Key Aspects:
- Royal Caribbean guests are getting more and more frustrated at chair hogs taking over poolside loungers and prime seating in the Solarium and other areas.
- Frustrations were high onboard a recent Ovation of the Seas sailing from Tokyo to Singapore, but that isn’t the only cruise where chair hogs have been a problem.
- Royal Caribbean’s official policy is that guests cannot reserve chairs and personal items left for longer than 30 minutes will be removed, but enforcement is inconsistent.
Chair hogs are some very worst types of cruise guests, and they are getting bolder. While inexperienced guests might think reserving chairs might be confined to a poolside problem, more creative and inconsiderate guests are hogging all types of lounge chairs all over different ships.
Such poor behavior isn’t confined to one cruise line or just shorter tropical or Caribbean sailings when guests might be seeking to maximize their sun lounging house, either.
Onboard Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas on her recent repositioning cruise from Tokyo to Singapore, for example, guests have seen various outrageous hogging methods, and it isn’t just by the pool.
Locations such as shady spots on Deck 15, both port and starboard, have proven popular for chair hogs, as well as throughout the ship’s adults-only Solarium space on Deck 14.
Different objects are being left to “reserve” chairs for hours, starting in the early morning with guests not returning to the chairs for several hours.
While draping the blue, ship-provided towels over a chair is the most common way to claim a deck chair, other items left on chairs as sign of claiming the seat include:
- Books
- Plates
- Pieces of fruit
- Sandals or shoes
- Beach bags
- Personal beach towels
- Drink glasses
- Clothing
- Water bottles
It’s not against shipboard policy to claim a deck chair and leave a personal item behind while one is enjoying the pool or hot tub, visiting the restroom, grabbing a snack from the buffet, or otherwise being briefly away. Guests are not officially permitted to reserve chairs for hours, however.
On this particular sailing, patience may have been short due to other (non chair-hog) issues. Because of bad weather, Ovation of the Seas was delayed in reaching Tokyo, which shortened the next cruise from the original 11-night itinerary to a 9-night cruise.
Not a seat to be found in the Solarium (Photo Credit: Solarisys / Shutterstock)
This and other poor weather along the 3,400-mile route also caused cancelled ports of call, which is always frustrating to guests especially when visiting bucket-list destinations on unique itineraries. With less time than expected to relax by the pool, the best chair spots would be even more in demand.
This is not a new problem, however. Tempers have flared onboard other Royal Caribbean ships in the past, such as aboard Symphony of the Seas in February 2025, when guests took to social media to share their frustrations.
Is There an Official Chair Hog Policy?
Royal Caribbean’s FAQ specifically states that reserving chairs is not permitted in order to ensure everyone has a chance to enjoy some poolside lounging. Guests are only supposed to leave items for a half hour.
“If a pool chair is left unattended for more than 30 minutes with no signs of any guests returning, our crew will remove any belongings and place them in the lost and found,” the policy reads.
What enrages guests is that enforcement of the policy appears inconsistent. At some times, crew members may clear away personal items to open up chairs for others to use. At other times, however, items would be left for hours without crew members taking any steps to alleviate the problem.
Read Also: Royal Caribbean vs. Carnival Cruise Line – Which One Does It Better?
With altercations often being sparked over seemingly very minor issues, it makes sense that crew members could be reluctant to confront a guest over a reserved deck chair. Similarly, many guests prefer not to be confrontational with other passengers.
On the other hand, more and more guests are turning to the Guest Services desk, security officers, post-cruise surveys, and online complaints to express their displeasure in the hopes that the cruise line might tighten the policy and improve enforcement.
Appeared first on: Cruisehive.com
