Questions about saving chairs on deck

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

Thanks so much for the advice, everyone. It sounds like it's a matter of common courtesy for the most part, but it is good to know also that there is a possibility of running into some unreasonable behavior.
For the record, I can't imagine saving lounge chairs for my kids. If they want to sit on a chair (for mostly likely two whole minutes before they go back to the pool) they will most likely decide that the best chair is whichever one I am sitting on anyway. It would be asinine to hold a chair for them that they don't need and probably would never use.
For the PP who said that they don't appreciate parents who take their kids to the bathroom after getting their seats, while I can understand that it would be irritating to watch a child tell their parents that they need to go, only to be ignored until the seat has been saved, it is not always possible to anticipate this kind of thing. I'm going to assume you don't have children, or you would know the intense frustration of trying to get your young child to go before something, spending twenty minutes in the restroom with them while they repeatedly tell you that "it's stuck!", only to have them announce that they now HAVE TO GO right when you get to the thing you were trying to have them go before. Half the time I strongly suspect my children of plotting to find ways to foil my best laid plans and expose me to crippling embarrassment. Also, my four year old's bladder is approximately the size of a blueberry. If I had her go a half hour before a show that was going to last an hour, there's a very good chance that she'd have to go again halfway through the show. I'm guessing you would find it more irritating at that point, and I just don't feel that it's reasonable to say that all parents with young children must wait to find a seat until five minutes before the show, after they have successfully gotten their children to use the facilities. So while I can appreciate your annoyance, I don't think what you're suggesting is always possible or reasonable. But that's just me.
Other than that, I think everything I'm hearing falls well within my idea of common courtesy. It's just a jerk move to get up early and reserve seats you won't be using for several more hours. It's ridiculous to reserve seats when you're going to leave to get changed, have lunch, and then come back. You'd never get away with that at a public pool; why should you expect to do it on a crowded ship? And sending three teens to reserve THREE ROWS of seats (!!!) is beyond entitled. Seriously. Who does this?
So then, in light of all that and these appalling stories, what happens if you see several deck chairs that have been reserved, but empty for a long time. Can you take them? Will a CM remove the items on them for you if you ask? If a teen is blocking our way into an empty row he is saving, can I ask a CM to ask him to step aside? Or is this one of those things where we're expected to behave well, but the only thing standing in the way of those that don't is the disapproval of their fellow passengers?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

good to know also that there is a possibility of running into some unreasonable behavior.

Sadly, it's not a possibility. In my experience, you're likely to run into it.

 

[Dug720]

Thanks so much for the advice, everyone. It sounds like it's a matter of common courtesy for the most part, but it is good to know also that there is a possibility of running into some unreasonable behavior.
For the record, I can't imagine saving lounge chairs for my kids. If they want to sit on a chair (for mostly likely two whole minutes before they go back to the pool) they will most likely decide that the best chair is whichever one I am sitting on anyway. It would be asinine to hold a chair for them that they don't need and probably would never use.
For the PP who said that they don't appreciate parents who take their kids to the bathroom after getting their seats, while I can understand that it would be irritating to watch a child tell their parents that they need to go, only to be ignored until the seat has been saved, it is not always possible to anticipate this kind of thing. I'm going to assume you don't have children, or you would know the intense frustration of trying to get your young child to go before something, spending twenty minutes in the restroom with them while they repeatedly tell you that "it's stuck!", only to have them announce that they now HAVE TO GO right when you get to the thing you were trying to have them go before. Half the time I strongly suspect my children of plotting to find ways to foil my best laid plans and expose me to crippling embarrassment. Also, my four year old's bladder is approximately the size of a blueberry. If I had her go a half hour before a show that was going to last an hour, there's a very good chance that she'd have to go again halfway through the show. I'm guessing you would find it more irritating at that point, and I just don't feel that it's reasonable to say that all parents with young children must wait to find a seat until five minutes before the show, after they have successfully gotten their children to use the facilities. So while I can appreciate your annoyance, I don't think what you're suggesting is always possible or reasonable. But that's just me.
Other than that, I think everything I'm hearing falls well within my idea of common courtesy. It's just a jerk move to get up early and reserve seats you won't be using for several more hours. It's ridiculous to reserve seats when you're going to leave to get changed, have lunch, and then come back. You'd never get away with that at a public pool; why should you expect to do it on a crowded ship? And sending three teens to reserve THREE ROWS of seats (!!!) is beyond entitled. Seriously. Who does this?
So then, in light of all that and these appalling stories, what happens if you see several deck chairs that have been reserved, but empty for a long time. Can you take them? Will a CM remove the items on them for you if you ask? If a teen is blocking our way into an empty row he is saving, can I ask a CM to ask him to step aside? Or is this one of those things where we're expected to behave well, but the only thing standing in the way of those that don't is the disapproval of their fellow passengers?

Again, I said my issue was when the kid is ignored when they are saying they have to go. I get that they could sit down and have to go a few minutes later. But yes, if a parent willfully ignores a child, they WILL get the stink-eye from me.

Regarding the teens saving the seats, that has not been the norm at all. But if they are like the ones we had... First they were in the rear section (which is actually BETTER seats than "right down front" as you can see everything) which I see few families going for. But second, just wait a moment and they will run to the other side. Then you can go and sit.

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

Again, I said my issue was when the kid is ignored when they are saying they have to go. I get that they could sit down and have to go a few minutes later. But yes, if a parent willfully ignores a child, they WILL get the stink-eye from me.

Well that makes complete sense. I would probably do the same...unless the mom looked completely frazzled, in which case I wouldn't judge. I've been there. Sometimes it's a choice between ignoring the child and eating said child.
But in your example it sounds more like they were just trying to get in and save seats before taking the kid to the bathroom. I can understand the frustration there.

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

Regarding the teens saving the seats, that has not been the norm at all. But if they are like the ones we had... First they were in the rear section (which is actually BETTER seats than "right down front" as you can see everything) which I see few families going for. But second, just wait a moment and they will run to the other side. Then you can go and sit.[/QUOTE]

True. That sounds much less confrontational too.

Argh. I can't figure out the dratted quote thing still. I'm trying to quote the last half of your reply, Dug720. Sorry for the jumbled response.

 

[Dug720]

Regarding the teens saving the seats, that has not been the norm at all. But if they are like the ones we had... First they were in the rear section (which is actually BETTER seats than "right down front" as you can see everything) which I see few families going for. But second, just wait a moment and they will run to the other side. Then you can go and sit.

True. That sounds much less confrontational too.

Argh. I can't figure out the dratted quote thing still. I'm trying to quote the last half of your reply, Dug720. Sorry for the jumbled response.[/QUOTE]

It's ok.

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

True. That sounds much less confrontational too.

Argh. I can't figure out the dratted quote thing still. I'm trying to quote the last half of your reply, Dug720. Sorry for the jumbled response.

It's ok. [/QUOTE]
How did you do that?! What did I do wrong?! Lol. I suck at this stuff so badly.

 

[Dug720]

How did you do that?! What did I do wrong?! Lol. I suck at this stuff so badly.

I just hit Reply

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What did I do wrong?

What you do is highlight the portion of the quote you want to reply to. A button will appear "+Quote/Reply" Just click on the "Reply" part and only the part of the post you highlighted will be quoted.

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

What you do is highlight the portion of the you want to reply to.[/B] A button will appear "+Quote/Reply" Just click on the "Reply" part and only the part of the post you highlighted will be quoted.

It doesn't seem to work for me. I don't get the button to quote/reply. I just get an option to cut/paste/Bold/underline, etc.

I'm on my phone...would that make a difference? It's an IPhone.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

It doesn't seem to work for me. I don't get the button to quote/reply. I just get an option to cut/paste/Bold/underline, etc.

I'm on my phone...would that make a difference? It's an IPhone.

Probably. I don't know how iPhones work.

 

[Dug720]

It doesn't seem to work for me. I don't get the button to quote/reply. I just get an option to cut/paste/Bold/underline, etc.

I'm on my phone...would that make a difference? It's an IPhone.

I have been using my iPhone and have the reply "button". It's in the post you want to reply to - click on that and the post should be automatically quoted in the reply box.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I have been using my iPhone and have the reply "button". It's in the post you want to reply to - click on that and the post should be automatically quoted in the reply box.

Poster was looking for how to just quote part of a post. Guess, if the only option is to quote the full post, she'll just have to delete the parts she doesn't want to quote after doing that.

 

[Dug720]

Poster was looking for how to just quote part of a post. Guess, if the only option is to quote the full post, she'll just have to delete the parts she doesn't want to quote after doing that.

That's what I usually do.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

That's what I usually do.

Actually, that's what I used to do on my computer, until I found out about being able to just highlight a specific part.

Tech-y, I am not.

 

[jrabbit]

...
We try to keep our footprint small.

whats the matter with you - it's Your Vacation!! Be as selfish as you want -JK

Actually, thank you so very much I being a reasonable family, that respectful of their surroundings and the other guests!!!!!

 

[Racer X]

Sadly people can be very selfish about these things. I think (as far as shows go) that your whole party should be with you to be seated. If you are a family of 5 and Junior needed to hit the restroom... then wait until the entire party of 5 is ready to be seated! They should have ushers that actually ask how many and make you wait until your party is all there. You have to admit.. the "my wife just had to go to the restroom" excuse really means... "my wife sent me in here first to save her seat while she headed to the rest room". I mean pre-show is not that long! I just don't see a lot of people getting up to use facilities or whatever after they are seated. Bring your refreshments with you! Or get them from the CMs peddling them around. Of course there are exceptions but you can't convince me that people arriving early for whatever reason and waiting for the rest of their party isn't the majority of the problem.

And pool chairs... ugh! Sometimes on sea days you could actually walk around the entire deck and not see a singe free chair, but i would see a good 1/4-1/3 are just sitting there with nothing but towels or flip flops. It would be nice if there was a time limit as well... say 2 hours or something? Does someone earn the right to squat on a lounger all day just because they got there first?

 

[Mighty Mouse Mama]

Sadly people can be very selfish about these things. I think (as far as shows go) that your whole party should be with you to be seated. If you are a family of 5 and Junior needed to hit the restroom... then wait until the entire party of 5 is ready to be seated! They should have ushers that actually ask how many and make you wait until your party is all there. You have to admit.. the "my wife just had to go to the restroom" excuse really means... "my wife sent me in here first to save her seat while she headed to the rest room". I mean pre-show is not that long! I just don't see a lot of people getting up to use facilities or whatever after they are seated. Bring your refreshments with you! Or get them from the CMs peddling them around. Of course there are exceptions but you can't convince me that people arriving early for whatever reason and waiting for the rest of their party isn't the majority of the problem.

And pool chairs... ugh! Sometimes on sea days you could actually walk around the entire deck and not see a singe free chair, but i would see a good 1/4-1/3 are just sitting there with nothing but towels or flip flops. It would be nice if there was a time limit as well... say 2 hours or something? Does someone earn the right to squat on a lounger all day just because they got there first?

That's actually what I'm curious about. Is there any actual rule about saving deck chairs or how long they can be saved for? I mean, I read stuff on here all the time about how annoying it is that people do it. And personally I don't think I could go up at the crack of dawn to reserve chairs for the day unless I knew for sure that there were enough chairs for everyone because consideration for others was kind of ground into me as a child. But if it's not actually a rule of any kind and it's just annoying, then it would be better (for me anyway) to not allow myself to be irritated by it because it's not against the rules. It may be selfish, but if what you're saying here is correct and there's no time limit of any kind, then they're not doing anything wrong, per se. They're just being rude.

As far as the seats in the theater goes though, that's an actual rule. It's on all the navigators. So I can understand why someone would be upset if I went in and held seats for my family while my husband takes the kids to the bathroom rather than waiting for a few minutes so we can all go in together.

However, like I've said before, my DD is 4 and has the bladder of a gerbil. If I drag the family into the theater a half hour early (and since our cruise will be shortly after Beauty and the Beast opens, I'm assuming we'll want to get there early because I've read about Frozen getting full very early), I will probably take her to go a few minutes before the show. I don't think anyone would appreciate it if she decides she needs to go in the middle of the show and we have to disrupt people to get out. And I don't think it makes sense to say that my family can't go in early to find good seats just because I will probably need to take her to the bathroom a few minutes before the show starts. And from the sounds of it, I will need to prepare my husband for the possibility that he may have to defend our seats to keep from getting them stolen while we do so. To me, that's beyond ridiculous, (again, the way I was raised I cannot imagine telling a family that they can't take their child to the bathroom without losing their seat) but from the sounds of it, it'll quite possibly happen.

 

[elvispursley]

Is there any actual rule about saving deck chairs or how long they can be saved for?

Technically, there is a "no reserved seats policy" that extends to not just the Walt Disney Theatre, but according to the pool decks as well; per the Navigator, "the saving of the sun loungers is not permitted on Decks 11, 12, & 13. Items left unattended will be returned to lost & found at Guest Services, Deck 3 Midship." I've read that people will go up to CM and ask to have people's belongings removed if they've been there for longer than a given amount of time (say 30 minutes and it's crowded). According to the "rules", there is no saving and the CM will remove the belongings. I've never had an issue finding a seat but do observe people parking stuff on chairs for hours at a time. If we were cruises during a busy time of the year, and couldn't find a chair next to the pool to watch my child, I'd likely contact a CM to help me move someone's things or if it were just a towel, I'd just move it.

 

[RedSox68]

I agree with this. It's like queue-jumping. Sending one person to wait then flooding the line when they hit a certain point is a jerk move. Blocking out chairs for your party of 20 while they shower? Jerk move.

Oh, I had a bunch of guys do this to us at the Pirate ride in WDW. We were in line 20 minutes and just before we entered the doorway a bunch of guys jumped the ropes to join their one friend standing there. A bunch of people (including us) loudly protested and they just told us to "deal with it". What would be great is if there were cameras that CMs could see this behavior and then when they got to the ride to deny them boarding and tell them to go back to the end of the line LOL (hey, I like wishful thinking)