Balcony Chairs Zip-tied to Recline Only

[CruisingNewb]

Yes.  It seems fleet-wide.  

Yes.  It seems uncomfortable for those who want to sit upright.

No. You should not cut them.  

No.  As a fan base, we should not advocate cutting them and replacing them later.

Cruise hacks that are within the rules are one thing, actually hacking off the zip ties is simply wrong.  Let's let RCCL figure it out before taking matters into your own hands.  

 

[Southern Waters]

1 hour ago, Jill said:

I had read in a Facebook post that someone went backwards and got hurt. 

All the more reason to have the chairs upright, if they're set on zip tying them.

[barjpoe]

Would it be possible to go to GS and see if they can change my chairs for my cruise?

[barjpoe]

I just notice on another thread that the inside Central park balconies showed regular chairs. 

[Southern Waters]

3 hours ago, barjpoe said:

Would it be possible to go to GS and see if they can change my chairs for my cruise?

The OP went to guest services and was told it had to stay that way. I can only afford one cruise/year, and I always book an ocean view balcony to make the most of it. I spend a lot of time out there and this chair nonsense is really aggravating. 

[TXcruzer]

1 hour ago, Southern Waters said:

The OP went to guest services and was told it had to stay that way. I can only afford one cruise/year, and I always book an ocean view balcony to make the most of it. I spend a lot of time out there and this chair nonsense is really aggravating. 

just cut the tie off

[Southern Waters]

1 minute ago, TXcruzer said:

just cut the tie off

Some of you frequent cruisers do it first. If you don't get banned for life, I'll consider it 

[TXcruzer]

4 minutes ago, Southern Waters said:

Some of you frequent cruisers do it first. If you don't get banned for life, I'll consider it 

I can guarantee you I will be

[Dad2Cue]

8 hours ago, Jill said:

I had read in a Facebook post that someone went backwards and got hurt. 

Accidents happen but legally there must be negligence somewhere.  It sounds like something had to be done so zip ties was probably the only idea that could be implemented relatively quickly.

[Southern Waters]

On 11/4/2024 at 8:01 AM, Gilley said:

People will find ways to make it work for them.  I'm going on Utopia in December and I'm already thinking about it.  I will use pillows to make me sit up in the chairs.  I don't ever pack scissors, so although I have zip ties, I will leave them and try the pillow hack.

I just contacted my TA about it; I wanted to know contact info for someone at RCL to voice my objections.  She hadn't heard anything about it but would call RCL and check on this. She said she was just on Utopia in October and her balcony chairs weren't zip tied, so maybe you won't have this issue. 

[whitsmom]

On 11/3/2024 at 11:30 AM, smokeybandit said:

So basically, add zip ties to the cruise go-bag.

Same!  I will set the chair up in the correct sitting position and re-zip it!  I always pack a pair of scissors too. 

[Pattycruise]

I took the bed pillow to the balcony and used it to sit up straight in the zip tied chair. . At least those horrible pillows are good for something! Next time I might try 2 of them behind me. 

[barjpoe]

Yeah, I did that, but I found it was too big/long

[BrianB]

I’m guessing somebody up high issued an edict to…”Henceforth and Forever Ye Shall Tie With Zip Yon Balcony Chairs and Pity The Fool Who Undoes Said Tie! So Let It Be Said, So Let It Be Written, So Let It Be Done!”…that would sort of explain the tongue-lashing meted out to the Guest Services guy when he called somebody to ask about it.

…at least until they figure out something else. If they zipped them upright, some would complain they’re uncomfortable for lounging. Can’t please everyone. I don’t think they would go so far as removing someone from the ship if they were caught with unzipped chairs. Passengers could always claim ignorance and say they thought the previous occupants did it. The reason for the zipping is not published anywhere…at least not yet. So no warning.

Doesn’t really matter to me, but if someone is really annoyed, they could just bring heavy duty zips and quickly replace them locking the chair upright. I wouldn’t leave them unzipped. Until a reason or a ‘Don’t Do That’ is issued by Royal, that seems reasonable. But…I’m also a rule-follower, so for me… So Let It Be Done!

[Southern Waters]

I just got an voicemail from my TA. She talked to RCL; they told her it was done on Ovation only due to high winds but wasn't fleetwide. Guess everyone else who posted about this on other ships were just imagining it 

[RCDM-123]

Well, somebody is lying.  The Ovation cruise I was on was from Vancouver to Honolulu.  We really didn't have any high winds, but the crew was told in no uncertain terms to leave the zip ties alone.  Maybe there had been high winds when they were doing Alaska before my cruise, but then why not let me request they be cut off?  And it certainly doesn't explain why they couldn't be moved so the chair was upright.  My room steward, guest services, and the loyalty ambassador all said this was fleet wide, and they're being reported on other ships, so either I was lied to then, or we're being lied to now.

[Cakemeister]

Someone post a picture the zip tie to document what kind of zip tie was used. We would need to know the length, width, and color. 

This is just for research. No one would ever think about cutting the zip tie, adjusting the chair, and replacing the zip tie. 

 

[FionaMG]

6 minutes ago, Cakemeister said:

Someone post a picture the zip tie to document what kind of zip tie was used. We would need to know the length, width, and color. 

This is just for research. No one would ever think about cutting the zip tie, adjusting the chair, and replacing the zip tie. 

 

The OP @RCDM-123 posted a pic in the very first post.

[KevinJ]

I’m on Odyssey now. One balcony chair is zip tied and the other isn’t. I like the zip tied one and my son likes the other. You do have to be careful not to fully incline.

[SplashOfWater]

Radiance has non-adjustable upright chairs so no need for zip ties. 

Same on Oasis Boardwalk balcony. 

[Southern Waters]

6 hours ago, RCDM-123 said:

Well, somebody is lying.  The Ovation cruise I was on was from Vancouver to Honolulu.  We really didn't have any high winds, but the crew was told in no uncertain terms to leave the zip ties alone.  Maybe there had been high winds when they were doing Alaska before my cruise, but then why not let me request they be cut off?  And it certainly doesn't explain why they couldn't be moved so the chair was upright.  My room steward, guest services, and the loyalty ambassador all said this was fleet wide, and they're being reported on other ships, so either I was lied to then, or we're being lied to now.

I have no doubt that everyone who posted about this situation on various ships is telling the truth.  Maybe RCL got a bunch of complaints about it and decided to backtrack. I'll be interested to see if these phantom zip-tied chairs keep appearing on balconies. 

[Marc Van Niekerk]

We just got off Odyssey yesterday and this was one of the most frustrating things. Our chairs were zip-tied as described and it made them very uncomfortable. 

[HeWhoWaits]

7 minutes ago, Marc Van Niekerk said:

We just got off Odyssey yesterday and this was one of the most frustrating things. Our chairs were zip-tied as described and it made them very uncomfortable. 

If this situation exists on my next trip, I will be complaining to Guest Services very frequently until something is done to my satisfaction. Escalation to the hotel manager (and above if necessary) will ensue. 

[ScottB]

We just got off of Odyssey a few days ago and... yes zip ties on the chairs too

[whitsmom]

On 11/19/2024 at 8:53 AM, ScottB said:

We just got off of Odyssey a few days ago and... yes zip ties on the chairs too

We were on the Odyssey in July of this year and they were NOT zip tied then.

[caffeinated]

it's upsetting we pay for balcony rooms and can't fully enjoy them. I last cruised in June and the chairs weren't zip tied yet. I hope they will figure something out by my next cruise. They should just replace the chairs altogether then and put upright chairs that don't recline. They have those on inside balcony rooms on Oasis/Icon ships, don't they?

[WAAAYTOOO]

We’re on Brilliance now, in a standard balcony room and the chairs on the balcony don’t recline so no need for zip ties.

[SplashOfWater]

11 hours ago, caffeinated said:

it's upsetting we pay for balcony rooms and can't fully enjoy them. I last cruised in June and the chairs weren't zip tied yet. I hope they will figure something out by my next cruise. They should just replace the chairs altogether then and put upright chairs that don't recline. They have those on inside balcony rooms on Oasis/Icon ships, don't they?

Yes, currently in an Oasis Boardwalk balcony and we have the non-reclining upright chairs. 

[TMucci]

On 11/3/2024 at 7:37 AM, RCDM-123 said:

Curious if anybody else has noticed this.  I was on Ovation in early October in a balcony cabin.  The chairs on the balcony had been zip-tied to lock them in the reclined position (I have attached photos).  You can see that the position the chair has been locked in is reclined.  There is another stop on the back that would make the chair upright (like a chair), but it was not possible to adjust the chair because of the zip ties.  We asked our room steward and he said this was done across the entire fleet.  We asked Guest Services if we could get the zip ties moved so we could use the chairs as ... you know, a "chair", but were told that they were instructed not to touch those zip ties "under any circumstances".  The chairs had a notice attached not to lean the back all the way flat, so I guess that's what they are trying to prevent (is it a safety thing?) but with the chairs locked in the reclined position we couldn't sit on our balcony and drink coffee, or read, or anything that required an actual chair.  The reclined position was very uncomfortable, and we simply couldn't use them.  For us, it made the balcony useless, and a waste of money.  The steward said there were no actual chairs that could be supplied in their place.

I sent an email to RCCL, but their response was simply that they have forwarded the comment (to who?). 

Has anybody else noticed this?

 

[TMucci]

I am on the Odyssey right now and also frustrated by this. We have been taking the sofa cushions off the sofa to try and make the chairs usable but they are not a comfortable solution.  It seems they are SLOWLY rolling out chair cushions (see attached photos) and lower back bolsters. This seems counterintuitive to me as the whole point of the mesh-based deck chairs is to make it easy to clean them by cabin stewards and that they dry faster from weather. Now they'll add cushions? I am eagerly awaiting cushions and bolsters to be able to enjoy our balcony (hopefully before we disembark in 2 days.)

[asquared17]

tell you what… i sure would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when this was decided…  as a viable solution to what we can only infer was likely a guest safety issue

[Pattycruise]

8 hours ago, TMucci said:

I am on the Odyssey right now and also frustrated by this. We have been taking the sofa cushions off the sofa to try and make the chairs usable but they are not a comfortable solution.  It seems they are SLOWLY rolling out chair cushions (see attached photos) and lower back bolsters. This seems counterintuitive to me as the whole point of the mesh-based deck chairs is to make it easy to clean them by cabin stewards and that they dry faster from weather. Now they'll add cushions? I am eagerly awaiting cushions and bolsters to be able to enjoy our balcony (hopefully before we disembark in 2 days.)

Future bed toppers so the bed can be more comfortable!

[InmyElement]

I have a tool box full of black zip ties. We sail in 9 days on Odyssey, if the chairs are tied they will be cut and retied in the upright position. I can play the game all week. Unless they confiscate them from my luggage, then I will whittle drink swizzle sticks together....

We have breakfast and sometimes lunch out there, the Admiral will not put up with that. If thats the case...I feel for that poor guest services agent...

[HeWhoWaits]

Are they pool deck chairs being zip-tied in the recline position?

Maybe one could swap out zip-tied balcony chairs for pool deck chairs at 4:00 a.m.. Let the chair hogs have the unchangable chairs.

[Southern Waters]

I emailed RCL Customer support and included screenshots (without user names of course) of several of the comments in this thread. I also included the OP's pics of the zip-tied chair. I'm not on Facebook, but I believe RCL has a page where complaints could be reported. Anyway, this is the reply I got. Note that she says to contact guest services, after I specifically included the info that they refused to change the chairs.

[Pooch]

So a non-answer answer.  But I am screenshotting that to show Guest Services if/when I demand the zip ties be removed.  Show me the official policy or I’m cutting them off.

[dnj1980]

Had this on Ovation this month.  Uncomfortable.  
Next cruise is early 2026 and will do as some others have mentioned - cut and re-zip in a better position.

[Matt]

If that email is legit, sounds like someone on the ship took it upon themselves to implement this policy

[Southern Waters]

1 hour ago, Matt said:

If that email is legit, sounds like someone on the ship took it upon themselves to implement this policy

From what several people have posted in this thread, it's not on just one ship. More than one of the posters said they were told by either guest services or their cabin attendant that it was fleetwide. Wherever it's coming from, it's asinine.

I'm glad you posted here, Matt. Surely someone with your high C&A status has some pull with the higher ups? 

[Surrounded by water.]

Just off the Navigator of the Seas, one chair had no zip ties. The other was zip tied in the semi reclined position. Not a comfortable position for either of us. Easily removed with a couple of quick clips with a nail clipper.
Home now for 24 hours as of yet no helicopters or armed enforcement personnel from Royal Caribbean have surrounded the house. Clip away my friends.

I am curious about what instituted this chair bondage.