Time to level the playing field: Chair Hogs

[twangster]

When it's obvious the lounger isn't being used by a person in a pool or hot tub I'm all for moving stuff and play dumb. 

"What?  No idea.  Ask an attendant.  My chair now.  Goodbye" 

If someone is in the pool and they see you moving their stuff the feedback will be swift.  In that case apologize and move on to another lounger.  

Personally I like the idea of taking towels.  That isn't my seapass card with a towel associated with it.   Let a hog deal with the charge on their account.  Personally I think we all should do this as a non-chair hog service.  "Look... a free towel, just like Celebrity Cruises.".  Let that spread on social media.  Who is an influencer on TikTok?  Go for it....

 

[tonyfsu21]

5 hours ago, twangster said:

When it's obvious the lounger isn't being used by a person in a pool or hot tub I'm all for moving stuff and play dumb. 

"What?  No idea.  Ask an attendant.  My chair now.  Goodbye" 

If someone is in the pool and they see you moving their stuff the feedback will be swift.  In that case apologize and move on to another lounger.  

Personally I like the idea of taking towels.  That isn't my seapass card with a towel associated with it.   Let a hog deal with the charge on their account.  Personally I think we all should do this as a non-chair hog service.  "Look... a free towel, just like Celebrity Cruises.".  Let that spread on social media.  Who is an influencer on TikTok?  Go for it....

 

Excellent idea! lol 

[ScottD]

8 hours ago, Va4fam said:

15 minutes later, original occupants of the chairs showed up after a jetski excursion and lunch and demanded their chairs back.

Sorry- you go on an excursion, which basically leaves the island for 2 hours, you definitely are not getting your seat back. 

[BrianB]

I’d rather not deal with confrontation…especially if it can be avoided and alternatives are readily available.

If I knew without a doubt that chair hogs had staked their claim and then disappeared…especially if they left the ship…and I really wanted that chair…I would move the chair and replace their stuff on the floor exactly as they had it placed. I would move the chair close by so I could see the reaction if and when they returned. No one to confront.

[Matt]

I don't think it's any guests' place to enforce a Royal Caribbean policy (i.e. moving another guests' belongings).

I hate the chair hog problem and I get annoyed when I see passengers clearly engaging in the act.  But it's simply not worth the potential confrontation with another guest, or the aggravation that comes with it. 

I've also generally found if I want to hang by the pool, if I make an effort to be there before 10am, I'll find a chair by the pool. It's the "hey, let's go to the pool after lunch" crowd that runs into the chair hog issue the most.

[smost]

On my last cruise, we would go get seats in the solarium saved with towels and bags and books. Then we would get in the pool and have some drinks and occasionally come back to the chairs to sit and put on sunscreen a couple of times in an hour.  We would only be there for like 2-3 hours. There were 7 of us but we would only grab like 4-5 chairs. On the last day we came back to a couple who had taken over two of our chairs. They moved our bags off the chairs and laid out their towels and our towels on the chairs. We were irritated but we were also leaving. I asked the couple if I could grab our towels off the chairs. The woman refused to get out of the chair and instead simply leaned forward and I had to pull the towel out from under her butt. The kicker was there were plenty of open chairs in the solarium. That has been one of the weirdest situations on a cruise ship yet for me.

[tonyfsu21]

25 minutes ago, Matt said:

I don't think it's any guests' place to enforce a Royal Caribbean policy (i.e. moving another guests' belongings).

I hate the chair hog problem and I get annoyed when I see passengers clearly engaging in the act.  But it's simply not worth the potential confrontation with another guest, or the aggravation that comes with it. 

I've also generally found if I want to hang by the pool, if I make an effort to be there before 10am, I'll find a chair by the pool. It's the "hey, let's go to the pool after lunch" crowd that runs into the chair hog issue the most.

I wish this was the case. It doesn’t matter if you get to the pool at 7am or as late as 10am, the chairs are taken (whether legitimately or not). To be clear, I am not referencing the chairs in the nose bleed section but rather the prime time chairs located right by the pool that every guest deserves a shot at. Let it be known Icon Thanksgiving cruise, there’s a new hog in town. 

[tonyfsu21]

16 minutes ago, smost said:

On my last cruise, we would go get seats in the solarium saved with towels and bags and books. Then we would get in the pool and have some drinks and occasionally come back to the chairs to sit and put on sunscreen a couple of times in an hour.  We would only be there for like 2-3 hours. There were 7 of us but we would only grab like 4-5 chairs. On the last day we came back to a couple who had taken over two of our chairs. They moved our bags off the chairs and laid out their towels and our towels on the chairs. We were irritated but we were also leaving. I asked the couple if I could grab our towels off the chairs. The woman refused to get out of the chair and instead simply leaned forward and I had to pull the towel out from under her butt. The kicker was there were plenty of open chairs in the solarium. That has been one of the weirdest situations on a cruise ship yet for me.

Lots of characters out there. This one doesn’t surprise me. 

[HeWhoWaits]

1 hour ago, Matt said:

I don't think it's any guests' place to enforce a Royal Caribbean policy (i.e. moving another guests' belongings).

I hate the chair hog problem and I get annoyed when I see passengers clearly engaging in the act.  But it's simply not worth the potential confrontation with another guest, or the aggravation that comes with it. 

I've also generally found if I want to hang by the pool, if I make an effort to be there before 10am, I'll find a chair by the pool. It's the "hey, let's go to the pool after lunch" crowd that runs into the chair hog issue the most.

If it's not enforced, is it really a policy? 

I'm not a hang by the pool person, but if I was then my fanny trumps your towel and book that you've probably never broken the spine. let alone read.

[CruisingNewb]

Policy does NOT necessarily mean rule.  Policies with enforcement mechanisms are rules.  If the chair hog policy has no measurable enforcement mechanism, it is simply a guideline.

 

While I do not agree with taking matters into your own hands, for the issue of chair hogs, which has been a pain for many, this is the one exception I personally have.

As long as you don't escalate any situations or cause disturbance to anyone other than you and the hogs, go hog wild!

For us, personally, we never cared where we sat during pool time.  

[teddy]

If I’m gonna have a confrontation, it’s not going to be over a chair.  As a matter of fact, it most likely won’t be on a cruise ship either unless it’s self defense.   The last thing I want to do is be put in the brig. 

Yes, I’m annoyed when I see people claim chairs, but there’s plenty to do and enough places to sit that I just move on. 
 

Then again, neither my wife nor I claim chairs.    At most, one of us will go get something to eat (ie bring back to the chair) while the other stays put.