A New Twist on Chair Hogs

[brillohead]

3 minutes ago, brad_p said:

This literally made me LOL, I'd love to see someone do this 

Join me on Symphony in March and you just might.  

Chair hogs annoy me.  

 

[vacationlover_mn]

On Radiance this summer, NB Alaska, there were tons of chair hogs in the VCL 😞. In many cases, one person would be “holding” the chairs for 2-8 other family members, who never appeared for the hour or so we were there...

[HBE4]

2 hours ago, vacationlover_mn said:

On Radiance this summer, NB Alaska, there were tons of chair hogs in the VCL 😞. In many cases, one person would be “holding” the chairs for 2-8 other family members, who never appeared for the hour or so we were there...

 

i've noticed this as well - on cruises and at hotel pools. One of these days, I'll work up the nerve to say "No problem, I'll just sit here until the your 6 other family members show up & then I'll leave".  Maybe engage the chair hog in friendly banter just to be extra annoying.

 

I've also notice that often times, there are never as many people showing up as the chair hog says and most of the chairs serve as tables for bags or one chair will serve as a "buffer" from other guest to give extra space.

[SargassoPirate]

I love chair hogs - they provide me with a never-ending supply of reading material, sunglasses, pool towels that I don't have to check out, and the best spots around the pool or hot tub.  I'm glad they are now saving a spot for me in the VCL. 

 

Seriously though, people's sense of entitlement never ceases to amaze me.  

[HBE4]

54 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

I love chair 

Seriously though, people's sense of entitlement never ceases to amaze me.  

 

I wonder how come the chair Hogs never post here defending their behavior?🤔

 

 There's got to be two or three of them here on Cruise Critic.

[twangster]

The only way hogs will stop being hogs is when Royal enforces that "no reservation" rule.

 

Otherwise what ends up happening is that otherwise decent people have to become hogs to get a seat.  Sooner or later non-hogs will be driven to become hogs simply because they have to.  

 

CC is full of hogs who know better but have to become hoggish just like people who drive 'slightly' over the speed limit.  Everyone else does it, so,  when in Rome...

[SargassoPirate]

Since receiving a score of "10" on the post cruise evaluations is so important to RCI, if one does not like certain aspects of the cruise, such as lack of enforcement of their no reserving seats policy, then make sure they don't get a 10 and include some comments why.

 

Think about it.  If people hadn't complained about smoking on board, the cruise line wouldn't have done anything to restrict it.  I always figure that if one doesn't complain about something that is unsatisfactory, RCI will never correct it.

[BillieJeanKaraokeKing]

23 hours ago, twangster said:

The only way hogs will stop being hogs is when Royal enforces that "no reservation" rule.

 

Otherwise what ends up happening is that otherwise decent people have to become hogs to get a seat.  Sooner or later non-hogs will be driven to become hogs simply because they have to.  

 

CC is full of hogs who know better but have to become hoggish just like people who drive 'slightly' over the speed limit.  Everyone else does it, so,  when in Rome...

I think you're hogging the word 'hog' there. 😋

[emeraldcity]

Sadly, the staff on the Adventure of the Seas wasn't one of the best I've ever sailed with. I suspect the only people that were catered to were the 78 Pinnacles. The elevator issue mentioned was ridiculous. They were well aware in advance of the sailing that there would be over 1200 D/D+ and they shut down two of the four elevators to the VC for a 13-day cruise to upgrade them. Failing to provide the main show lounge for an alternate to the overcrowded diamond Lounge and VC was a blunder. I suppose just because the ships for TA and TP that I cruised made that accommodation, I was expecting it on the Adventure.  Silly me.

 

With no signs in a lounge dictating that saving chairs is against the rules, people are free to do as they choose. And apparently, many chose to stake their claim to prime real estate for later in the day. Since much of this sailing took place in chilly weather, it was often difficult to find any lounge at all where one could settle down with a book. Believe me -- I went hunting several times. I even asked people who were sitting alone in a seated grouping if any of the chairs were available and I was turned away.

 

And yes, there were an awful lot of people who were entitled … I was entitled … but I didn't get what I was entitled to and I wasn't about to insist on it. I just went away.

 

I will say that I am particularly happy that I didn't fly home after this trip … I transferred to the Allure for a 7-day chaser. And that cruise was what I remember best about Royal Caribbean cruises prior to the Snowbird cruise. I'm not talking about a comparison in ship size or amenities … I'm talking about a can-do attitude from every staff member I met. On the Adventure, it was common to ask about something a get and flat "no". Nothing to soften like a little preamble "I'm really sorry, but because of this and that..." On the Allure, it would be "let me see what I can do." I have no complaints about the cabin steward, or our dining room wait staff … and I thought the LA was doing an extraordinary job under very trying conditions, but sadly, I wouldn't book that cruise again … and  I've never said that about any cruise I've been on.

[Banana Benders]

On our recent cruise on Radiance TP to Sydney.

We had a similar issue with the people from the Concierge Lounge.

 

Because the suite passage use this lounge and also because there concierge wasn't serving their needs,

At happy hour they would packed out the Diamond lounge in big group taking half the sitting. This is there right to be there and it did have an overflown in the Viking lounges as well. so at peak times there wasn't a seat to be found except in the Concierge Lounge.

 

The other issue is, a couple out of the two parties of 10 would arrive a 4pm, arrange all the chairs for their group. But that's not the worst of it, happy hour stats at 4.30pm and most of these wouldn't turn up till 5pm or after.

So in the end we had a group of 7and we just went and sat down in there seats The American pinnacle woman made a big seen,  with language of an Vegas street worker.  We stood our ground and JD the Diamond lounge Concierge said we were within rights, as there is no reserving of seats and he had,  had complaints about people reserving seat.  He dealt with it well and wouldn't let them push him around. The Pinnacle said "they would make a formal complaint and would never be seen in there again". 

 

Funny two nights later they were all back but would come as a group out of the Concierge trough, to make them selves seen. Which was a really entertaining event every night for  the next 5 nights, see them all standing over by the bar with their pineapple badges on.  (As an old Cruising friend of mine once said. "Some people have been in the trough to long" and Secondly the Captain doesn't enjoy dinning with them )

 

Why cant people just be friendly to all, and enjoy the blessing of cursing the world

[mugtech]

13 minutes ago, Banana Benders said:

On our recent cruise on Radiance TP to Sydney.

We had a similar issue with the people from the Concierge Lounge.

 

Because the suite passage use this lounge and also because there concierge wasn't serving their needs,

At happy hour they would packed out the Diamond lounge in big group taking half the sitting. This is there right to be there and it did have an overflown in the Viking lounges as well. so at peak times there wasn't a seat to be found except in the Concierge Lounge.

 

The other issue is, a couple out of the two parties of 10 would arrive a 4pm, arrange all the chairs for their group. But that's not the worst of it, happy hour stats at 4.30pm and most of these wouldn't turn up till 5pm or after.

So in the end we had a group of 7and we just went and sat down in there seats The American pinnacle woman made a big seen,  with language of an Vegas street worker.  We stood our ground and JD the Diamond lounge Concierge said we were within rights, as there is no reserving of seats and he had,  had complaints about people reserving seat.  He dealt with it well and wouldn't let them push him around. The Pinnacle said "they would make a formal complaint and would never be seen in there again". 

 

Funny two nights later they were all back but would come as a group out of the Concierge trough, to make them selves seen. Which was a really entertaining event every night for  the next 5 nights, see them all standing over by the bar with their pineapple badges on.  (As an old Cruising friend of mine once said. "Some people have been in the trough to long" and Secondly the Captain doesn't enjoy dinning with them )

 

Why cant people just be friendly to all, and enjoy the blessing of cursing the world

Perhaps you meant cruising the world, cursing the world not much of a blessing.

[Banana Benders]

15 minutes ago, mugtech said:

Perhaps you meant cruising the world, cursing the world not much of a blessing.

Bloody auto correct 😂😂😂😂😂😂

 

[MTLCRUISER72]

Money certainly doesn't buy class.☹️

[LCGirl]

On Serenade Beantown to beaches if you were in the lounge before 4:30 they made you leave. If you arrived at 5 there were no seats standing room only.

[zebra36]

10 hours ago, LCGirl said:

On Serenade Beantown to beaches if you were in the lounge before 4:30 they made you leave. If you arrived at 5 there were no seats standing room only.

On same cruise this year and never in any rush to get to either lounge but by 5 SRO was the norm.

[squadron]

On 11/28/2018 at 7:59 PM, Host Clarea said:

 

This year it was Adventure from Canada to Florida.

I suppose it is too much to hope that it is not the same situation for 2019  when I am on the snowbird Migration! On a cruise last Feb I found that by 4;30 there was no room on the Liberty in diamond lounge.  Had a nice overflow lounge on deck 5 which I used.  People  came early and grabbed seats for their friends.

[twangster]

13 minutes ago, squadron said:

I suppose it is too much to hope that it is not the same situation for 2019  when I am on the snowbird Migration! On a cruise last Feb I found that by 4;30 there was no room on the Liberty in diamond lounge.  Had a nice overflow lounge on deck 5 which I used.  People  came early and grabbed seats for their friends.

 

I was on the 2018 Snowbird Migration cruise and while it was everything that has been written, quite frankly I see the same on just about every cruise.  If there are 200 competing for a very few chairs or 1,200 competing for those chairs it really doesn't make much difference.  Some of those people will show up early and try to reserve seats.

 

I've already booked the 2019 Snowbird Migration so it wasn't so bad or unusual to have me avoid booking the same cruise a second time.  

 

With Diamond ranks growing every year it's not going to get any better any time soon.  Eventually Royal will need to make some changes whatever those might be, only time will tell if or when they will.  

[cb at sea]

Simply move the offending objects and sit.  If the people aren't there, it shouldn't matter.  If a family member is there and objects, saying that seat is "saved", simply tell them when that person arrives, you will move.  You don't have to be confrontational......in most cases, the offended ones will leave and go elsewhere!

[Banana Benders]

47 minutes ago, cb at sea said:

 You don't have to be confrontational......in most cases, the offended ones will leave and go elsewhere!

In a perfect world this world this would be the case.

But when dealing with people who think it is their right because of their status.

It doesn't, and will never happen.

 

Generally if you stand your ground with these people who bully the staff and other guest,

They soon back down because 99% of the time they are in the wrong

[0mzzz]

My last cruise we were a group of four.  After searching all over the ship on a sea day we managed to find two unclaimed chairs next to two abandoned chairs.  We took the chairs.  1.5 to 2 hours later the hogs sauntered back to reclaim them.  Could tell she was raging inside as she rudely said "you're in our chairs."  I tried my best not to chuckle and just said "No reserving chairs on this ship.  Says that all over the place"  She huffed loudly and they picked their crap up off the ground and sauntered on.  Crossed paths again a couple days later and it was funny.  She recognized me and turned away as we walked past each other.  I imagine anytime that cruise comes up she tells the story about the a*****es that had the audacity to steal their chairs.

[vacationlover_mn]

19 hours ago, 0mzzz said:

My last cruise we were a group of four.  After searching all over the ship on a sea day we managed to find two unclaimed chairs next to two abandoned chairs.  We took the chairs.  1.5 to 2 hours later the hogs sauntered back to reclaim them.  Could tell she was raging inside as she rudely said "you're in our chairs."  I tried my best not to chuckle and just said "No reserving chairs on this ship.  Says that all over the place"  She huffed loudly and they picked their crap up off the ground and sauntered on.  Crossed paths again a couple days later and it was funny.  She recognized me and turned away as we walked past each other.  I imagine anytime that cruise comes up she tells the story about the a*****es that had the audacity to steal their chairs.

You know what?  I need to be better at telling peopl- no reserving of chairs.  I angst about taking a chair hogs chair, but really, I shouldn’t worry about it!

[0mzzz]

5 hours ago, vacationlover_mn said:

really, I shouldn’t worry about it!

Yep.  That's my take on it exactly.  They are the ones abusing a community asset, not you or I.  It goes against the way I would typically want to interact with someone, but they know exactly what they are doing.  They are depriving everyone of an asset that they aren't even planning to use for extended periods of time.  If they had come back in a reasonable time frame I would have been more diplomatic in my explanation for why we took them and offered them right back.

[Pennstateman]

On 12/4/2018 at 11:35 PM, 0mzzz said:

Yep.  That's my take on it exactly.  They are the ones abusing a community asset, not you or I.  It goes against the way I would typically want to interact with someone, but they know exactly what they are doing.  They are depriving everyone of an asset that they aren't even planning to use for extended periods of time.  If they had come back in a reasonable time frame I would have been more diplomatic in my explanation for why we took them and offered them right back.

Here’s what I do. 

When I see a hogged chair that I want to use I sit down on it.  When the hog says “that seat it saved”, I say “why thank you, that was awfully nice of you “ and sit down on it

[grapau27]

3 hours ago, Pennstateman said:

Here’s what I do. 

When I see a hogged chair that I want to use I sit down on it.  When the hog says “that seat it saved”, I say “why thank you, that was awfully nice of you “ and sit down on it

Great answer.

[Keksie]

We were Diamond before our last cruise so we went up to the Diamond Lounge the first evening.  After that we just got our drinks at whatever bar we were sitting in before dinner.  Maybe I am missing something but we really didn't see a need to be up there.