So Who Are These Mysterious "Chair Savers?"

[Jen in MA]

How bad is the saving chairs situation at the adult pool... any better than at the Mickey and Goofy?

 

[anlashokna]

minniemouse1

I'm going on the April 2 cruise too I say set the towels free...they like to get up and walk around a bit too

Wonder what disney would think if people started hauling there own old foldup loungers onto the ship...I didn't see anything about that one the forbidden item list... maybe we can all start a movement

 

[lbgraves]

Hi,
Are there really that many smokers? I would think most people have children with them? I would expect smokers on a Carnival cruise ship with singles but not on a family boat? I try to keep my kids away from cigarettes if possible. Thankfully, none of our friends smoke. My 18 month old toddler doesn't always look where she is going and when someone is holding a cigarette down and we are walking around we have to be really careful, not to mention all the lethal chemicals from cigarettes (and the fact that they just plain stink). Are these people mostly international people? Thanks.

You will find smokers at the Goofy & Adult pools but they are not allowed to smoke at the Mickey Pool. CMs will come & tell people that they need to move if they want to smoke. We never had a problem at the MP. We did use the halls to walk to the front of the ship inside to avoid the smoke on deck 9 since our stateroom was forward.

Jen in MA, the person who said that she read a book while four other people plotted to save their chairs was at the adult pool I believe.

 

[my3princesses]

This is not only a problem on cruises but at any resorts that you go to. Generally at the resorts people get up at 6 am to get the prime chairs (and unfortunately do not wake up until noon to claim them). We quite often just grab whatever we can and end up sharing one chair for all five of us and we rarely get prime spots. I find it very rude to claim your chairs and not use them but this is a habit by some people that is very hard to get rid of.

On our cruise we quite often just used the chairs on the top deck and took turns sitting by the pool to watch our kids swim. The pools are so small that the kids get sick of trying to find space to play that they were not in them that long anyway. On the cruise last week there were 5 chairs right beside the goofy poolt that were claimed. My kids were in the pool so I just sat on the edge of one of the chairs and piled our stuff on the ground beside it (so it didn't look like I was "stealing" the chair, just borrowing it). If the "owner" came by I would leave. Well I sat their for almost 2 hours. When I got up to leave another family came by and I said I hadn't seen the "owners" so they claimed them. A half and hour later the real "owners" came by and there was quite the fight over the spots and a crew member had to break it up.

 

[suesings]

You will find smokers at the Goofy & Adult pools but they are not allowed to smoke at the Mickey Pool. CMs will come & tell people that they need to move if they want to smoke. We never had a problem at the MP. We did use the halls to walk to the front of the ship inside to avoid the smoke on deck 9 since our stateroom was forward.

This is great news, we will definitely stay at the Mickey Pool then! I am so glad Disney has a rule about this. Definitely dangerous to have burning, lit objects with little kids running around. Especially when the head of the cigarette falls off. Thanks one less thing to worry about. So you said you walked in the halls to avoid smoke - so they can't smoke in the hallways? That would be great!

 

[anlashokna]

From what I understand you can only smoke on outside deck where designated, on stateroom verandah (not in staterooms), and in certain clubs normally at the bar.

I have to contact someone when I get onboard to have my cabin checked for smokey smell. Cigerrette smoke or the lingering smell of it does tend to set off my asthma attacks Not a good way to start off a cruise. So I tend to avoid smokers like a plague as well.

 

[banderson]

Towels are put out by cruise staff every morning for guests to use. They are placed on the back of the loungers.

So, if you see a towel on the back of a chair, you can pretty much be certain that no one has yet used the lounger and that it is free for the taking.

If a towel is elsewhere on the chair but there are no personal items left behind, then you can pretty much assume that 1. someone has used the chair before your spotting it, 2. that they have moved on without feeling any responsibility of putting their used towel in the "used towel" bin and 3. that the chair is now up for grabs.

If personal items are left behind, I generally give people the benefit of a doubt and leave their things and chairs alone. After all, I know as well as the next parent that sometimes life gets in the way. You leave your things on a chair for what you think will be a mere 5 minutes and lo and behold junior decides it's time to have an afternoon snack and a grand tour of deck 9. So, 5 minutes turns into 40.

My husband and I have two kids and when hanging out at a pool as a family, we try to occupy only two loungers at any given time. That way, if we do step away for a bite, a bathroom break, etc., it's two loungers that are "unavailable" per se not four. I'm not overly bothered by people who leave their things as long as the absence is not more than an hour or two, but I do hate picking up people's used towels and seeing parents "saving" loungers for kids who rarely sit on them for more than a few minutes at a time.

 

[banderson]

When I got up to leave another family came by and I said I hadn't seen the "owners" so they claimed them. A half and hour later the real "owners" came by and there was quite the fight over the spots and a crew member had to break it up.

Which cruise was that? Was it the Feb 26 Magic? That must have been funny and very uncomfortable all at the same time.

A family of five and each person had "claimed" a chair to him/herself only to leave it for an extended time. Talk about having your cake and eating it too. If my memory serves me well, that's pretty much a whole row of chairs and poolside too...wow!

 

[MickeyB426]

The bottom line is this:

You won't see people on this board admit to saving chairs in such a selfish way.

ATTENTION DCL STAFF:

You claim to read these boards...well, read this:

We're sick and tired of this and we want the CM's to be more aggressive in enforcing a rule that's already in every Navigator.

 

[Jhalkias]

I guess I never paid much attention to this, but it doesn't surprise me . . .

We've always just gotten one chair for our family too - so the kids have somewhere to go to, and to put our stuff. I find at the Mickey pool, I really don't get to spend much time on it, since DD is 5, and not an accomplished swimmer by any means. I tend to stay poolside in case she slips, or in case a bunch of the big kids try to squeeze out the little one with rough horseplay (probably children of the chair hogs).

I've NEVER left a towell on a chair and expected it to be "saved" for the day!

How about if DCL does not do this, we appoint a DIS'er to be "Chair Police Captain" for each of the seven days. They can get up at the crack of dawn, and remove the towels etc. - it could be a public service!

Maybe we could even have a little "Chair Police Badge" with a towell insignia on it . . .

John

 

[Rence]

I have read that on some other cruise lines, the crew will monitor the chairs and if they are vacant for too long, will scoop up the belongings which are placed on shelves near the pool area. This keeps the chairs available for other guests.

For the most part, there would be more then enough chairs for everyone, if no one ever hogged a chair. I wish DCL would start doing this.

 

[disneysooz]

How about if DCL does not do this, we appoint a DIS'er to be "Chair Police Captain" for each of the seven days. They can get up at the crack of dawn, and remove the towels etc. - it could be a public service!

Maybe we could even have a little "Chair Police Badge" with a towell insignia on it . . .

John

While I like that idea, "Chair Police Captain" sounds like a semi-real job; not particularly what alot of us are looking for on a vacation! Guess until DCL starts enforcing a no-saving chair rule, we will all have to fend for ourselves. (But I could see DH with a Chair Police Captain badge attached to his swim trunks, walking about policing the pool areas! )

 

[chasbos]

We tried the Deck 10 chairs also and were successful in finding many unattended. As there are 6 in my family we only took 2 (Dh and I - the kids never sit anyway). After about 10 minutes of relaxing we were treated to the most amusing entertainment - this guy and lady (I assume it was his SIL) came up with 10 towels and in their loudest outdoor voices, yelled across DH and I about how many chairs they needed to save for the others who were at the spa, buffett, kids club etc.! This was at 10:30 a.m. and I think Grandma was not scheduled to arrive until 1:00 p.m. So they each took a chair at opposite ends of the row and stacked all of their crap on the middle 8. I was just floored, and could not imagine ever doing this myself.

We were heading to the Family Putting Contest so we never got to see how the rest of this family or if someone came and kicked them off the chairs.

Some people just amaze me.

 

[lbgraves]

I guess I never paid much attention to this, but it doesn't surprise me . . .

How about if DCL does not do this, we appoint a DIS'er to be "Chair Police Captain" for each of the seven days. They can get up at the crack of dawn, and remove the towels etc. - it could be a public service!

Maybe we could even have a little "Chair Police Badge" with a towell insignia on it . . .

John

I nominate you to be official DIS Chair Police Captain for the 12/10/05 cruise, John!!!