Dealing With Chair Hogs

Definition of a Chair Hog

Although there is no Webster’s definition for a chair hog, the meaning of the phrase is universally accepted to be someone who lays claim to a chair they have no intent on using at that time.

Example of a Chair Hog

It’s your first day at sea on your cruise vacation. You wake up at 8 a.m. gather your belongings and head out for a relaxing day at the pool. You hop in the elevator as you visualize the exact spot you’ll be spending the day soaking up the sun. Finally, you arrive at the pool deck and quickly make your way to the pool where reality hits you. Towels cover every chair within reasonably close proximity to the pool, some even have bags and books but none have any people nearby. You settle for a spot up on one of the tiers, which are not bad but are far from ideal. Finally, at 11 a.m. people start showing up claiming the spots they have marked with their belongings while you are literally left high and dry, a victim of the chair hogs.

What is wrong with chair hogging?

Besides the fact that its against the rules it is also unethical and selfish. I will never understand what makes someone think they have the right to selfishly deny others the right to use public amenities. When you break the rules concerning chair hogging, it causes an inconvenience to other passengers and negatively influences their ability to enjoy their cruise.

Most cruise ships have posted rules regarding saving chairs. Usually it says that chairs may not be left unattended for more than 30 minutes. While it can’t be expected that cruise lines enforce this rule it does give those wanting to use the saved chairs the power to not be a victim.

How to deal with chair hogs

No one (sane) likes confrontation, especially on what is supposed to be a relaxing vacation. However, it also isn’t right that the ship’s pool deck be held hostage by chair hogs. Therefore, what I have done is come up with a way to deal with chair hogs that doesn’t cross any boundaries.

Step 1 Be certain of which chairs have been abandoned. This is easy enough to do, most likely all you need to do is ask the other people around the area.

Step 2 Once you have determined that a chair has been abandoned, find a pool attendant and have them remove the items since they either have been abandoned or are in violation of the cruise line’s policy regarding saving chairs. In reality, you are doing the owners of those items a service by making sure their belongings are placed somewhere safe.

Step 3 Relax and enjoy the rest of your day at the pool.

What to do if the chair hogs come back?

I find that most times the former “owners” of the chairs won’t confront the new “owners of the chair. However, if they do return wondering what happened just tell them the chair was empty when you got there (which isn’t even a lie since there was no person using the chair) and point them in the direction of the pool attendant.

Related posts:

1. A Few Rules of Cruise Etiquette

If you found this post useful, feel free to leave a comment or sign up to get free updates and get future blog posts delivered to your feed reader.