Chair Hogging - Best way to combat it?

[Wilda]

Never had a problem with chair hogs. I have noticed on the Freedom and Oasis class that there seems to be a lot of hogging going on in the H20 zone with parents wanting to be close to the pool.

 

I would not advise touching someones belongings; let a pool attendant know and let THEM move the belongings.

[dudaze11]

For those of you who have been on a Voyager class ship, the Solarium is symmetrical in design and sometimes when I get up I have to look around to figure out which way I'm headed. One time we got lucky and got 2 great seats by the pool on Navigator. We had been there about an hour when a guy came up to me and told me I was in his seats. I told him we had been there an hour and there was nothing on the chairs when we arrived. He then called me a liar twice in his next sentence telling me he had been gone only 10 minutes and had left a book and towel and demanded them back. I reiterated that we had been there an hour and had seen nothing. He started to threaten me and I was just evaluating that he was smaller than me and there was no crew in sight when his wife spoke up and said, "Honey, over here" He was in the same seats on the exact opposite side of the solarium.

 

HAHAHA. That's awesome. Just goes to show that you can't fix stupid...

[davekathy]

Way too much drama for me. I'll take the deck above the pool anytime. Lots of sun and no pool noise! Too each their own.

[cruisegirl1]

Just returned home from a homeowners meeting at our North Myrtle Beach condo. Most of us are not residents but have a condo in the rental program . Biggest topic of conversation with staff – those guests who hog a chair all day. Apparently there is a mad dash at 7AM to get a chair. I am told that guests take 4-6 in a row and put towels out. They may not return till after noon. Because a personal items and personal towels on the chairs, condo security staff are reluctant to move the items.

 

My point is that the situation is not specific to cruise ships.

 

Along with others, we’ve rarely had a problem eventually getting a chair. If we want a certain location, we go our early and enjoy the deck. If we have other things to do and/or don’t care about location we’ll wait and go later.

 

enjoy

M

[Royal2464]

How unfair to call those folks chair hogs. They are not self indulgent, rude, ignorant boors. They are truly special people that cannot be burdened by rules or consideration of others. It is beneath them to consider how their behavior might affect others. To expect them to behave in a civil manner is just totally unfair.

[ehfl]

I just assume the items were inadvertently left behind, and I turn them in to lost-and-found. If the owner is not appreciative for having their lost items turned in, then it really makes them look bad.

[S.A.M.J.R.]

I just assume the items were inadvertently left behind, and I turn them in to lost-and-found. If the owner is not appreciative for having their lost items turned in, then it really makes them look bad.

I have some questions...

 

1) Do you watch certain chairs for a certain amount of time to make sure those items don't belong to someone who is actually using the pool or going to the bathroom?

2) How long do you wait to make sure they're "hogged" chairs?

3) What do you do for that time?

[sacnaillady]

I don't get the people that say they have no problem finding chairs! The last 4 or 5 cruises I have had a heck of a time finding a chair. And I'm not talking pool side. My last cruise I looked on the adult deck, the 4 levels above the pool, the side decks that don't even face the pool. Could I find I chair? No. The towels had taken ALL the lounge chairs..ALL! My husband and I finally found 2 chairs on the side deck in the shade with no towels and sat and were promptly attacked by people who didn't speak English that those were their chair! They just got up to hang at the rail! One of their friends could have hung back or they could have left something to show they were occupied.

 

I don't think anyone should be able to drop a towel and leave. If there going to the pool to swim there should be flip flops, sunscreen, magazines ect. And if those items are there, if the person isn't back in 1/2 hour they should confiscated by ship personnel. In my experience chair hogging is a huge problem.

 

How to combat it. I think some cruise lines have personnel that put stickies with to time on the chair and confiscate the items left after that 30 to 45 min. time. If the towel guy shows up at 10 and nobody is in the pool and most the chairs have towels he should round them up right away and start the day out right! After couple of days of that it ought to fix that problem.

 

On my June cruise I think I might finally be able to go on deck at noon and find a chair. Alaska!

[cecelia0613]

While some might think this is an overblown issue here, I'd have to disagree. Personally the problem is the selfish, me me me attitude, of the people cruising. Some feel that it is their vacation and they have the right to do anything they want whether it affects anyone else or not.

 

We recently did a B2B on Allure of the Seas and I can honestly tell you I have never seen such a fiasco on the pool deck both in the sun and shade and on sea days there were problems on the other sun decks too. On the first cruise my DH and I were sitting in two chairs in the shade and there were five chairs next to us covered with towels and kids toys. At one point the kids and the mother were there and then the kids went into the hot tub (which is another issue since these were very young kids) and the mother disappeared for over an hour. As I was sitting there, I soon noticed that this selfish family not only had these chairs hogged in the shade, but they also had a whole row of chairs hogged at poolside. On the second cruise there was a large group (1500 people) and it was obvious who was saving the chairs as there were big red beach bags which were obviously given to this group in many chairs on the pool deck. When I did bring the issue of chairs to the pool folks attention they still did nothing. One of the last sea days after DH and I had breakfast we decided to go to the pool deck to sit for a bit. Now mind you, this was at 9 am. When we got to the pool deck I was flabbergasted, almost every chair on the pool deck both in the sun and shade had a towel on it and most had no personal items on them.

 

It is my personal feeling that the pool attendants should be watching this and immediately remove the towels and stuff when they see no one there. I also believe that there will be many more complaints about this issue since RCCL no longer requires you to use your seapass card to get your towels. This policy change will not go unnoticed...heck many lazy selfish folks just dumped their used towels in the elevators and stairwells when returning from shore excursions. While there is not a whole lot the cruise line can do to ward off bad behavior by its cruisers, it surely will cause aggravation for them as complaints come in.

 

So, be selfish if you choose!

[LuckyZ]

What is the best way to combat chair hogging? Would you find a chair that you wanted that was empty, but obtained a personal item on it and wait the allotted amount of time and remove said item and take the chair if the owner never showed back up?

 

What could be the repercussions of doing so? If you gave the item to a worker and either said it was a found item or told them you took it off of a "hogged chair" could you get in trouble for it?

 

How would you take care of the situation when the "Chair hogger" returned only to find you in "their" chair?

 

Get thicker skin?

[Laurie S.]

Get an aft wrap and enjoy your own balcony in peace. It's what we do.

[browneyedgirlnb]

Wait a reasonable amount of time. Remove items and give to RCI employee. When chair hog returns smile and say something in a foreign language and pretend you don't speak English.

 

I love this solution! We think alike! ;)

 

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[train460]

It seems to me that the younger generation has become lax on manners and respect. Period. And those that are to blame for this lack of respect comes from their parents and upbringing. People now seem to be so selfish in their own world in general, me, me , me. Not just on a ship. If people would again go back to the days of respecting one-another these incidents would dry up.

There is a song from Michael jackson called "Man in the mirror" look it up and listen to the words. if everyone would listen to it and use just a little bit of its message the world would be a better place.

It's all about respect for others.

It's a dying thing.

My 02 as usual

Michael

[Ocean_Waves]

I should have known this would cause a mix of feelings! I was legitimately curious. I have never come across chair hogging, but wanted ideas in case I did. I specifaclly like the "pretend to speak another language" idea. lol

 

I wonder how hard it would be to input a meter type system. You have to slide your card every 30 minutes if you aren't in the seat (Seat would have a sensor, once it senses your behind is not there the clock starts ticking.) Sitting back down before the 30 minutes is up resets the sensor.

 

After say 35 minutes, the attendant in that area is notified of seat and they remove your belongings!!! YA YA I KNOW! To much and not cost prohibitive to put in place, but still!!!

[DrD]

It seems to me that the younger generation has become lax on manners and respect.

 

Actually if you look at the pictures posted earlier the people are of different ages, but none look too young to me. The one's I've spotted early tend to be older. I think the younger generation wouldn't get up early enough for real hard-core hogging.

[train460]

that was kind of my point. I think that those older people that you see being that way are the parents of the heathins of todays society.

 

I think that if you see a polite and respectful child or teen, and you look at their parents, you then see where they get it from.

again my 02

 

back to the regular scheduled program:)

[Salve]

that was kind of my point. I think that those older people that you see being that way are the parents of the heathins of todays society.

 

I think that if you see a polite and respectful child or teen, and you look at their parents, you then see where they get it from.

again my 02

 

back to the regular scheduled program:)

 

Perfect. Well said!

[Arzeena]

It seems to me that the younger generation has become lax on manners and respect. Period. And those that are to blame for this lack of respect comes from their parents and upbringing. People now seem to be so selfish in their own world in general, me, me , me. Not just on a ship. If people would again go back to the days of respecting one-another these incidents would dry up.

There is a song from Michael jackson called "Man in the mirror" look it up and listen to the words. if everyone would listen to it and use just a little bit of its message the world would be a better place.

It's all about respect for others.

It's a dying thing.

My 02 as usual

Michael

 

It seems to me that it is the OLDER generation that reserves the loungers in the atriums and solariums on most ships. Does this right of entitlement come from THEIR parents and upbringing?

[Arzeena]

The one's I've spotted early tend to be older. I think the younger generation wouldn't get up early enough for real hard-core hogging.

 

I agree!