New 30-minute pool lounger save policy instituted on the Splendor

[-Lew-]

Six days since the new policy became effective on the Splendor and I'm happy to report it is going very well.  No bloodshed, yelling, or screaming to report.

I arrived on the pool deck a little after 8:00 this morning to find about half of the sun beds available.  I claimed one and enjoyed a couple cappuccinos while listening to podcasts.

 

At about 8:45 a couple placed personal items on two adjacent sunbeds and two loungers across the aisle...then left.  At 9:30 I left to join my DW for breakfast at La Veranda...setting my iPhone timer to 25 minutes.  Upon my return the personal items were gone and a different couple was occupying one of the sun beds.

 

This afternoon, after about 20 minutes in the hot tub we moved over to the pool.  First I returned to our day bed with a towel to reset our clock.  While we enjoyed the pool, a woman who had been in the pool returned to her lounger after, she claimed, 45 minutes to find her belongings had disappeared.  She later located them on the table near the bar.

 

Whatever the Splendor staff is doing is working well.  There's no need for a reservation system or anything beyond what is currently being done.  Pool deck beverage service has not diminished, so no concern there.

[slidebite]

Nice!

[kihei228]

On 2/3/2023 at 3:24 PM, Pcardad said:

They can put a lounger on your balcony if you like....or they used to do this.

 

Thanks for the info.

[pappy1022]

Expecting people to be kind and act like adults is naive. It’s like asking people to agree on politics. It ain’t gonna happen. The people who feel privileged will do what they want because that’s who they are. The rules are for others, not for them. I am glad to see that Regent is taking a stand on this issue but it doesn’t end at the pool deck.

[Lonedaddy]

[kjbacon]

I think this is fantastic! We are boarding the sold out Splendor tomorrow (yay!) for the southern Caribbean and will be happy to benefit from it.

[Pcardad]

4 hours ago, kjbacon said:

I think this is fantastic! We are boarding the sold out Splendor tomorrow (yay!) for the southern Caribbean and will be happy to benefit from it.

4 cabins available on Splendor tomorrow as of late last night.

[slidebite]

OK... so it's merely 98.9% sold out 🙂

 

[Pcardad]

1 minute ago, slidebite said:

OK... so it's merely 98.9% sold out 🙂

 

Just saying there is room - I am thinking about it.

[gwesq]

7 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Just saying there is room - I am thinking about it.

Interesting.  Is it possible these days with the TSA rules to book a cruise this late?  I know it used to be that people would drive to the port & find a cruise to get on. I didn't think such was possible anymore.

 

IF you join, we'll see you onboard!

[slidebite]

1 hour ago, Pcardad said:

Just saying there is room - I am thinking about it.

You know what you have to do!

[kirtihk]

On 2/2/2023 at 10:32 PM, cruiseluv said:

Interesting… I disembarked Splendor yesterday and our cruise was plagued with passengers blatantly reserving lounge chairs. I spoke to the GM Mr Galzy about this, and he said they couldn’t remove passengers belonging as that could result in a liability issue , plus they didn’t have the staff to monitor how long things were unattended on a chair. Time will tell if they indeed enforce this policy, it’s not the first time that they have instituted it.

We were on 16-day Christmas on the Canal  Dec 20 - Jan 5 Splendor cruise, and even though most people kept lounges forever, there was plenty of them available between pool deck and the deck above it.

[kirtihk]

On 2/7/2023 at 5:05 AM, kjbacon said:

I think this is fantastic! We are boarding the sold out Splendor tomorrow (yay!) for the southern Caribbean and will be happy to benefit from it.

You will enjoy the cruise.  We were on the 16-day Christmas on the Canal  Dec 20 - Jan 5 Splendor cruise, and it was perfect.  The orchestra was the best, especially their nightly 10:30 pm personal performance after the main show in the Meridian lounge (manager Wesly who is so energized while performing, 3 Ukranian members (especially, guitarist Yevgeniy) and all others are great)!

[Tsunami74]

We were on the Oceania Riviera in the Caribbean just before co-vid in February 2020.

At the pool,  they had a plan along the lines of the Spendor,  but with longer time.

 

Approximately on the hour an attendant put cards on unoccupied loungers that said: the bed was unoccupied at say 9:00 and if still unoccupied at 10:00 items would be moved to a table.

(I may be wrong about the 1 hour, but it was plenty of time for a normal lunch.)

 

This seemed to work very nicely.  There was almost always an empty lounger or 2 in the shade.

Did not see anyone upset or questioning policy.

 

The "table" sometimes had lots of stuff on it; sometimes not much.

 

Worked well, was accepted and made a more pleasant trip. 

[irishwitchy]

On Explorer,  about an hour ago,  stuff most have been moved by attendants.  Owner of stuff,  on returning to his entitled reserved lounge seat, had words with new owners of the lounger.  However,  after some complaining to staff,  he was shown the sign on the table of shame and took his toys.  
 

He visited the other side - nothing and left.  He did returned and guess what another lounger was open.   He is happy, again.  Relax folks!! 

[carolina cruisin]

On 2/7/2023 at 11:03 AM, gwesq said:

Interesting.  Is it possible these days with the TSA rules to book a cruise this late?  I know it used to be that people would drive to the port & find a cruise to get on. I didn't think such was possible anymore.

 

IF you join, we'll see you onboard!

Enjoying ourselves to date. We should try to meet up for a drink. 

[wcsdkqh]

What exactly do TSA rules have to do with a last minute cruise booking?

[Roccaforte]

The ships manifest must be submitted to TSA.  Depending on when this happens there can be no bookings after.  

[Roccaforte]

Oops! I meant DHS.

[cruiseluv]

3 hours ago, Roccaforte said:

Oops! I meant DHS.

That’s so odd. People book last minute flights all the time

[-Lew-]

35 minutes ago, cruiseluv said:

That’s so odd. People book last minute flights all the time

 

Government regulations require cruise lines submit final departure manifests at least 60 minutes prior to sailing.  Theoretically a cruise could be booked anytime prior to submission of the manifests.

[gwesq]

6 hours ago, Roccaforte said:

Oops! I meant DHS.

yes, so did I

 

[gwesq]

10 hours ago, carolina cruisin said:

Enjoying ourselves to date. We should try to meet up for a drink. 

Yes - we’re on aruba tour to ostrich farm, and on sunday will be at super bowl party ( i assume they are having one) wearing my eagles cap and “It’s a Philly Thing” T shirt at the party.  

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On 2/4/2023 at 3:04 PM, Pcardad said:

Don't give up on the shorter cruises - they can be a lot of fun and the situation described above is not typical.

I agree. I was on the Jan.21-Feb.1 11-day Splendor cruise too, and was surprised at the demographic. Perhaps it's just because we've aged with our fellow cruisers over the last 23 years, but CR had a little parking lot out front for scooters, walkers and wheelchairs. Don't get me wrong, it's our demographic, but a 7-day might be a bit livelier for someone younger.

 

[Pcardad]

11 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

I agree. I was on the Jan.21-Feb.1 11-day Splendor cruise too, and was surprised at the demographic. Perhaps it's just because we've aged with our fellow cruisers over the last 23 years, but CR had a little parking lot out front for scooters, walkers and wheelchairs. Don't get me wrong, it's our demographic, but a 7-day might be a bit livelier for someone younger.

 

Hey, I am a Gen Z....and while I am not in the majority, there are more and more of us every year. 😃