Pool Chairs...staking claim

[jacqueline702]

Not all CMs can be relied upon to resolve chair saving issues, I've found.

When my family and I were on the Fantasy in June, my dad had his scooter and we arrived at the recommended 30 min prior for seating assistance. Well, there we other HA people ahead of us, so a CM escorted us to the other side of the theatre for the HA seats. When we got there, a woman with a young child were sitting in the HA designated seats (clearly labeled, too). The CM looked uncomfortable and simply gestured to us like, "here ya go" and left. The woman declared she was saving the seats for her friend and her stroller was going to be parked in the wheelchair spot! I firmly said that those seats were for a handicapped person and the family but she didn't budge, just searched around for her alleged stroller-toting friend. The CM was long gone and I was frustrated at the time that she didn't handle the matter, especially when there were plenty of other seats in the area and a stroller shouldn't be allowed in the theatre to begin with! When the woman still wouldn't move, we put his scooter in the wheelchair spot (she didn't protest) and walked him down to better seats, anyway. At least he had the ability to do that, but what if he was completely immobile?

Just society in general has become very self-centered and inconsiderate. If a chair simply has a towel and no one is around, I move it. Aulani has the same problem.

Was this during the first week of June? I ask only because I actually think you're referring to me. I hardly ever post but I really feel like I should respond. My two year old daughter is handicapped and in a wheelchair. It looks like a stroller because she's little - it is sometimes considered an adaptive stroller simply because she can't wheel it herself (she's too young and not able to). I had a very difficult time getting her down the elevator that day (a huge line and a lot of people were cutting in front) so my friend walked down and waited for me in the HA area.
I am so sorry that we caused an inconvenience for you and your dad. This is the first time I had travelled with my daughter's wheelchair and that was the only place I knew to sit. My friend knew how overwhelmed I was and was trying to help. I'll be sure to handle it differently next time. Take care.

 

[jiminyC_fan]

We are early risers on vacation. We eat breakfast as soon as the restaurant opens at 7. Plop ourselves in a chair at the adult pool and sit there all day, in and out of the pool. We go get lunch and eat at our chairs. We stay until 3 or so. I've overheard people complaining that we are reserving the chairs and/or monopolizing since we pretty much sit at the same chairs every day. We have done nothing wrong and yet people still complain. The CM's have actually told them we have been there all day but they still think it's wrong. The guest chair police have no idea that we have done everything by the book but choose to point the finger. Why? Because they don't get up early and yet expect a chair around the pool. We have cruised enough that we don't go to the activities any longer. If that's your thing, great, but don't expect a chair at 11 or 12 close to one of the pools because you finally have pool time. It just isn't a fair expectation.

I laugh when people say they "watch" chairs for X minutes and then move peoples things. I can't imagine wasting my time on a vacation watching a chair.

 

[RedSox68]

I can get behind piling everything on one chair. Preferably in a location that's not very popular. Until such time as DCL sees the sense of cubbies.

But, you're not really "saving" that chair if you're in the area using the pool/AquaDuck. The issue is the people who send one person up for their party of 10 at 6:00 in the morning drop a flip-flop on one chair, a book on another, a hat on a third and so on. Then disappear until after lunch and then want to claim "their" spot.

Just curious -- do other cruise lines have cubbies around their pools? We don't frequent the pools so don't notice.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Just curious -- do other cruise lines have cubbies around their pools? We don't frequent the pools so don't notice.

I've never seen them (but we've only been on 5 "other" ships (3 other cruise lines).

 

[Billinaz]

Playing a little devil advocates here - so someone is supposed to keep a watch on their chair for someone else moving they stuff instead of enjoying themselves in the pool, at Nemo's reef with their kid, hanging out on satellite falls, or waiting in line 45 minutes for the aquaduck?

I understand the case people talk about (dropping off a flip flop at 8 and coming back at noon), but I was picking at how one determines that case. I think it's completely reasonable/normal for someone to not be in their lounger for an hour, but still have that lounger reserved. So I don't understand if some people actually stalk a lounger for that long - hovering over it, watching it. Seems odd to me - I know I'd probably move on.

If you have not used the chair for an hour, you are reserving it instead of using it. I would be glad to move anything on that chair and use it.

 

[Fladis32]

We are early risers on vacation. We eat breakfast as soon as the restaurant opens at 7. Plop ourselves in a chair at the adult pool and sit there all day, in and out of the pool. We go get lunch and eat at our chairs. We stay until 3 or so. I've overheard people complaining that we are reserving the chairs and/or monopolizing since we pretty much sit at the same chairs every day. We have done nothing wrong and yet people still complain. The CM's have actually told them we have been there all day but they still think it's wrong. The guest chair police have no idea that we have done everything by the book but choose to point the finger. Why? Because they don't get up early and yet expect a chair around the pool. We have cruised enough that we don't go to the activities any longer. If that's your thing, great, but don't expect a chair at 11 or 12 close to one of the pools because you finally have pool time. It just isn't a fair expectation.

I laugh when people say they "watch" chairs for X minutes and then move peoples things. I can't imagine wasting my time on a vacation watching a chair.

This is kind of how we do it. Believe it or not, after an early breakfast we arrive at the adult pool to find at least half the seats already claimed at 8:30 ish. What you do is USE THE CHAIRS. I don't understand who can reasonably fault you for it.

 

[Billinaz]

I think there are people who go to extremes on both sides. Putting a flip flop down at 8am and expecting your chair to be reserved hours later is wrong, so is (in my opinion) moving someone's belongings because you believe they have been gone too long.

If you have not been back to the seat in more than 30 minutes then there is nothing wrong with moving the stuff to use the chair. I have seen people pop out on deck at 6 ish and strategically place items on the front row of chairs. After breakfast at 9 or so I went by the pool and saw the same stuff still sitting where they were placed. Obviously nobody had been back to those chairs.

So you think removing those items so you an use the chair is wrong?.... Definitely not. It is why they have warnings on the chairs you cannot reserve them.

 

[Billinaz]

We are early risers on vacation. We eat breakfast as soon as the restaurant opens at 7. Plop ourselves in a chair at the adult pool and sit there all day, in and out of the pool. We go get lunch and eat at our chairs. We stay until 3 or so. I've overheard people complaining that we are reserving the chairs and/or monopolizing since we pretty much sit at the same chairs every day. We have done nothing wrong and yet people still complain. The CM's have actually told them we have been there all day but they still think it's wrong. The guest chair police have no idea that we have done everything by the book but choose to point the finger. Why? Because they don't get up early and yet expect a chair around the pool. We have cruised enough that we don't go to the activities any longer. If that's your thing, great, but don't expect a chair at 11 or 12 close to one of the pools because you finally have pool time. It just isn't a fair expectation.

I laugh when people say they "watch" chairs for X minutes and then move peoples things. I can't imagine wasting my time on a vacation watching a chair.

If you are in the chairs and jump in the pool for a few minutes and return to the chairs from sunrise to sunset, there is nothing wrong with that. I doubt those complain would be there all day so their argument is not very relevant.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Seat saving sure makes people grumpy. At the end of a cruise (not DCL) we were waiting in line for the shuttle bus to the airport and people were crowding in front of us. Finally got on the next bus and I was saving the seat next to me for DH, who was making sure all our luggage was stowed in the luggage compartment. Some older guy wanted to sit in DH's seat and I told him it was for DH. The guy about came unglued. He threw up his hands in disgust and exclaimed, "Here we go again! Saving seats!" pffft. I hadn't saved a single seat during the cruise, and I sure didn't want to sit next to that creep after his tirade, and I sure didn't see the problem with saving a seat for my own DH who was just outside the bus taking care of our luggage.

 

[Jennifer777]

I laugh when people say they "watch" chairs for X minutes and then move peoples things. I can't imagine wasting my time on a vacation watching a chair.

I doubt anyone hovers over a chair with a timer and "watches" it in the way you seem to imply. However, as parents are standing at the pool keeping an eye on their children swimming for an hour or longer because there are no available chairs, it's not hard to see which chairs are reserved and not in use during that time. In your particular scenario, you're actually using your chairs all day, even eating lunch in them. I don't know how anyone can make an accusation that you're saving seats when you are sitting in them. That's obviously not a violation of the policy, which is why the CM stood up for you.

The guy about came unglued. He threw up his hands in disgust and exclaimed, "Here we go again! Saving seats!" pffft.

I don't think this is the kind of seat saving DCL is prohibiting, your husband was right there and it's not like you were saving a block of seats. This guy was being unreasonable IMO to go off about it like that and I don't think his response was appropriate. With that being said, I just don't think reactions like this would be happening if seat saving wasn't a persistent problem. It's clearly not supposed to happen yet you can't seem to walk into the theater or pool area without seeing multiple blocks of prime seats reserved. We can come up with a million little scenarios of when it might be ok but those instances probably wouldn't even be noticed if the blatant seat reserving wasn't consistently taking place.

 

[elvispursley]

I'm just curious where your belongings get "moved" to if someone asks a CM to move someone's belongings because they've been occupying a chair too long. While we tend to take one or two seats (i'm usually parked in one since I don't usually like getting in the pools and my DH is in/out of the pool, we pile the kids stuff in his/under mine), I have on occasion given up my DH's chair and just moved everyone's stuff to my chair. But often, I go up to the adult's area with my mom and DH takes the kids. He's unfortunately got a one-track mind and can only do one thing at a time, and that's pay attention to the safety of our kids in the pool and can't constantly be looking at the chair to see if someone's trying to move his stuff and to politely tell them that the chair's "occupied." So if someone has his belongings moved, where do CMs move the belongings to?

 

[Katiedara]

Does this also happen in the Adult only section?

On our last cruise I never had a problem getting a chair in the adults are

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So if someone has his belongings moved, where do CMs move the belongings to?

From a recent Navigator (pretty sure it's been there a while):

 

[elvispursley]

Hmm, wow! Has anyone here had there stuff "officially" moved? Have certainly witnessed parties trying to save numerous seats around them in the theatre and seeing arguments breakout from it. It would be nice if everyone could just follow the rules instead of acting like they are somehow above everyone else and that rules don't apply to them for some reason (and that they would be reinforced by those who are supposed to reinforce them).

 

[FigmentSpark]

If I saw a single shoe left on a chair I would never assume it was saved (even if it was). I would assume someone was grabbing their stuff and forgot a shoe. I'd move it to someplace obvious, so when they came back for it, they'd be able to find it. I guess I'm naive!

Now, if I saw a book or water bottle or a pair of shoes or a hat, maybe I'd think twice about moving it.

 

[elvispursley]

I'm with you with the shoe...I'd probably just move it to the next chair or move it under the chair I found it on.

 

[Laine Anderson]

I'm going to get chewed up and spit out for saying this but if I see a chair that has been empty for a while and only has a towel or book on it I just move it. There are a few of the round wicker chairs that get taken in this way. I once moved into one of those and two hours later the people came back and collected their things from the side table. I smiled nicely at them and they scowled nicely back.
I'm always prepared to give the seat back if they come within a reasonable time, say 30 minutes, but more than that and you lose. I should also add I normally go to the top deck and there is never a problem for seating so me removing objects doesn't happen all that often. I just would not be afraid to do it. If you are just ask a cast member to and they will.

I actually agree with you on this one. You walk away and leave your stuff, I'm going to assume you're either inconsiderate or forgot your stuff. And I'm with you on the time frame too. Up to about 30 min, they could have just gone to the bathroom or something and I'd happily move, but longer than that, too bad so sad.

Having said that, we didn't notice a huge problem with that on our cruise. At the times when we were at the pool there were usually plenty of seats available.

 

[RedSox68]

Hmm, wow! Has anyone here had there stuff "officially" moved? Have certainly witnessed parties trying to save numerous seats around them in the theatre and seeing arguments breakout from it. It would be nice if everyone could just follow the rules instead of acting like they are somehow above everyone else and that rules don't apply to them for some reason (and that they would be reinforced by those who are supposed to reinforce them).

I say that every time some bozo on the roadways makes the emergency lane his/her personal passing lane!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

Hmm, wow! Has anyone here had there stuff "officially" moved? Have certainly witnessed parties trying to save numerous seats around them in the theatre and seeing arguments breakout from it. It would be nice if everyone could just follow the rules instead of acting like they are somehow above everyone else and that rules don't apply to them for some reason (and that they would be reinforced by those who are supposed to reinforce them).

Hi there, I have, after waiting 30 minutes to a hour, picked up items on a chair and gave it to the 1st CM I could find. Only once did people even show up looking for their items and they actually apologized for being so long and leaving the items there.

AKK

 

[st0nehedge]

I have to say, reading all this has been incredibly insightful in preparation for our upcoming cruise! (And any other future cruises!)