Chair Hogs

[Seafan22]

I am trying Royal Caribbean for my next cruise, because of the itinerary.  They have just started this strategy for addressing the chair hog issue, and apparently staff have been told to enforce it fleet-wide on a daily basis, and they are doing it.

 

[Suntanz]

I love to cruise, but I have to admit, the Chair Hogs are one of the worst things about cruising. Wish there was something that could be done. I don't know the answer though.

[hawkeyetlse]

15 minutes ago, Seafan22 said:

I am trying Royal Caribbean for my next cruise, because of the itinerary.  They have just started this strategy for addressing the chair hog issue, and apparently staff have been told to enforce it fleet-wide on a daily basis, and they are doing it.

What are they doing exactly? Because that whole row of chairs in your photo is still reserved. Is the pink thing like a 30 minute warning?

[Seafan22]

What the chair sign says is: “Hold that thought:  No reserving deck chairs.  Unattended items will be held at the towel stand.”  From what Royal Caribbean cruisers are saying, people have had enough are the cruise line has heard the complaints.  Within the last month the staff have been ruthless, stripping rows of towels and junk off chairs that were unoccupied for a period of time.  I imagine they have a length of time that is the limit.  People are reporting that it has been across many ships.

[mtrancher]

I think most cruise lines have policies but the enforcement has be completely lacking. If Royal enforces their policy as you have indicate I think it's great! Back in the day before there was widespread chair hogging, it seemed their were always chairs available. Nowadays, very few chairs are available after 11:00am even though  a fair amount are empty/unoccupied.

Kudos to Royal for addressing this problem; I hope they are able to enforce without a lot of issue.

[SpacemanSpiff]

It seems like the chair hogs are ubiquitous wherever there are chairs to hog.  We've seen the same issue at beach resorts we've been to. 

[PATRLR]

Good for RCL.   Hope this catches on and NCL follows suit.  (Although I've been hearing reports recently of NCL starting to enforce their chair rules more than they did in the past)

 

 

[Seafan22]

Chair hogs have to also be reading this...can you explain you thinking?

[Destaw71835]

If they enforce it I’m all for it.

[Beer Belly]

Now, if NCL can keep kids out of the adult pool and hot tubs, I'll be even more impressed. On our Getaway sailing April of 22 to the Bahamas had one kid hold another under water to stay afloat, parent jumped in to save the day, once the kid got above water, he vomited, pool closed, drain for disinfecting. Around 6 kids in the Hot Tub, age 5-10, no adult, one even had swimmies.

[ngrund]

1 hour ago, Suntanz said:

I love to cruise, but I have to admit, the Chair Hogs are one of the worst things about cruising. Wish there was something that could be done. I don't know the answer though.

One answer is to implement some sort of chair check in system-every chair could have an assigned number, and you need to see a staff member first to check you in-

 

[Two Wheels Only]

31 minutes ago, Seafan22 said:

Chair hogs have to also be reading this...can you explain you thinking?

 

Chair hogs will always have an (invalid) excuse for their behavior. The usual are...

 

"...well, we can never find empty chairs together since everyone else hogs them before we do...."

"... we need to be right next to the pool so that we can watch our children..."

"...the chairs are first come, first serve so we get there first at 6am even though we won't return until after lunch..."

"...it's not our fault, it's the cruise line's fault for not having enough chairs/deck space for so many people on the ship..."

"...we like to people-watch so we have to be near the pool because that's where the people are..."

 

... but chair hogs will never see nor understand that they are wrong. 

[Rusty Shacklefjord]

1 hour ago, Suntanz said:

Wish there was something that could be done.

You could move the stuff and sit in the chair? 

[david_sobe]

This will be just as effective as NCL's "Blue Dot" from a few years ago.  Its hard to enforce because of how hard it is to track everyone down.  Some people could be in the pool, others at the pool bar.  Are they not still on the pool deck?

The really horrible ones are the ones that disappear from the pool deck and go to breakfast and lunch and expect to get those chairs at a later time.
Everyone has their own belief on this.  IMHO as long as you are on the pool deck, I think its ok to have a towel on the chair.

I don't do this but I think its reasonable.

[Suntanz]

26 minutes ago, Rusty Shacklefjord said:

You could move the stuff and sit in the chair? 

I'm on vacation. The last thing I want to do is have an argument with another passenger.

 

59 minutes ago, ngrund said:

One answer is to implement some sort of chair check in system-every chair could have an assigned number, and you need to see a staff member first to check you in-

 

There has to be a way and this is a good suggestion.

 

I get up early & like to walk around the pool area, especially since its near the buffet. Its ridiculous that towels are on chairs by 7:00 and no one around. That's when the staff can start removing towels. 

[hawkeyetlse]

And charge people for abandoning their towels. As long as I can remember, they threaten people with $20 or $30 if they misplace their beach towel, but I have never heard of anyone ever actually being charged. (Unfortunately the person responsible for reporting the missing the towels would be the cabin attendant, and people will just take it out on them and remove their gratuities.)

 

For people who save chairs with books and bags and hats or whatever, just throw that stuff in the incinerator. (Kidding, of course, but give it to the crew or donate it at the next port. When the guest comes asking, say "Sorry, no one has seen your stuff. You didn't happen to leave it unattended in a public area for several hours, did you?")

Edited March 27, 2023 by hawkeyetlse

[XLVIII]

We haven’t cruised with RCL in 5 or 6 years, but if they’re serious about enforcing this we’d be ready to book our next cruise with them. Or whoever else will really deal with chair hogs. 

[CruisnHallelujahs]

I once moved someone’s reserving towels at a resort.  No one was there for the hours we had been there and asked around.  No one had seen people there. I was in the pool when they returned but my poor dh was asleep on the lounger when a man came charging at him screaming how dare we take his chairs.  You wouldn’t believe how animal like he was.  How dare we take his chairs when he got up at 6am to reserve them.  If we wanted them we should get up at 6 am he screamed.  I asked where they had been since 6am… they were on a bike excursion.  Lol.  And we were the ignorant ones.  It was after 1 pm when they returned.  

[OrangeCatRamblers]

I have no problem sitting in a chair until someone returns. I don't mind giving it up when they come back. 

[awinte2]

We were on the Prima in February and as usual the Chair Hogs were out in full force.  We  talked to the NCL head of pool area and said they would remove the passengers items if the chairs had been unattended for over 1/2 hour.  So this is what we did.

We walked through the pool area at 8:30 on our way to breakfast and took pics of chairs that had towels laid on them. At 10:30  came to the pool area  and found 2 chairs that we had taken pic of  and showed them to the NCL rep in the towel booth and he immediately removed their towels and we sat down. No confrontation with anyone..

We will do this from now on as it is not proper for us to remove someones belongings and we do not want to get into  it with anyone as we are on holidays .  Keep in mind that the chair must be reserved for over 1/2 hour as some people can be in the pool, washroom or quick trip to buffet or stateroom and coming right back. 

 

[SeaShark]

6 minutes ago, awinte2 said:

We walked through the pool area at 8:30 on our way to breakfast and took pics of chairs that had towels laid on them. At 10:30  came to the pool area  and found 2 chairs that we had taken pic of  and showed them to the NCL rep in the towel booth and he immediately removed their towels and we sat down. No confrontation with anyone..

 

The flaw here is that the person could have come back at any time between 8:30 and 10:30 and then left again prior to your return. Just because a chair was unoccupied at 8:30 and it is unoccupied at 10:30 does NOT mean that it was unoccupied for the entire time in between.

[awinte2]

Just now, SeaShark said:

 

The flaw here is that the person could have come back at any time between 8:30 and 10:30 and then left again prior to your return. Just because a chair was unoccupied at 8:30 and it is unoccupied at 10:30 does NOT mean that it was unoccupied for the entire time in between.

No you are correct but there was well over 30 chairs reserved at 8:30  and there was many reserved ones  to pick from when we came back at 10:30.  If more people did this the Chair Hogs would get the hint and quit coming down before the sun rises to reserve their chairs.

I am not out to take anyones chair only the ones that reserve for hours and hours and never come back. Also if you are on the pool deck and you know the chairs beside you have been reserved for hours with no one coming back. Mention to people that are searching and have them get the cruise line rep to remove them so they may sit down.

 

[CILCIANRQTS]

Where is it written that a towel on a chair “reserves” that chair for an unlimited time period? Shame on us for allowing the chair hogs to continue to get away with it. If you see something, say something works here also. Yes, let a staff member remove the items.

NCL now prints on the front page of it’s daily that items on a chair will only hold it for 15 minutes.

Edited March 27, 2023 by CILCIANRQTS

[Suntanz]

15 minutes is quick. I honesty think an hour is good. Maybe someone wants to hit the buffet or take a walk, swim or something. After an hour & no one there, the stuff should be removed. Like someone else said though, I would prefer not to be the one to remove the towel or book.

[SeaShark]

1 hour ago, awinte2 said:

I am not out to take anyones chair only the ones that reserve for hours and hours and never come back.

 

Never being the key point. In order to determine never, that chair must be continually watched or else you risk missing the return and subsequent departure.

 

This is the problem you have when someone is hogging a chair that you want for yourself.