"Reserving" deck chairs

[SevenSeas70]

I wrote recently that the only negative on my Constellation cruise was the unavailability of deck chairs that others had "reserved" by placing a towel on them and then disappearing for hours at a time. What to do? Apparently this major issue has now been discussed by "The Ethicist" in The New York Times (3/2/2008). Here is the question and answer.

 

At a spa, my girlfriend and I found two unoccupied lounge chairs — they are much in demand — with towels and a bag placed on top by people who wished to reserve them. I removed those things, and we used them. When that other couple returned, they were angry. Was my behavior O.K.? — KARSTEN ROTH, BERLIN

Your problem has a built-in (if long-term) solution. Heavy users of sunning lounge chairs may well die of some horrible skin disease. A neat, Darwinian resolution to the conflict.

Pending the demise of that quarrelsome couple (or your own), you behaved reasonably. Why should a sun bed lie fallow when many people want to use it? A better way to avoid squabbles would be for the hotel to establish and post its reservation policy — a sign-up sheet? First come, first served? Either will do. I hate the spectacle of two really tan people stripped to the waist and punching it out.

No, wait: I love that spectacle.

[candbgirl]

We were on the Navigaor of the Sea a couple of years ago and RCCL hadimplemented some policy that really prevented(or at least discouraged) the saving of lounges for hours. I can't remember what exactly it was but it had domething to do with if you went up and put towels on lounges and they remained unused for a long time and people wanted them the crew memebr in that area would remove the towels. The pinch came when the room stewards counted towels. If you were short any you were charged for them. I'm not really sure why but we never had to wait for a lounge chair.

[dkjretired]

I wrote recently that the only negative on my Constellation cruise was the unavailability of deck chairs that others had "reserved" by placing a towel on them and then disappearing for hours at a time. What to do? Apparently this major issue has now been discussed by "The Ethicist" in The New York Times (3/2/2008). Here is the question and answer.

 

At a spa, my girlfriend and I found two unoccupied lounge chairs — they are much in demand — with towels and a bag placed on top by people who wished to reserve them. I removed those things, and we used them. When that other couple returned, they were angry. Was my behavior O.K.? — KARSTEN ROTH, BERLIN

Your problem has a built-in (if long-term) solution. Heavy users of sunning lounge chairs may well die of some horrible skin disease. A neat, Darwinian resolution to the conflict.

Pending the demise of that quarrelsome couple (or your own), you behaved reasonably. Why should a sun bed lie fallow when many people want to use it? A better way to avoid squabbles would be for the hotel to establish and post its reservation policy — a sign-up sheet? First come, first served? Either will do. I hate the spectacle of two really tan people stripped to the waist and punching it out.

No, wait: I love that spectacle.

 

Sounds like a utopian answer, "sign-up sheet". This has been a problem on cruise ships forever. I'm surprised they haven't figured out a way to charge for prime locations to make some extra money. The cruise lines post the rules at the pools and in the dailies and it does no good.

[flag fan]

I was fortunate that there were nothing but considerate people on my last cruise. A lot of people took the trouble to make sure that their favorite mystery novel had an enjoyable afternoon in the sun by the pool, while they went about their business in other parts of the ship.

[scouse mouse]

I am a very considerate person. I would have taken pity on the hot and flushed mystery books and taken them to the pool where they could have a nice swim.:D :D :D

[ykckby]

This will never end until the ship staff begin enforcing the "rules". If they post that chairs left empty for more than an hour will be "cleaned off" and you can claim your goodies from the pool towel area....they should do that. That would be far easier to implement than attempting to change the 20% or so of the passengers that insist there is not need to think of others since it is after all "my vacation and I paid for it".

 

Interestingly, I was on a cruise 2 weeks ago where the staff diligently enforced the adult pool rules.

 

kim

[katydee1]

We were on the Celebrity Century 2/14-18 and on our heavenly hot & sunny day at sea, we were at the pool from about 9:00am until 5:00. There were two chairs next to us that had towels & books on them from before we arrived - and those people NEVER showed up. An entire day! Two prime chairs hogged by inconsiderate people who never used them.

 

As the day wore on, I was really hoping those people would finally show up as I would have told them what I thought of their selfishness.

 

It was so sad to see people walking past all day looking for chairs and to have two go unused all day.

[Donnaluv2cruise]

I was fortunate that there were nothing but considerate people on my last cruise. A lot of people took the trouble to make sure that their favorite mystery novel had an enjoyable afternoon in the sun by the pool, while they went about their business in other parts of the ship.

 

A while back someone had an answer to that one. Rip the last few pages out of their book. :D

[TRadle]

It was so sad to see people walking past all day looking for chairs and to have two go unused all day.

 

Why didn't you let the passersby know that the chairs' occupants were MIA?

[Shelley G]

On the street where I live, parking is prohibited for more than 3 hours. The parking enforcement officers place a chalk mark on the tires and then return three hours later. If the car is still there, then they receive a parking ticket.

Perhaps the pool attendants could do something similar. They could place a post-it note on the chair with the time of placing the post-it note marked on it. After a reasonable time (say 2 hours), if no one has shown up, they would remove the belongings of the person who placed them on the chair, thus freeing up the chair for others. Sometimes you have to leave your chair unattended, such as to go into the pool, use the washroom, or go grab a bite to eat. Leaving it unattended for up to an hour is reasonable. More than that is not.

Shelley

[LouisV]

This will never end until the ship staff begin enforcing the "rules". If they post that chairs left empty for more than an hour will be "cleaned off" and you can claim your goodies from the pool towel area....they should do that. That would be far easier to implement than attempting to change the 20% or so of the passengers that insist there is not need to think of others since it is after all "my vacation and I paid for it".

 

Interestingly, I was on a cruise 2 weeks ago where the staff diligently enforced the adult pool rules.

 

kim

 

what ship were you on?

[katydee1]

We eventually did. When it was obvious those people were never coming - if we saw people looking for chairs - we would tell them to take those chairs - but I don't think any ever did.

[Cote d'or]

On the street where I live, parking is prohibited for more than 3 hours. The parking enforcement officers place a chalk mark on the tires and then return three hours later. If the car is still there, then they receive a parking ticket.

Perhaps the pool attendants could do something similar. They could place a post-it note on the chair with the time of placing the post-it note marked on it. After a reasonable time (say 2 hours), if no one has shown up, they would remove the belongings of the person who placed them on the chair, thus freeing up the chair for others. Sometimes you have to leave your chair unattended, such as to go into the pool, use the washroom, or go grab a bite to eat. Leaving it unattended for up to an hour is reasonable. More than that is not.

Shelley

 

In most European countries, drivers have to use a "parking disk" in specific zones. It looks like this :

 

The text (here in dutch, french and german) means : time of arrival. When you park your car, you have to indicate the time you arrived. If you indicate the wrong time, you can also get a parking ticket. It's an easy way to check how long a car is parked (the limit is two hours).

Maybe the cruiselines can use "chair disks" on their pooldecks.:D

[Desertbelle]

This will never end until the ship staff begin enforcing the "rules". If they post that chairs left empty for more than an hour will be "cleaned off" and you can claim your goodies from the pool towel area....they should do that. That would be far easier to implement than attempting to change the 20% or so of the passengers that insist there is not need to think of others since it is after all "my vacation and I paid for it".

 

Interestingly, I was on a cruise 2 weeks ago where the staff diligently enforced the adult pool rules.

 

kim

 

I think that an hour is too long! I don't think a chair should sit there idle while someone is gone for an hour. 30 minutes seems more appropriate. This is plenty of time to sit in the jacuzzi, run to the bathroom, eat in the buffet, look for someone, etc.

 

I generally only want a chair for an hour or less at a time, so the time that someone is off eating could be the only time I would want to spend a few minutes hanging out at the pool.

 

If everyone was more considerate, there wouldn't be a problem. Sad. :(

[TRadle]

I worry about people moving my stuff when I'm actually in the water. I can be in the water a very long time!!!:D

 

We don't like our chairs to be too close to the pool. We usually go up a deck and there don't seem to be as many chair hogs there.

[Spurs Fans]

My rule is that after 30-45 minutes of obvious abandonment by the owner (i.e. no one is in the pool or hot tub checking on their stuff) I will remove the items, take them to a staff member and tell them that they were abandoned by the owner. End of story.

[ykckby]

what ship were you on?

 

NCL Pearl....nice ship, fun time......but I'm coming back to Celebrity:D

 

kim

[librarycin]

I think that an hour is too long! I don't think a chair should sit there idle while someone is gone for an hour. 30 minutes seems more appropriate. This is plenty of time to sit in the jacuzzi, run to the bathroom, eat in the buffet, look for someone, etc.

 

I generally only want a chair for an hour or less at a time, so the time that someone is off eating could be the only time I would want to spend a few minutes hanging out at the pool.

 

If everyone was more considerate, there wouldn't be a problem. Sad. :(

 

I completely agree with you, up to and including the fact that I would usually only be looking to use a chair for less than an hour. Too bad everyone wasn't more considerate - as you say, if that was the case, there wouldn't be a problem to begin with.

[5fathom]

I hesitate mentioning this because may give "savers" a new idea. On our last cruise (Princess) the pool savers have moved to the show lounge. We saw people come in, place items on the theater seats, leave and return 5 minutes before showtime. We brought this to the attention of theater staff and guess what ? They did nothing. This whole thing is totally out of hand. Until they start to enforce these things they will continue to get worse.

[UtterCaro]

I think that an hour is too long! I don't think a chair should sit there idle while someone is gone for an hour. 30 minutes seems more appropriate. This is plenty of time to sit in the jacuzzi, run to the bathroom, eat in the buffet, look for someone, etc.

 

I'm even more radical. I don't think you should be able to "save" a lounger at all. If your butt's not currently parked in it, the chair should be available to anyone. Possession is nine-tenths of the law, sure -- but once you stand up, it's fair game. ;)

 

Caro

[Kapricorn]

On a cruise on the Mercury, at 9am I observed a woman place towels on three poolside chairs and then go away. At 11am these chairs were still unused, so after my swim I picked up one of these towels to dry myself off. After lunch I went for another swim and picked up a second towel. The woman never showed up during entire day.

 

Another annoyance is the fact that people who have finished using lounge chairs do not remove their towels before leaving, giving the mistaken impression that these are still reserved.

 

Donald.

[jerseygirl3]

This will never end until the ship staff begin enforcing the "rules". If they post that chairs left empty for more than an hour will be "cleaned off" and you can claim your goodies from the pool towel area....they should do that. That would be far easier to implement than attempting to change the 20% or so of the passengers that insist there is not need to think of others since it is after all "my vacation and I paid for it".

 

Interestingly, I was on a cruise 2 weeks ago where the staff diligently enforced the adult pool rules.

 

kim

 

I completely agree with you about enforcing the rules. However, when we were on Freedom of the Seas a few months ago, my husband (who, for medical reasons, cannot be in the sun) had a lounge chair in the shade. He makes sure he gets up early to secure one of those seats, and he stays in it the entire time he's at the pool. However, on FOS, he left his chair for approx. 20 minutes to accompany me to sign up for something at the spa, and when we returned, all his stuff was gone and somebody else had taken over his chair. The person who took his chair was not actually there, but all their "stuff" was. The person who had been in the chair next to my husband said that the person who wanted my husband's chair simply went over to a pool attendant and told him (lied) that the chair had been unoccupied for over an hour. Apparently the pool attendant took her at her word and removed all my husband's stuff. I was a little annoyed that the woman occupying the chair next to my husband allowed this to transpire without sticking up for my husband, but I guess some people just don't want to get involved. Ordinarily my husband would not have cared, but it was virtually impossible to find any chairs in a shady area and that's why he made sure to get up early each morning to get one. (of course, if he wanted to be on the other side of the ship from where I was sitting...in the sun...it may have been possible, but we wanted to be in somewhat close proximity to each other).

 

I guess my point of relating this story is, how is a pool attendant supposed to know how long every chair has been unoccupied. And apparently all one has to do is lie and say it's been unoccupied for "X" amount of time, and the chair is all theirs. I guess I should keep that in mind next time I want a chair in a prime location. I just tell the pool attendant it's been empty for over an hour and the chair is all mine. (JK, I would never do that and let it be known, I do believe in karma).

[LouisV]

NCL Pearl....nice ship, fun time......but I'm coming back to Celebrity:D

 

kim

 

thanks. Your reasons for coming back to Celebrity are? We haven't cruised NCL before.

[Lois R]

jerseygirl, so sorry that happened to you:( I agree some people

are just bad eggs.

I was on Century in December and there was a Mother,

Daughter and Granddaughter near me at the pool.

Well, the 2 younger gals went off somewhere so Gramma

was watching their chairs (all well and good) but...then

the Grandmother left and sort of made an annoucement

that whoever was around should watch their stuff?:confused:

I was sitting with a cruisemate I had met earlier and we just sort

of looked at one another~we were out there for a good long

while (in the shade too) and nobody ever came back.

 

Sometimes there are definitely passengers who make you

go hmmmmmmmmmm:eek:

[Donnaluv2cruise]

Hey Lois,

 

I'll save you a seat by the pool. LOL! Kidding! :p