towels (No personal items) and put them in the towel bin, and selected one of the double loungers and read until my husband joined me around 9:00. Later that morning we heard a woman complaining that she had come up at 4 am to put towels on 2 loungers to save them, and someone (That would be me) had removed them. This was at 11 am, and by that time the Solarium was fairly full.

 

I have a feeling it will be really bad on the 4/29th sailing on Summit. It will still be cool out when we leave NJ so I am sure the solarium will be jammed pack on sea days. I wonder how early I will have to be out there to get a lounger (anywhere in the solarium). We like to exercise, shower and then have breakfast when we get up, then grab a lounger and relax.

[NorthCarolinaBelle]

I suffer from insomnia, and on our cruise on the Summit 2-years ago it was really bad. I found myself waking up around 4:30 every morning. I would get up and quietly slip out of the cabin, so not to wake my sleeping (Like a log) husband, and walk around the decks. The first morning I go up to the Solarium and sure enough, there were several loungers in prime locations with towels on them. I was so sure they must have been left from the evening before, who would get up that early to try to reserve a lounger? Anyway, I removed all the towels (No personal items) and put them in the towel bin, and selected one of the double loungers and read until my husband joined me around 9:00. Later that morning we heard a woman complaining that she had come up at 4 am to put towels on 2 loungers to save them, and someone (That would be me) had removed them. This was at 11 am, and by that time the Solarium was fairly full.

Good for you!! I'm so ornery, it's almost worth getting up really early just to remove the towels and get those hogs!!:p

[JLBellaCC]

Recent experience aboard the Celebrity Eclipse (4-18 March) was the worst we had ever experienced as all sun beds were reserved by 9.00am every sea day. A tour of the deck at 9.30 revealed about 15% of beds occupied by a person the others reserved with some item or other. Many of the people having multiple beds, for sun and shade. Is this fair or just the way society has declined.

 

How would you suggest Celebrity get a grip of the situation?

 

Since we are not loyal cruisers, we cruise all the major lines. Last month we were on the Carnival Vista. They had someone every day who monitored the loungers and they put stickers with the time on vacant chairs. They constantly monitored these stickers and frequently removed items. This went on every day. I thought it was great and really kept people from leaving their chairs for hours at a time. We have never seen such diligence on a ship before.

[AnyShip4Me]

Honestly, I just don't understand the whole issue of chair hogging. We love using the Solarium areas and have never had an issue finding a spot. Maybe that's because it is a priority of ours so we get up early eanough to find a spot, claim it with our debris, go to breakfast, come back after eating, with a travel mug of tea or coffee, read the paper......, etc.

 

It's really quite simple, if you want a spot, get there early and use it. If you are sauntering in at 11:00 AM expecting prime poolside accommodations, then yup the hoggers will be a major thorn in your side. I have no problem telling the chair hunters that a lounger has not been occupied for hours, which then usually leads to them asking a pool attendant to move the belongings at my urging. Sometimes, I'll even shift some things over for those reluctant to do so. I don't understand those who say they will not move another's belongings. Well if you know that the chair is in fact unoccupied (the hoggers are wrong), and you are not willing to be assertive, then stop complaining. It's not going to change, it's been going on forever, the cruisline is not going to hire a ton of chair police with stopwatches. So join them or beat them at their own game. And if you want to have some fun. move some items around to other chairs, or even drag entire loungers to other locations (so nope - you didn't touch their personal things). :')

 

Oh my that is exactly what I do. (Small things for small minds I guess) I move the book or the one flip flop around until they question their own mental health stability.

[Mike981]

This is not only a 'cruise' problem. Think, "getting my share". People can justify any behavior.

Until the places that take the money decide to deal with this problem, it is not going to change.

I will not get into the, "I'm going to enforce the rules the cruise line isn't willing to enforce" game.