How long is to long for saving chairs

[BrendaJ]

I think Celebrity is missing a revenue-generating opportunity.

 

They should take a section of the most desirable lounges and designate them for rent. They wouldn't even have to charge a lot - say $5 for two hours - and allow people to reserve them. For two prime chairs from 10am till noon (perhaps teak chairs with the extra thick cushions like Azamara has), I would happily pay $10 to not have to worry about moving some chair hog's belongings. This would also work great for friends or family members who want to sit together at a certain time.

 

On Azamara, for $99 each for our two week cruise, we paid for use of the thalossotherapy (sp?) pool area at the front of the ship. They only allowed about 20 passes to be sold, so we and our friends were always able to go up there and get seats together. It was well worth the money. Personally, I didn't even use the thalossotherapy pool but having an area where we could sit together whenever we want to was great.

[librarycin]

Hey cruise lines try this your patrons would love you:

Hang an inexpensive dial timer on each lounger.

 

This is a terrific solution! And easy to do. And the person who abandons their chair may even get a little extra time if it takes a bit before the staff notice and set the timer, but whatever. It seems the most fair way to me.

[Canadianhey!]

Hey cruise lines try this your patrons would love you:

Hang an inexpensive dial timer on each lounger.

 

 

Great idea, hope you passed this idea on to the cruise lines

[ginagirl]

Oh, what a great idea!!!! Now, we've given the cruise lines another means of increasing revenue. Meters that will definitely require continual monetary cost or the meters time will expire. They can also utilize the pool cocktail waiters and waitress to work double duty as meter readers, who will issue demerits for expired meters. Three demerits on a 7 day sailing, will cost a penalty fee of $100.:eek: Now, why didn't cruise line Executives think of this one?:D

[YOW]

I am amazed how the cruiselines refuse to properly address this issue. If they cannot provide a chair for everyone on deck then they will always have a problem.

 

Hey cruise lines try this your patrons would love you:

Hang an inexpensive dial timer on each lounger.

 

When someone gets out of their chair they can set the timer for the maximum time say 1/2 hour ( doesn't matter exactly how much time but the ship should make it clear what is permitted)

 

If the person does not return within the half hour the pool attendent should be allowed on request to remove any items abandoned. These items can be placed at the lost and found right under a huge sign explaining the chair rules for those who don't think the rules apply to them.

 

While there is time left on the dial the original occupant can return at anytime to his/her chair.

 

Clear rules that are fair and enforceable with a means of recourse.

Problem solved.

 

I have had something similar in mind, only instead of a timer, it would be a card like you see hanging in the doorways of shops -- "we will return at" and a clock face with big hand and little hand. The person leaving would place one of these on the chair, setting it to the time shown on the clocks on deck. One would then have half an hour from this time to return to the chair. Pool attendants could then remove the items from the chairs if 30 minutes had elapsed since the time the clock had been set, or if the clock had been set for a later time (cheaters!). It's not a perfect system, as people could return every now and then to reset the card, but it would accomplish some of the task.

[spamwhiches]

I have had something similar in mind, only instead of a timer, it would be a card like you see hanging in the doorways of shops -- "we will return at" and a clock face with big hand and little hand. The person leaving would place one of these on the chair, setting it to the time shown on the clocks on deck. One would then have half an hour from this time to return to the chair. Pool attendants could then remove the items from the chairs if 30 minutes had elapsed since the time the clock had been set, or if the clock had been set for a later time (cheaters!). It's not a perfect system, as people could return every now and then to reset the card, but it would accomplish some of the task.

 

 

That's not necessarily a bad idea, however it would be sort of labour intensive for pool attendents who have to monitor 1000 chairs.

 

Better to use a "egg type timer" that the patron turns the dial themselves when they leave their chair. If someone comes upon a chair where the timer has expired, get the attendent to remove the items and voila! It would stop some chair hogging during the most crucial times of the day.

 

If the original user came back and reset it before time ran out because, for example, they were swimming or something I don't think it would be an issue. I think the real problem begins when people throw towels or a sandal on a row of loungers at 7 AM and no one shows up to use the chairs until that afternoon.

 

More and more chairs get reserved because people are afraid they will not get a chair after 10 AM if they don't also reserve seating for themselves and their friends whether or not they intend to use it immediately.

[spamwhiches]

Oh, what a great idea!!!! Now, we've given the cruise lines another means of increasing revenue. Meters that will definitely require continual monetary cost or the meters time will expire. They can also utilize the pool cocktail waiters and waitress to work double duty as meter readers, who will issue demerits for expired meters. Three demerits on a 7 day sailing, will cost a penalty fee of $100.:eek: Now, why didn't cruise line Executives think of this one?:D

 

 

I think you misunderstand.

 

The timers would be "cheap" for the cruiseline to purchase, not a timer that accepts money like parking meter.

 

Now who gave the executives the revenue generating idea ? LOL

 

cheers!

[ginagirl]

I think you misunderstand.

 

The timers would be "cheap" for the cruiseline to purchase, not a timer that accepts money like parking meter.

 

Now who gave the executives the revenue generating idea ? LOL

 

cheers!

Gee, maybe they will be so impressed with my revenue-generating suggestion, they will offer me a job.:D I have lots more ideas, folks!:p

[cudder]

You could also have them play some music then you could all play musical chairs:D

[ginagirl]

I absolutely LOVE that idea!!!:D Between you and me, what a team we could make. We can actually make it fun to pay more money. What a concept!!!! Cruise Lines - are you paying attention here???;)

[spamwhiches]

And people think they're getting nickel and dimed now LOL

 

"Honey can you hold my seat, I have to go get change for the

juke box/chair parking meter"

 

 

I still don't believe the problem is insurmountable if the cruiselines really took it seriously they could fix it IMO.

[Tony UK]

I like the idea of the clock timer - the pool attendants wouldn't need to watch them as those looking for a chair would! IMHO anything which takes out the conflict would help.

One one cruise on Constellation, my husband, daughter and myself went for a swim. The pool area was busy as usual, so we sat on the pool edge to dry off a little as their were no chairs. A few people pointed to 4 chairs and said no-one had been sitting in them for hours. 3 had the usual book and sunscreen, whilst the one on the end had nothing on it. My husband and daughter stayed poolside and I went to sit on the empty one. Within minutes an angry woman arrived to say it was her chair - either she was in 'shade distance' or I was unlucky! I ignored her at first, then pointed out to her it was empty. She shouted and carried on - I was vulnerable lying down and she was stood over me! I felt threatened.:eek: I showed her the daily sheet and pointed out the no reservation statement and she just knocked it out of my hand! Her husband arrived and was very nasty and started to manhandle me out of the chair - my husband also arrived - very angry too. At that point we made a discreet exit - it was only a chair after all! All those around said this group of 4 reserved the chairs from early in the morning every day and didnt arrive till around 2pm.:(

 

I understand those who want to challenge a clear wrong - but do be careful! Since then, I usually don't go on the pool deck much, and if I do I find the spot I want to be and ask the pool butler to put some chairs there. They are always so helpful - I dont blame them for not getting involved with this type of outragious behavior from chair hogs.

 

Angie

[simplelife]

I guess we just have to make allowances for rude people.:o

This is exacly what the rude people are hoping for. If "nice people" insist on being treated with respect (and yes, I think this can be done assertively without resorting to discourtesy), the boors might have to change their ways.

 

How about this scenario: You see a chair that appears to be "saved" but by a few minutes of observation appears abandoned. Simply move the stuff to the deck and sit in it. Usually the "saver" does not even return while you are there. If they do return in a reasonable time, you have the option of simply vacating the chair so they can have it back. If they return much later, you can just say, "Oh, were you saving this chair?" (Some of the less presumptive will be too embarrassed to admit they were a chair hog) If they make a comment about their stuff having been on the chair, you can just say, "Oh, someone must have thought the chair was abandoned and moved it" (You don't have to say who moved it - They've been gone so long they don't know who may have been there before you.). Say all this with a pleasant tone and expression. :) Remember that THEY are in the wrong, NOT you.

[Canadianhey!]

The thing is - that the staff's job. I would not have been so nice. I would have made a complaint to the staff about those people. People that bully like that only learn from confrontations.

[BrendaJ]

Unfortunately, some people will defend their hogged chairs with violence.

 

On one of our Celebrity cruises, in the thallosotherapy pool area, my husband witnessed a fracas where two women were fighting over a chair, to the point where the one woman unceremoniously dumped the other woman out of what she had decided was her chair. I do recall being elsewhere on the ship at the time and hearing over the loudspeaker "Star code 8 - aquaspa", which apparently stands for "Calling all staff to break up a chair hog fight". :D

[simplelife]

I like the idea of the clock timer - the pool attendants wouldn't need to watch them as those looking for a chair would! IMHO anything which takes out the conflict would help.

One one cruise on Constellation, my husband, daughter and myself went for a swim. The pool area was busy as usual, so we sat on the pool edge to dry off a little as their were no chairs. A few people pointed to 4 chairs and said no-one had been sitting in them for hours. 3 had the usual book and sunscreen, whilst the one on the end had nothing on it. My husband and daughter stayed poolside and I went to sit on the empty one. Within minutes an angry woman arrived to say it was her chair - either she was in 'shade distance' or I was unlucky! I ignored her at first, then pointed out to her it was empty. She shouted and carried on - I was vulnerable lying down and she was stood over me! I felt threatened.:eek: I showed her the daily sheet and pointed out the no reservation statement and she just knocked it out of my hand! Her husband arrived and was very nasty and started to manhandle me out of the chair - my husband also arrived - very angry too. At that point we made a discreet exit - it was only a chair after all! All those around said this group of 4 reserved the chairs from early in the morning every day and didnt arrive till around 2pm.:(

 

I understand those who want to challenge a clear wrong - but do be careful! Since then, I usually don't go on the pool deck much, and if I do I find the spot I want to be and ask the pool butler to put some chairs there. They are always so helpful - I don't blame them for not getting involved with this type of outragious behavior from chair hogs.

 

Angie

I am sorry for your unfortunate experience . You were right to protect your safety in this instance by making a gracious exit, but this incident should have been reported (and perhaps you did so).

If all those around knew that this boorish behavior had been going on and did not report it, they we're enabling it, especially if they witnessed your being manhandled. It should have been reported to the staff, even BEFORE thay started manhandling you. It sounds like there were enough people who knew about it that it couldn't be claimed to be a case of one person's word against the other's. If the staff knew about it and still did nothing, that would certainly cause me to question the security of that ship.

 

I'm glad to hear you have been able to resolve the issue with the staff's help.

[simplelife]

I think Celebrity is missing a revenue-generating opportunity.

 

They should take a section of the most desirable lounges and designate them for rent. They wouldn't even have to charge a lot - say $5 for two hours - and allow people to reserve them. For two prime chairs from 10am till noon (perhaps teak chairs with the extra thick cushions like Azamara has), I would happily pay $10 to not have to worry about moving some chair hog's belongings. This would also work great for friends or family members who want to sit together at a certain time.

 

On Azamara, for $99 each for our two week cruise, we paid for use of the thalossotherapy (sp?) pool area at the front of the ship. They only allowed about 20 passes to be sold, so we and our friends were always able to go up there and get seats together. It was well worth the money. Personally, I didn't even use the thalossotherapy pool but having an area where we could sit together whenever we want to was great.

 

I don't see how this would solve the problem. The wealthier cruisers would simply pay the charge and would probably feel even more entitled to leave the seats unused. This would exacerbate the problem of people not being able to find an "open" seat when there were perfectly good ones being unused.

I personally resent being nickled and dimed to death with upcharges and certainly do not encourage yet another opportunity for the cruise lines to do this.

[spamwhiches]

It is the cruiselines responsibility to enforce their rules. If they don't want to enforce them they should not have the rules period.

( they have proven that they are very capable of enforcing the rules that they want to)

 

I do not enjoy confrontation at the best of times, I certainly don't want to have conflict with boorish, selfish, or even fellow passengers who have made an honest mistake while I'm on vacation.

 

How about all those security guys checking the bags for booze when you come back from shore excursions policing the pool decks on the sea days?

[BrendaJ]

I don't see how this would solve the problem. The wealthier cruisers would simply pay the charge and would probably feel even more entitled to leave the seats unused. This would exacerbate the problem of people not being able to find an "open" seat when there were perfectly good ones being unused.

I personally resent being nickled and dimed to death with upcharges and certainly do not encourage yet another opportunity for the cruise lines to do this.

 

I guess I figured that even a "wealthy" person would not reserve a number of chairs at 7:00 a.m. and not come back to use them till late afternoon, which seems to be the case a lot of times. And the cruise line could always limit the number of hours someone reserves a chair.

[jimgev]

I'm sorry but I just have no respect at all for "chair hogs". I will give anyone the benefit of a doubt and allow about five minutes for them to visit a rest room. Other than that, their towel, book, whatever goes on the deck and the chair is mine.:mad:

[FinelyCruising]

Seems like alot of people feel the need to be right at the front row of the pool, like that's the best place on the planet!!! Wow, is all I can say, along with sorry for ya if you really need to move others out for that front seat.

 

Plenty of us know front row is not the best.:p

[Tinwoman]

You know when it comes right down to it, it is plainly rude, and arrogant to hog chairs. I am a retired police officer (Sgt. Detective) and if I see someone hogging a chair, believe me I am not going to hesitate to remove their junk to occupy their chair.

I cannot tolerate elitist snobs who think they are so special as to people should give in to their demands.

Trust me I look forward to the day that they demand their chairs back from me.:D

[YOW]

You were right to protect your safety in this instance by making a gracious exit, but this incident should have been reported (and perhaps you did so).

If all those around knew that this boorish behavior had been going on and did not report it, they we're enabling it, especially if they witnessed your being manhandled. It should have been reported to the staff

 

Quite right.

 

Just today at the gym, I was in the hot tub when two children (sorry, not to get a whole kids/anti-kids thing going) jumped in and started playing around. Though they were too young to be in there unsupervised, none of the other adults said anything. But I was not about to enable their -- or their parents' -- behaviour, and made sure the lifeguards gave the parents a good talking-to. This wasn't conflict, it was simply doing the right thing for everyone involved, especially when safety was at stake

[Leejnd4]

Y'know, there's been a lot written on Cruise Critic over the years about chair hogs - it's probably among the top topics in these forums. Over the course of all my cruises, and my participation in Cruise Critic, I've noticed a few trends, experienced a few chair-hog situations myself, and come to a few personal conclusions.

 

The reality is that unless you are hell-bent on getting a chair right next to the pool, you can usually find a place to lounge. It might be a bit of a walk to the pool, and ya - I for one would rather NOT have to walk quite so far to take a quick dip (especially when I know I have to worry about overzealous chair-hog-haters who might move my stuff after just a few minutes). But if I just accept that inconvenience, I can almost always find a chair.

 

I actually made an 8X11 laminated paper that says "Please do not move my belongings, I will be returning to this chair in less than 20 minutes". I've only used it on one cruise - RCI's Voyager Western Caribbean a couple years ago. On one sea day it was REALLY crowded, and there were just too many kids at the main pool, so I wanted to sunbathe in the Solarium. I managed to find a chair (and yes, I removed some items that I was told had been there for hours). When I went for a dip in the pool or to the restroom, I left my laminated paper on top of my towel, and nobody removed my stuff. In retrospect, I should have maybe put some masking tape on it where I could write what time I'd left and what time I'd be back! That oughta protect my chair. :) I might do that for my next cruise.

 

Anyway, other observations: I completely understand some passengers' reluctance to engage with rude chair hogs, and avoid uncomfortable confrontations by giving in to them, or not challenging them. Hey, it's a vacation, and I can understand someone not wanting to allow that little bit of negativity to impact it at all. But for me, I am willing to face the discomfort of a confrontation for the small joy I get out of knowing that I stood up for what's right. Because I AM in the right - it is undeniably wrong, rude, and inconsiderate to chair-hog.

 

I've had two chair hog encounters. One was that cruise on Voyager - the chair hogs did, in fact, come back, an hour or so AFTER I'd moved their stuff and taken the chair. They were a couple of older ladies in sparkly bikinis way too small and young for their age group, wearing stiletto heals and full make-up. They must have spent the morning in the bar or casino getting blitzed, because they were wobbling pretty well on those heels. They marched right up to me and demanded their chairs back, and where was their stuff?! I just told them that I had no idea where their things were, and they should check with the pool attendant. I didn't tell them *I'd* removed their things...I just rolled over and kept reading my book. They were clearly pissed, and stood there giving me the evil eye for a while, but then they toddled over to the pool attendant and left me alone.

 

The other encounter wasn't quite so pleasant. This time I had my family with me, and there was that typical row of 10-12 chairs with towels and flip-flops on them and the tops folded down. We saw them on the way to breakfast, and they were still like that 90 minutes later. They were the only place anywhere I could find four chairs together, and it was a sea day. (Monarch - much smaller ship.) I asked the folks nearby, and they said they hadn't seen anybody in those chairs yet that day. So I moved the stuff over to their other saved chairs, and we parked ourselves. It had to be at LEAST two hours later when this family showed up - there were only four of them, they didn't even NEED all the chairs - but the dad went ballistic and started getting verbally abusive with me. My DH was in the pool with the kids at that moment, and I was facing them all alone! I didn't hold back - I told him straight out that he was a chair hog, chair hogging is rude and against RCI rules, and if he doesn't leave me alone NOW I will call security. He started trying to take my kids' stuff off the chairs, and fortunately my husband saw what was going on and ran over to a pool attendant, who came over. He was great - he just pointed to the SIGNS which were all over the place, saying that chairs cannot be saved for longer than 20 minutes. He told them they were free to keep the chairs they still had saved, but that they needed to leave us alone or he would have to call security. Instead, they gathered up all their stuff and stalked off! Funny thing was, the folks nearby actually APPLAUDED me when they left! LOL

 

Anyway, my point (yeah, there actually IS one here! ;)) is that, as uncomfortable as chair hog encounters can be, I just feel like if we give in to them, we're silently sanctioning their behavior. I know I'm not going to cure all chair hogs of their rudeness, but if I can convey to at least a few of them that others will not give in to them, then at least I've made a slight difference. And ya - I got a small sense of satisfaction over that. :p

[FinelyCruising]

"We" do not have to do anything confrontational and can address the issue with the pool staff. That is what they are there for. Want a chair that seems to have been unoccupied a little too long, reach out to the pool staff. Want to leave your chair to run to your cabin for something, let the pool staff know you will be back.

 

A lot of latent hostiity lurks on the pool deck if this thread is a gauge. :eek: