pool problems!. ever happen to you?

[mndisfam]

REMINDER!! Do what the person said he does on the tip way back on the 2nd page. We wait quite some time to see if a chair occupied by a towel has anyone returning to it. (We don't stand there, we swim etc.) If after 45 minutes or so, and its the only chair available, I just move the towels off and take the chair.

A few times we have had people come back, but I just look them very nicely in the eye and say "gee, the chair was empty when we got here. A CM must have moved your towel. We have been here 1-2 hours and saw no one."

What are they going to say? Well, I put the towel there 3 hours ago - should still be ther?

As for the nasty family - that's different and scary. Whatever security there is available is a joke to me. WE love DCL and cruising, but we were involved in a horrible incident in Rockin' Bar D last spring break - I complained to many, and got NO response. Even to the officer on duty at the desk!

Geesh. If I can find the link I will post it. One day, someone will get hurt and then things will change.

I don't know - maybe after all this time I should complain about what happened in Ockin Bar D - i would be awful if it was still going on...

 

[scm]

Just off the Christmas cruise and the sense of personal entitlement was rampant - food lines, theatre patrons, pool chairs, adult areas,etc. There were quite nasty exchanges about 'butting in' at Topsiders, loud shouting between 2 groups during a movie, insults from parent of young child in Quiet Cove when reminded it was adults only, a large party on Pirate night taking over a restaurant. It seems to be a matter of "I paid, I can do whatever I want". Certainly made me wonder how crew managed dealing with this type of passenger week after week.

 

[Heather98012]

REMINDER!! Do what the person said he does on the tip way back on the 2nd page. We wait quite some time to see if a chair occupied by a towel has anyone returning to it. (We don't stand there, we swim etc.) If after 45 minutes or so, and its the only chair available, I just move the towels off and take the chair.

A few times we have had people come back, but I just look them very nicely in the eye and say "gee, the chair was empty when we got here. A CM must have moved your towel. We have been here 1-2 hours and saw no one."

What are they going to say? Well, I put the towel there 3 hours ago - should still be ther?

That's the perfect way to handle it! What are they gonna do, get in a CM's face? Not likely.

And as for leaving stuff unattended & going to a movie (or anywhere else), that's the problem! Expecting others to go without a chair while you aren't even using yours is just, plain rude. Now, I can understand saving one or two for your children for their stuff. But saving chairs for yourself when you are elsewhere? Very inconsiderate to people who would actually like to use them. And leaving valuables unattended is never a good idea.

But you know what? I don't know if it is an issue of people thinking "I paid for this, I can do what I want." Certainly I think that plays into it. But I think it's a bigger issue....I think people are just becoming more & more selfish & rude in general. These are likely the same people who steal a parking space when they see you waiting for it, the ones who push their way to the front of the line & offer you a sheepish grin as an apology (if that), the ones who answer their cell phones during a movie & have a conversation as if no one else is there. Common courtesy is becoming a thing of the past, & it's really sad to see.

I know this isn't just a DCL thing, all lines are dealing with rude people. But perhaps if DCL gave their CMs the authority to tell these rude people "No, you cannot do that....we have other passengers to consider" the rude ones wouldn't return to DCL. I know that it seems like Disney would be losing customers, when in fact, they would likely be GAINING lifetime customers who appreciate a hassle free vacation. I mean, isn't Disney at it's very essence, about the innocence of kids & believing in magic? I don't see how a child witnessing an altercation between some hideous adults & seeing a CM do nothing about it, would keep the magic alive for them.

Word of mouth is a very powerful thing, good or bad. Hopefully Disney will realize this & empower their CMs more so that they can better handle tense situations. Especially considering that DCL cruises are more pricey compared to other lines.

 

[Andrew DEREK UK]

Just off the Christmas cruise and the sense of personal entitlement was rampant - food lines, theatre patrons, pool chairs, adult areas,etc. There were quite nasty exchanges about 'butting in' at Topsiders, loud shouting between 2 groups during a movie, insults from parent of young child in Quiet Cove when reminded it was adults only, a large party on Pirate night taking over a restaurant. It seems to be a matter of "I paid, I can do whatever I want". Certainly made me wonder how crew managed dealing with this type of passenger week after week.

I have to agree, there is an minority, but they are there how think this, ''I paid, I can do whatever I want'', I had a man cut in on first lunch at topsiders on embarkation, and lost part of my family for 45 mins, and on Castaway Cay we had for one cruise only, the luxury of a hammock, and we all used it in rotation I told the kids if we do not use it we have to give it up, DS, got out to have a sip of soda, turned around an a lady jumped on it, on his stuff including towel etc and stayed there an hour, kids were very upset, as we had it an hour or so and on vacation I didn't say anything later she just went.

Many other hammocks were empty for hours with towels only on them.

 

[Billinaz]

On our last Magic cruise this past February, there were a ton of empty lounge chairs by the Mickey Pool and the Goofy Pool. Yet, they were all "occupied" by people's towels and personal possessions. Very frustrating for my family to visit the pool areas with all our own stuff in tow.

Is this still going on recently despite Disney's rules about chair saving?

There are towels on the chairs that are placed there by the CMs. I can only assume they are trying to make it convenient for the guests to have a towel.

Here is a photo on a back to back cruise we did. There are only 5 guests on the ship at the time (us).

 

[kcashner]

I will avoid the issue of chair saving as it has been thoroughly discussed above. However, I will comment that there is excellent security on the ship. If you need to see a security officer, just ask that one be called.

 

[Tinkermom3]

I will avoid the issue of chair saving as it has been thoroughly discussed above. However, I will comment that there is excellent security on the ship. If you need to see a security officer, just ask that one be called.

I really hope that you are correct. I honestly had not even thought about the need for security until I started reading this thread. We cruise for the first time in 6 weeks and now I am a bit nervous. I am really upset to hear that CM's and security officers have not done anything to help these folks who are being hasseled. I guess what is most frightening is that you are on a ship and there are no police to call and get involved.

I work for a mega-church and security is an area where we do not skimp. We have on staff a former police chief and a former detective who worked to find missing and exploited children. We also have many off-duty officers who volunteer to help with security. If any of the types of altercations that I have just read about happened at the church they would have been dealt with in an instant.

I sure hope that the folks that we are cruising with are there to have fun, relax and enjoy the cruise. That's what we plan on doing! We promise to not hold any chairs either!

 

[Billinaz]

Any incidents onboard are the jurisdiction of the FBI.

 

[PizzieDuster]

I am seriously considering bringing my own beach chair on our upcoming 6/08 cruise.

This will be my 6th cruise. The only time I have had problems finding chairs on a cruise has been on a Disney cruise. The other ships we have been on, there were so many chairs and huge deck space and being mega ships, there is so much other things to do.

That's the one thing I know I'm going to miss and I am dreading. The chair hogs and lack of space and chairs.

This upcoming cruise is a mother/daughter trip. I won't have my DH to stay with DD9 while I go sit on a chair and wait for them to come to the pool. I would go up and save two chairs and keep my behind there, listening to music, reading a book, covered up, until they finished breakfast. Mostly on sea days.

On RCCL sea days, I did get up at 7am to get chairs right next to the H20Zone (water park). It wasn't necessary, there are so many chairs. They had employees walking around the pools wearing yellow shirts with "pool attendant" on the back. They would pick up towels and monitor all the chairs. The best is that you could walk right up to them and ask for any available chairs. If there was one only and you needed two, they would go find another one at any level, any place and bring it right to you. They usually came from chairs stacked up on some other part of the ship. I loved that!

I am going to bring my little light beach chair that looks like a backpack.

Security on the ship has always been wonderful. We had a midship cat3 and had some kids ding dong ditching, hanging out in the halls, being rude. They took care of it ASAP. Had one teen group knock on the door, girl saying she has something in her eye, they were all laughing... they were just acting stupid. Later she was making out with a boy in the hallway. Security cleared the teens out. It was all good because I saw her on Castaway Cay on the beach with her family, sitting next to us. I made her real nervous the entire time....like I was just about to ask her mom, do you know who your daughter was sucking face with last night?

Fun memories but this thread brings up the stuff I want to forget. Chair hogging.

 

[tinkerone]

hmmmmm. should i tell you my thoughts? well, okay.
if there are no chairs avalible where i want to set i will watch the area for about 30 minutes. anything that is still empty in that time period is up for grabs as far as i am concerned. i try and pick the chair that only has a towel on it, but, if the chair is empty and has personal belongings on it and its the only one avalible, to bad for you.
now i don't say that as a 'i don't care about your things'. i say that as a 'we all need to be curtious to each other'. no one should be afraid to move items that are left just to save chairs.
i do feel sorry for the parents that have children and need seats up front. they should get first priority and to prevent a parent from trying to relax a little while still watching their child is just rude. that said, if you are spending more than 30 minutes in the pool with your little one than let another parent use it.
and by the way, if i leave my things for an extended period of time feel free to move them. i would hope i never would but sometimes time gets away from us all and we forget. i promise i will never shout at someone for my rudeness.

 

[atinkerbellmom]

Good for you Daipp!

We've never had problems at the pools (as we don't really "lay" out by them) but we have had many problems in the Walt Disney Theater during the shows. People attempting to save a whole row of seats. Yeah, right. I always remind them that the Personal Navigators state no saving of chairs at the pools or in the theater. It always helps to whip out a copy so they can see it with their BIG, FAT eyes if needed!

In my opinion, you're either using a chair or you're using the pool. Last time I checked, no one could do both at the same time. If you get in the pool for 15 or 20 minutes, and your stuff is moved, here's an idea, find a new chair! You wern't using it anymore! You were in the pool!

I totally agree. We would never use a chair for our stuff. We find a nice place on the groud or do not bring anything extra. Using a chair is either laying or sitting in it. The truth is, no matter HOW BIG your group, you will never have all 30 people sitting unless you are running some type of sunbathing club...... This is a problem at the pool and on CC. Just because there are 6 people in your party, you do not need 6 chairs. Just because you like the hammocks, doesn't mean you get the right to let your stuff swing in it all day......

 

[atinkerbellmom]

Sorry my thread posted twice.... So I had to edit this to delete it. I am done replying and posting until the webmasters have time to finish the updates. Happy New Year Everyone........... Even to the Chair Hoggers

 

[atinkerbellmom]

Hey guys, I went back and noticed, this is actually a thread from 2004 we just posted on. The new stuff starts on page6. Looks like the same problems are happening though.

 

[joksten2000]

DCL refuses to enforce any of it's rules, The chairs are a big one smoking is just as bad. Nothing will ever be done. I've sailed on Princess in Aug and was very apprehensive, but things were great, always chairs and the no smoking policy was strickly enforced. Very impressed. We are sailing on RCCL in two months and hope to find it the same. The pool attendants were very polite when enforcing the no smoking. I can never understand why DCL doesn't. Especially since they charge so much more.

 

[Hanover]

We were on the Magic on 12/1/07 and the thing that irritated me was that the Mickey pool was closed 5 times that we tried to swim due to accidents from non potty trained kids. Several times I saw babies, some who couldn't even stand, in the Mickey pool and the life guard did absolutely nothing. The entire afternoon of embarkation the Mickey pool was closed because of a fecal accident. Once I saw a baby about a year old in the Mickey ear go under the water a few seconds and come up vomiting after his mom stopped talking to the person next to him and pulled him up once she realized he was under. His mother was at the pool the next day with her older child and I saw her talk to the life guard and point to a baby in diapers jumping to his mom in the pool. The life guard said something back to her but didn't move and didn't tell the mom to take her son into the ear with the sprinker. I also saw the life guard the next day standing and speaking to a couple for a good half hour while yet another todder in diapers ran around the face of the Mickey pool where it's shallow and there's jets. The baby's mom was fully dressed and the baby fell in the face of the Mickey pool and came up crying twice in 20 minutes that I was there. Another mom sitting near me also watching her son go down the slide said when she commented to the fully clothed mom she was told to "shut up and mind your own business." I made sure to write on my comment card that I think they should enforce the non potty trained rule. I can understand parents want their babies to have fun, especially when older siblings are swimming, but it completely ruins it for everyone else whose children want to swim when they have accidents. Once when the Mickey pool was closed we went to the Goofy pool and a family was there with a toddler in swim diapers and commented to me they were glad it wasn't their kid who had an accident and that they were betting their's would be the one to shut it down during the week. I usually run from confrontation but I told them I thought it was selfish of parents to bring kids in pools when they may have accidents.