How crazy is poolside on a day at sea?

[RadFamily]

How crazy is poolside on a day at sea? I am on the 2 July sailing of the Splendor, and we are scheduled for 2 days at sea in a row. Last summer, while on RCCL, they had personnel on the pool deck who removed towels that were "saving" lounge chairs. It prevented people from "saving" a seat poolside early in the morning and not coming to the pool until later in the day. Does Carnival have the same policy? What has been your experience in the past? Thanks in advance for your input!

[OceanQueen]

We just came off the Imagination and we had 2 sea days but not back to back. There was some chair saving but I didn't see any problems with it. Poolside they have extra chairs stacked and we just got a few of those and put them where we wanted them. There was a blurp in the Capers that chair saving is not "legal".;)

[patterson3]

It's extremely crazy. Personally, its the last place I want to be on a cruise. But if you're into big crowds it's great.

[cruisnpat]

It is a very crowded place with a lot of chair hogs.

[Theresa522]

I have to agree that it is VERY crowded and normally no where to sit. Although the lounge chairs are EMPTY from people, the books, apples, bananas, eye glasses, flip-flops, etc are sitting in them! :eek:

[mrmj]

As the ships are getting bigger and there are more people onboard, i'm finding sea days around the pool very very busy - lots of chairs being saved. Last cruise was with Carnival and no one patrolling this situation unlike NCL & RCCL.

[orientpiscesgirl88]

I've cruised end of July and beginning of August and the main Lido pool and the surrounding areas have always been packed. But I do manage to get a spot by the aft pool easily (around 10AM) as well as the higher decks(anytime of day). I've read on here where people wake up at 7AM to get a good spot on the Lido deck:eek:.

 

As for chair hogs, I've never really paid attention before, but I'm sure they were in full force!

 

I've also never paid attention to see if Carnival staff patrols the chairs, but then again I've never seen them actually do so either.

[gail811]

Just off the Glory a few weeks ago and I was shocked at how many people were up on deck IN THE DARK at 0630 saving chairs! I took pictures of one lady saving about 8 chairs poolside....ridiculous!

[orientpiscesgirl88]

I can't even imagine waking up that early esp for chairs....it's vacation!

 

Saving 8 chairs is just ridiculous (even more so before the sun is up!!!). If she wanted them that badly for her family/friends, then she should have woken them up to sit there with her in the dark!

[anaslile]

You get a cold and rainy day--not very.

 

Beautiful sunny day...a lot more crowded. I always found a seat as a solo traveler...

[camper49]

We were on the Glory and found the chair saving bad. Unless you were pool side by 7 am you could forget it!!! We just went other places and found plenty of chairs. We like to move around so you might find us anywhere on the ship!!

[2PinaColadas]

Way too much chair saving. Carnival really does need to monitor this. About 1/3 of the chairs were being saved around the stage/big pool area. Too crowded--side by side, no personal space, at all. So we went to the aft pool and it was much better

[CFitzRN]

Just off the Glory a few weeks ago and I was shocked at how many people were up on deck IN THE DARK at 0630 saving chairs! I took pictures of one lady saving about 8 chairs poolside....ridiculous!

 

Would it have seemed snarky for my family and me to have decided to take those very 8 chairs, even if there were 8 others available? :p I mean, chair hogging is not allowed afterall.

[orlandofl]

Would it have seemed snarky for my family and me to have decided to take those very 8 chairs, even if there were 8 others available? :p I mean, chair hogging is not allowed afterall.

That's one area i stay away from,there are some funny games that's played for prizes and fun to watch people act stupid,i also hate the bar guys that keep bothering you,if i need a drink i know where to go for one,the chair huggers should be shoved overboard.

[SheriNtexas]

It's extremely crazy. Personally, its the last place I want to be on a cruise. But if you're into big crowds it's great.

 

I agree! Lots of stuff going on around the pools on sea days. If you like being in the middle of all that craziness and can FIND a lounger, you're in luck! However, if you would rather relax with a drink and a good book, look elsewhere!:eek:

 

Oh, and BOO to chairhogs!:eek: :rolleyes:

[ejeffo]

Just off the Glory a few weeks ago and I was shocked at how many people were up on deck IN THE DARK at 0630 saving chairs! I took pictures of one lady saving about 8 chairs poolside....ridiculous!

 

Can you share the pictures? :)

[kl25th]

We went on our first cruise in Jan and I read on here about the chair hogs, but thought it cant be that bad.....it was auwful. We, my DH and I went to the Lido deck at about 930 AM and not a chair to be found that did not have something on it, saving it.....flip flop, t-shirt, towel...not just pool side either,it was everywhere, we could not find an empty chair anywhere....it made us hate sea days, my husband now calls them "nap days" not sea days...lol

[gail811]

Can you share the pictures? :)

 

This is the best I got, after all it was dark! The row of chairs behind the white chairs were all reserved with everything..... towels, books, even flip flops. I thought by taking her picture it would deter her....NOT! It was so rough that the pools were closed;

 

 

[UpstateCruizer]

How crazy is poolside on a day at sea? I am on the 2 July sailing of the Splendor, and we are scheduled for 2 days at sea in a row. Last summer, while on RCCL, they had personnel on the pool deck who removed towels that were "saving" lounge chairs. It prevented people from "saving" a seat poolside early in the morning and not coming to the pool until later in the day. Does Carnival have the same policy? What has been your experience in the past? Thanks in advance for your input!

 

Last year on the Triumph it looked like a fruit salad being attended by single flip flops and stray books :) Now myself having children long past the age of direct supervision the poolside area held no appeal to me as it was a high traffic area and noisey. I had no problem finding loungers on the upper decks where the sun was just as bright and the drink servers made just as many passes by if not more since they didn't have to weave in and out of chairs with fruit sitting on them :)

[SheriNtexas]

since they didn't have to weave in and out of chairs with fruit sitting on them :)

 

 

Ok, where IS that picture that shows up here now and then with the orange in the lounger? Someone post it, it is SO funny!!:D

[DaisyGirl55]

I have no qualms about moving somebody's single flip flop or moving the oft-used orange. I'll look around, but if nobody is by the chair after about 30 minutes then I think the chair is fair game.

 

I have only had one person come to the chair I was in and ask me if I was in the chair she was saving. I politely told her that I probably was, but then again, I wasn't sure as all of the chairs looked the same to me! :p She just picked up her flip flops and left. By the way, her suit was completely dry, so I know she wasn't in the pool swimming the entire time.

[deborahjo]

On the Liberty we never had trouble find chairs up by the bottom of the slide by the hot tubs. We were able to walk up there anytime and find chairs. It was about 7 steps up from the main deck...

[BonnieVA]

Never having been on a cruise before I ask this...

 

Where do we put all of our stuff (sunglasses, sunscreen, etc) when we're in the pool if we don't put it on a chair? We're a family of 6 but the only person who would be using a chair at the pool might be me & maybe dh. But when I go into the water where would we put all our stuff?

 

At our neighborhood pool we drop all of our towels, sunglasses, etc, onto, under & around one chair since the kids don't sit around on chairs at the pool & I sit in a chair next to the clutterred one. If I get in the water there's a chair or 2 on deck w/ a bunch of stuff on it.

 

Are there spaces somewhere to store all your "stuff" when in the pool on cruise ships? Re you supposed to leave all that in your cabin? What??

[poohbear]

This was a problem on the Valor in March when we cruised. We just went up a few decks and found a nice spot overlooking the lido deck. We were up by the entrance to the slide. Although we did move some chairs that were unattended up there. This woman came up and said to me where are my chairs and started to get an attitude. I just looked at her and said I don't know, there was nothing here but an empty chair when we arrived. She was not happy. I guess she had saved the spot earlier in the morning. Oh well I didn't care, I just put my earphones back on and read my book. HOping that the problem will be less when we are RCL in Oct. We will see.

[RadFamily]

I have to agree that it is VERY crowded and normally no where to sit. Although the lounge chairs are EMPTY from people, the books, apples, bananas, eye glasses, flip-flops, etc are sitting in them! :eek:

 

Well I guess I will just look for a chair with an apple or banana and save the fruit for DS's mid-morning snack! LOL!;)

 

I agree with the poster who said after 30 minutes if you are not there, and it looks like your one lonely flip flop may have been dropped by accident, I WILL take your chair. I do head out early and get two chairs, but I stay there and read a book while DH gets the kids into their swim gear and brings them to the pool. We don't take one chair for each of us, just for DH and I. The kids are either in the pool or the kids club or playing on the deck (my youngest is only 2 and will play with toys or a cup full of ice for an hour).

 

Let us unite and take back unoccupied chairs!!:D