Chair hogs on Valor, Thanksgiving week

[rt63]

Warning: this post includes vivid descriptions of actual chair hogging. You may get upset or you may end up on the floor, laughing. :confused:

 

I mentioned in my review of our cruise that the chair saving situation got out of control during the Nov 19 cruise, Thanksgiving week. There was a post here mentioning a "catfight" and some slapping over a chair. I didn't see the slapping, only a lot of shouting that ensued later, and lots of big guys ready to jump over chairs to "assist"... didn't realize until I read it here that this incident was also chair saving related.

 

In my opinion, the Valor security and pursers staff have ignored or paid lip service to complaints of chair hogging. My complaint was responded to with a form letter, promises to talk to security, housekeeping, and the towel check desk on Lido deck, but after a subsequent call to the Purser's desk the next day, I got a statement that they can't do anything. So my concerns will be going via letter to "uncle Bob".

 

What was so bad that prompted me to complain? Not only did some chair hogs fail to even use the chairs they reserved, I or my friends were confronted about having taken "our chairs" twice in two days. Nobody wanted to risk the ire of a hog by moving their towels. Some folks even gave up and joined in on the hogging. All this happened right under the nose of the security staff on Lido deck. And quite frankly, I was getting awful tired of sitting among a bunch of towels.

 

We were on the ship for the prior week, and while I noticed a few folks putting towels and flip-flops on chairs, it wasn't as bad. By 11am, all the chairs were occupied.

 

However, the second week, which was more of a family crowd, it seemed the mothers sent the dads out on deck at 8am with stacks of towels to get chairs. And with lots of folks traveling together, each dad was grabbing 4 to 10 chairs. And promptly disappearing for the next several hours.

 

When we came out on deck at 8:30am to get the early sun (which out East near St Martin is already fairly high in the sky) there were still a few chairs left and a few dads grabbing the last of them.

 

But contrary to the previous week, by 11am, aside from a scattering of occupants, the prime deck area resembled the season ticket area of a losing team... mostly empty chairs, with a towel undisturbed. And people wandering around, looking for free seats but not touching the ones "reserved".

 

One wet morning, the hogged towels got rained on. The hogs came back at 10am and exchanged the wet towels for dry ones and disappeared again!

 

One morning, I watched a lady with a whole row reserved get up and grab a few more... and she told all her friends who passed by... I saved those chairs over there for you. Nobody took her up on her chair inventory, neither the friends or relatives, and especially not the kids, who would arrive, spend a few minutes by Mom & Dad without sitting down, and promptly run off. Two people from our dinner table arrived just before noon, and we were surrounded by towels. I suggested they move the towels from two chairs nearby, at the very edge of the lady's domain, and take them. They debated this act (the wife was not eager), and then the mother saw us and came over and said "those are our chairs" to which I replied "nobody's using them and there's no reserving" and she lied "they are in the pool". I told her that nobody had sat in the chairs all morning, but our friends kept looking around for free chairs. The lady then decided to plop herself down on one of the chairs in a rage, but we were really just amused at that point since now she was sitting quite a distance from her previous spot and her husband, who was trying to get her to smarten up. After about 5 minutes of fuming, someone passed by looking for chairs and she got up and said "here have these". Then she went back to her friends and proudly told them how she had screwed us out of the chairs.

 

The next sea day, it was the same thing again... which was odd because the Purser's desk had written us a letter saying they would talk with staff.

 

By 10am we were sitting in a row by ourselves, with four reserved chairs on either side of us and no passengers in them. I think some people even glared at me as if I was the perpetrator. Two people we met earlier on the cruise came by and we convinced them to take a seat and they moved the towels. I told them I'd rather sit and chat with them than a bunch of towels. And the towel owner had simply laid his four towels out and disappeared at least 90 minutes ago. We sat and chatted and watched the deck games and after another 90 minutes, someone came by and said to one of our friends "those are our chairs" to which she quickly replied "your towels aren't on them". Fortunately the hog settled for the two chairs he had left.

 

It was later on this day, the last sea day, that the big incident occurred...

 

I have read some reviews and comments that chair saving wasn't a problem. I think it varies from cruise to cruise and it's quite obvious that it can get worse as the cruise progresses, especially if nothing is done about it. Our tablemates said that this type of activity bothers them, and I'm sure Carnival will get their comments soon as well.

 

I think that if Carnival has gone to the expense of posting signs, it ought to help maintain an enjoyable environment and enforce the policy. Or give up and hand out "chair hog" stickers, one per passenger, for use each morning. They may need to have a scramble start at 8am, with starter's pistol.

 

Or maybe on my next cruise I will need to check out 200 towels at 7am and do my own hogging. I can then pay for my cruise by selling chairs all morning.

 

Comments? Or are we wasting time on such a stupid topic when we could talk about jeans, smuggling booze, or the F-deck?

[kelz66]

Say what you want...but this cr*p never happens on the F-Deck.

 

:D

[rt63]

I think most of the hogging, at least on my cruise, was by families. Great way to teach the kids. "My mama always told me them rules are just for other folks"

 

Can I get a Red Stripe on the F-deck (I mean, the beer not the burn...)?

[DarkJedi]

Say what you want...but this cr*p never happens on the F-Deck.

 

:D

 

The fighting or the chair issue? Our last cruise we had so many chairs on the F-deck that someone actually came up and told us we had to move some of them because crew couldn't get through in an emergency. Funny thing was the drink servers had no problem getting through. Nice thing is people on the F-deck will always try and make more room for more chairs.

 

The easiest solution for chair hoggin is for people to simply ask loudly if those chairs are anyone's. When no one replies the chairs are up for grabs, just move the towels. If you don't wish to disturb the towels, after determining that the owners of the towels aren't there say something to the Lido deck staff about it right then - if you offer to collect up all the unattended towels I'm willing to bet they will do something rather than deal with the 100+ irate towel hogs when they return :eek:

 

Or if you are female and feeling really mean just start asking if these are anyone's and then proceed to pick up the deck as you would a 3yo's room. Stack all the towels on one chair :D

[kelz66]

I think most of the hogging, at least on my cruise, was by families. Great way to teach the kids. "My mama always told me them rules are just for other folks"

 

Can I get a Red Stripe on the F-deck (I mean, the beer not the burn...)?

 

You can get any drink the ship serves on the F-deck!

 

On our first cruise on the Victory it was not bad around rhe pool but it was annoying...so my wife and I went and checked out the F-deck.....

 

OMG...it was almost empty...only 4 or 5 other people and all the deck chairs were stacked at the rear of the deck!!!

 

We were hooked imediately!

 

One of the most important things about travelling on a ship with thousands of strangers is to use your head and choose wisely where you go and what you do to enhance your cruise and your fun.

 

Going up on the f-deck on sea days with a book and my mp3 player shelters me from the chair hogs, the annoying announcements and bad loud music...LOL

 

Tip the drink server well the first time and tell him to stop back often and you will be fine up there.

 

We also choose late seating for dinner to avoid family's with young children. Then we go for an after dinner drink in the cigar bar, and then to the martini bar and disco or casino.

 

We later found out that on our Victory cruise there were 1100 kids...we were luckey is we saw 50, because of the choices we made and the places on the ship we went to. ;)

[joetrizeo]

Comments? Or are we wasting time on such a stupid topic when we could talk about jeans, smuggling booze, or the F-deck?

 

i think this is just another fact of cruising we have to deal with, and no amount of complaining in the world will make it go away. sort of like long embarkation lines, or rude passengers... these threads run ramped on RCI, Princess, etc...

 

i too noticed mostly families. i also sailed during thanksgiving. I'm glad the OP had more nice days than us. we only had 1 nice day and 3 cold/rain days at sea which made for easy chair finding and minimal hogging.

 

my view: the probability of encountering a chair hog scenario is inversely proportional to the distance from the main lido deck pool.

[DqALEX]

It wont change untill Carnival changes it. I still see people at the shows saving seats too.

[Guest CRUZIN' SUZIN]

I look around and find just the "perfect" chair. If it is one without a towel, good. If there is an unused towel on the chair, I either lay on top of the towel or return it to the towel counter. A used towel goes on the floor.:eek: I consider that "squatters' rights".

 

On occasion I have had people nearby tell me "that chair is reserved." My short answer is, "o.k. when the person comes back, I will move." I proceed to sit down, get comfy and either read my book or close my eyes. There is no such thing as a "reserved" pool chair on any cruise I have ever enjoyed.

 

As for a catfight . . . I would never go that far. However I do not come across as the type of person you want to irritate or annoy either.

 

P.S. To be honest, I rarely have to remove a towel. I can usually find a perfect chair without removing towels. Unless, of course, I want to go in the pool and want my chair nearby. Then, I use the squatter's rights method.

[osiebosie]

I had my chair reserved once while on Carnival. It had my book and towel on it, and my stuff under it. Right next to dh's chair. His stuff was under his. We went to the pool, and when we came back, some girl was in my chair. I said, "that's my chair. That is my book and my stuff." She did get up and leave. I thought I was going to have to pull out my boxing gloves.

 

Shay

[cupidsarrrow]

I think this is one of the most important threads out there!! Quite frankly it needs to be address but all cruise lines. I have only sailed with Carnival mind you but, I have always had a problem finding a chair!!:mad: I go on the cruise for the islands and on sea days I want to lay out in the sun read a book or swim whatever. Nothing pis..es me off more when I have to walk around at 8am looking for a chair to lay out on for 2 flippen hours!! On our first cruise, we did not get a chair until 1 hour before our dinner seating which I wanted to miss cause I had just started to relax. What upsets me even more are the people that watch you walk and walk and walk knowing perfectly well that we would like to lay down for a while in the sun.

Then on the last cruise we lucked out on our sea day and got 2 chairs, we needed four but we shared. There were towels laying beside us but the occupants did show up about a half an hour after we were there. There was one lady that saved 12 chairs and was arguing with some other couple that wanted just one as they would share. We watched and out of the 12 she saved only three got used the entire time. This is utter bull. Personally I would have thrown the towels overboard and kept on walking.

I find it rather funny that the cruise ships have enough boats for everyone but not enough chairs for the passengers when quite clearly that is what most want on the cruise, am I right. But by no means please do not get rid of the life boats for a few chairs:D !!

Okay I have vented enough, on our cruise which comes up in a month I WILL have a chair to lay out on each time a sea day comes along. I will also own quite a few Carnival towels too:)

[DarkJedi]

I look around and find just the "perfect" chair. If it is one without a towel' date=' good. If there is an unused towel on the chair, I either lay on top of the towel or return it to the towel counter. A used towel goes on the floor.:eek: I consider that "squatters' rights".

 

On occasion I have had people nearby tell me "that chair is reserved." My short answer is, "o.k. when the person comes back, I will move." I proceed to sit down, get comfy and either read my book or close my eyes. There is no such thing as a "reserved" pool chair on any cruise I have ever enjoyed.[/quote']

 

Hmm, not a bad idea either.

 

What are they going to do, complain t the staff that the chair they reserved was taken by someone that was actually going to use it?

[Bradtez]

DW and i have only been on the Pride so far (but sailing on the conquest on 7th Jan), and there was a heck of a lot of chair saving. We wandered all over but no free chairs, a couple were amongst a line of towel draped chairs, so we decided to plonk down there until the so called owners returned. The lady promptly told us the seats were saved...not anymore i said and stuck my nose in my book. Half a page later the man was standing over me telling me to move, i dont think he liked me laughing at him and to go see someone who cares. As darkjedi said, are they really going to complain to the staff?:p

[DqALEX]

What I do for a chair is to go over to the stack of them take one out and carry it to the place I want to go. I did that on the Triumph everyday. You can find them stacked up on the corner, all times of the day. On the Celebration I never had a problem finding a chair by one of the pools

[HurricaneSally]

Where would they put enough chairs for all the people on a cruise? Huh? There isn't enough deck space for 3000 chairs. It's not the cruiselines fault. If everybody used a chair for the two hours they stayed in the sun, it would be fine for everyone. No, that doesn't happen, hogs save chairs for hours waiting for their hour in the sun. It's just not fair, but it certainly isn't the cruiselines fault, other than the fact that they should enforce their "no chair saving" rule.

[GoinCruisin]

It reminds me of high school, the pool at the country club was always full around the pool, but if you spread out a bit, you could get JUST AS good a seat, but not right at the pool... what is it with people too lazy to walk a few extra feet??? :rolleyes: :confused: I've never had a problem finding a chair, then again, I don't need one right by the pool... not planning on getting in the cesspool, so don't care about being right beside it... have never found a shortage of chairs, but I think too many people want to be "poolside"... My opinion, yes, you are wasting too much time on a stupid subject... if you can (God forbid) take a chair that is not on top of the pool, you can find a chair...

[bchbum641]

I try to scope the place out and see if there are 2 chairs available- if I can't find one I scope out the "saved" chairs and if the chair is open for more that 1/2hr I take it. I understand that people may have to go to the bathroom or get a drink or a snack. It's when these people save them for an hour and/or never return. If people didn't save chairs like that then their would always be ones available when you needed it. I've never gone and saved a chair in the AM but after 2 days of walking around for an hr trying to get a seat I have really wanted to. Don't worry I would still never do that- then I would also be part of the problem.

 

I always enjoy the music the band is playing so we try to get close enough to hear it. There's nothing better than listening to Raggea -sp?? music while laying out

[jandjfun]

This happened to me once in the showroom. It really was packed but I spotted 3 seats in a row that had a couple of older women sitting in it. My sister and I sat down in two of the 3 seats they had "saved". One of them told me they were saved. So I simply told her "oh, I'm sorry. There is no saving allowed on this ship" Turned around and ignored her really rude comments to her friend about me. Needless to say nobody showed up to sit in those 3 chairs she had "saved". And just because sometimesI just can't resist, after the show I turned to the rude comment woman and said. "That show was wonderful, to bad your friends missed it." I smiled and left.:p

[DarkJedi]

Had a break to have 3 kids '98, '01, '02

 

How dare you let that get in the way of your cruise schedule!

 

OK, back to the regularly scheduled topic "Rude Chair Hogs and how to p*** them off"

[rt63]

OK, back to the regularly scheduled topic "Rude Chair Hogs and how to p*** them off"

 

Careful, some people don't understand where that line is you don't cross... I'd hate if someone wound up with a broken nose because they p***d off a chair hog. After all, these people already have no concept of "courtesy to your fellow passengers" and it sounds like there was at least one physical chair-related incident on Valor that week. (What do you call it when two hogs argue?)

[GoinCruisin]

Careful, some people don't understand where that line is you don't cross... I'd hate if someone wound up with a broken nose because they p***d off a chair hog. After all, these people already have no concept of "courtesy to your fellow passengers" and it sounds like there was at least one physical chair-related incident on Valor that week. (What do you call it when two hogs argue?)

 

I'd call it entertainment :p LOL!

 

You are right... some people just don't care. I have seen it on every cruise, but generally have always found large groups of chairs for our group if we move away from the pool area... On the Conquest class ships, deck 10 is always my favorite place... far enough from the pools (IOW, far away from the kids :D) but close enough to see what's going on, and closer to the band... there are generally chairs to be found if you don't have to be poolside...

[DarkJedi]

I'd call it entertainment :p LOL!

 

I'm going to agree with this. And the best part is as long as the squatter maintains their cool then the hog will always look like a jerk as they get more aggravated.

[kelz66]

I'm going to agree with this. And the best part is as long as the squatter maintains their cool then the hog will always look like a jerk as they get more aggravated.

 

The more pleasent and sickly sweet you can act the better...LOL

 

"Gee I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding, but there is a no saving deck chair rule, so I thought the towels were just left behind...can I buy you a drink since I am not moving?" :rolleyes:

[GoinCruisin]

The more pleasent and sickly sweet you can act the better...LOL

 

"Gee I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding, but there is a no saving deck chair rule, so I thought the towels were just left behind...can I buy you a drink since I am not moving?" :rolleyes:

 

How about "could you please move to the right about 8 inches... you're blocking my sun" :D

[cupidsarrrow]

Well, to the poster that stated they have never had a problem finding a chair...wtg!! For us it did not matter where we looked pool side or not, infact I even told my hubby that we should try the F deck and still nothing. I think when a person comes across a chair hog there should be some code that we could do so that everyone else could come runnning and make pig noises so that they look more like a fool.( as opposed to the ones making the noises:D )

We also noticed on our last cruise that chairs were already being saved the night before a sea day. Now tell me why the staff dont just take the towels off the chairs? Its probably because they too dont want to deal with some very rude passengers who dont really care about anyone else but themselves!!

[GoinCruisin]

Well, to the poster that stated they have never had a problem finding a chair...wtg!! For us it did not matter where we looked pool side or not, infact I even told my hubby that we should try the F deck and still nothing. I think when a person comes across a chair hog there should be some code that we could do so that everyone else could come runnning and make pig noises so that they look more like a fool.( as opposed to the ones making the noises:D )

We also noticed on our last cruise that chairs were already being saved the night before a sea day. Now tell me why the staff dont just take the towels off the chairs? Its probably because they too dont want to deal with some very rude passengers who dont really care about anyone else but themselves!!

]

 

LOL, the code should be something that makes the hog look like a fool, not everyone else!!! LOL!!

 

I would say you were an exception... like I said, I've never NOT been able to find a chair somewhere... and when I can't, I just take a chair down from the stacks and find a place to put it. The staff can also help you with this...

 

The staff likely took all of the stuff... they put the chairs up every night...