Celebrity to introduce "Chair Concierge"

http://bit dot ly/chair_concierge

But part of the problem, Celebrity executive Lisa Lutoff-Perlo tells USA TODAY, was that passengers often were unaware of pockets of open chairs around the ship. The line's solution, to be announced in coming days: New 'chair concierges" who will help passengers arriving at Solstice and Equinox pool decks find a spot.

Hopefully the chair hogs will get the book thrown at them.

http://bit dot ly/chair_concierge

Flagger:

I couldn't get the link to work, any ideas....

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/cruises/item.aspx?type=blog&ak=68495846.blog

"Lutoff-Perlo, who oversees Celebrity hotel operations fleetwide, says the line also is getting more aggressive about stopping passengers from "saving" unoccupied chairs for long periods."

Hooray! I think that's much more useful than simply pointing out available chairs.

When a person embarkes they are given a deck chair for their personal use with their name embossed on it.

Of course the crew will move your chair around for a "chair fee"

The Solstice deck was windy--as were some aft areas==so not sure how that will work out. Problme is that everyone wants to be right around the pool on sea days & the area is not big enough for the numbers on board..

many also want the canopied loungers

we seek the shade so it is less of an issue but the "chairs touching chairs" was not too much fun....got real close to your neighbors!

The trick is that after 30 minutes--which is enough time to go to the bar, bathroom or whatever--the belongings should be removed..

the "chairs touching chairs" was not too much fun....got real close to your neighbors!

That's my concern. I would like a little personal space when I'm on the deck. I don't need to be near the pool so I'm hoping I'll be able to find some loungers that are not packed in tight. Anyone have any recommendations where I might find this?

I found I liked the Solstice deck. it was never to windy the days i was up there. Room to movr my chair. I would go up with my beach bag and then go get towels and a drink and i stayed for hours.

Glad to hear the Solstice deck is not windy on all sailings! We'll give it another try on our next cruise..

They should also do something about saving of seats in the theater-maybe have ushers?

usually one or two in a group will save a whole row... then when the others arrive just before the show starts there is all sorts of seat jockeying...& almost always many of the saved seats are not used & get taken by even later arrivals!

I am sure many have observed this too!

I was worried when I saw the layout for Solstice class that they had decreased the amount of lounge chair area. DH and I did a Carib sailing in April on Solstice and found the pool area very crowded, chairs right up against each other. And of course the chair hogs were out. There did not seem to be any pool concierge at that time. They didn't even remove the used towels from the loungers. Hoping this will improve. We ended up going back on our balcony and just reading.

Also found the deck is flush with the pool edge, no elevated area. People pulled their chairs right up to the edge of the pool, so you couldn't sit on the edge.

Flagger:

 

I couldn't get the link to work, any ideas....

You can search on the cruise blog at usa today.com to see if that works. For some reason a URL shortener is blocked out.

Thanks, I got it from one of the other posts, interesting, thanks for posting...

The correct link can be found on Thread #4 work .

i think that is a great idea.

thank you.

Why don't you sit on your own balcony? It is right beside your own cabin, separated from your neighbours, always availble and you won't have to hog. That is what we do! And if enough folks with balconies stay in their own, there will be plenty of deck chairs left for the others.

Why don't you sit on your own balcony? It is right beside your own cabin, separated from your neighbours, always availble and you won't have to hog. That is what we do! And if enough folks with balconies stay in their own, there will be plenty of deck chairs left for the others.

We do exactly this! We are fortunate enough to have our own pool at home that we use all summer & then some! When we are on board we use our balcony every minute we can! It really is much nicer then fighting others to obtain a deck chair, etc. We almost feel that we are being selfish! We have a portable spa at home too, so we don't use the whirlpools on the ships either. I think if more were like you there would be less friction around the pool & whirlpools. IMHO, of course.

Happy Cruising!

Faith

Why don't you sit on your own balcony? It is right beside your own cabin, separated from your neighbours, always availble and you won't have to hog.

Note to self

Bring kiddie pool

It was great to see 'Pool Butlers' in action on Celebrity Equinox this week when I was onboard the 2n Pre-inaugural cruise.

photo of pool butler removing ships towels 'reserving unoccupied sunbeds!' below on the link - YEEEHA!

The pool butlers were big lads too, I suppose they need to be to sort out arguments when passengers come back and see their lounger taken by someone who actually wants to sit in it...

http://picasaweb.google.com/AuroraPartyCruiseSueV/Equinox2nCruise27July2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCOaXx9-78avLzgE#5363820366018644962

also on that album of 120 photos, are photos of the lovely solstice deck furniture.

Libra Lass that's alot of empty chairs in that photo.....

we also have a pool at home but enjoy sitting at the one on the ship too--also taking a swim/dip... & the music at the pool is also nice (most of the time) .....

when it gets too loud or crowded we retreat, but the balcony is nice for quiter moments & reading. Sending people to their balcony is not the solution to chair hogs for everyone...--there are ENOUGH chairs--just too many people saving them who are not using them at any given time...

some actually save two sets of seats --one in the sun & another set in the shade..really selfish!

UPDATE, Saturday, 8:00 PM ET: Celebrity spokeswoman Elizabeth Jakeway tells USA TODAY the line has decided upon "pool butlers" as the official name of the new chair concierges. Jakeway says the yet-to-be-officially announced program is debuting on the Celebrity Equinox this summer followed by the Celebrity Solstice this fall, but it eventually will roll out across the fleet.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. A new program is announced and then they put the same "pool butlers" in charge who have not been following company policy for the last decade.:cool:

I think the more people complain about not finding chairs, the more the company will make an effort to get towels removed in an efficient manner.

http://picasaweb.google.com/AuroraPartyCruiseSueV/Equinox2nCruise27July2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCOaXx9-78avLzgE#5363820366018644962

 

also on that album of 120 photos, are photos of the lovely solstice deck furniture.

Great pictures...thank you for sharing.

As I was about to embark on my very first cruise to Bermuda on Home Lines - I was given a hint by my well heeled, well traveled, well cruised aunt...."Second thing to do when you get on board - go up to the pool and make sure to tip the deck steward immediately. He will remember you and you'll have a nice seats and plenty of fresh towels the entire cruise".

In subsequent years - the deck steward went the way of the dinosaur. Now we've re-invented them and are calling them "chair concierges". And they will never come up to the level of service that the deck steward dispensed and there will still be chair hogs.

BTW - the first thing she told me to do was to go up to the dining room and tip the maitre d' to ensure a nice table.

I don't know whether tipping should be for good service already rendered (as a reward), or should it also be a means to get preferential treatment (and if it is the latter, is this practice allowed by the cruise line or is it "under the table")? In some societies, if it is "under the table", as in "bribing" (some economy class passengers give air line hostesses $100 tip to be moved to a business class seat, for example), it could be illegal !