Carnival Cruise Line Wins Over Passengers With A Rule To Stop 'Chair Hogging' Forever
In our opinion, one of the most annoying things you can do on a cruise is be a chair hog. Carnival Cruise Line (and some others) are making it harder to do — because now, the cruise staff will call you out on it. Carnival has a 40-minute cap on chairs holding stuff and no people. So chair hogs can forget about tossing a hat and towel on a lounge chair and wandering off for an hour — their stuff will be gone when they return.
According to the policy listed on the official Carnival website, a "ChairShare Team" is specifically in charge of watching out for anyone trying to reserve a sun lounger. If they see a chair with items left behind that isn't occupied by a person, they'll put a sticker with a timestamp on the chair to let the owner know the jig is up and precisely when their stuff will be removed. After 40 minutes, anything left behind is moved over to the towel hut, and the chair is freed up for someone else to use.
This also allows other cruisers to note a chair might be available soon. If an unattended chair only has 10 minutes left, people can stick around to see if anyone shows up and take it over if they don't. So while you might still have concerns about reasons you should never take a cruise, worrying about finding a place to lounge is less likely to be a problem.
What people are saying about Carnival's policy against 'chair hogging'
Carnival Cruise Lines isn't the only one cracking down. Royal Caribbean has a shorter cutoff time for unattended chairs at 30 minutes. Also, on Royal Caribbean, left behind items will go to lost and found rather than the nearby towel hut. Overall, cruisers seem happy about this anti-hogging approach.
In the comments on a YouTube video by Life Well Cruised, one says, "Love, love, love the chair hog monitoring! So many times we see pool lounge chairs saved and nobody using them for hours. I wish resorts would be more strict with this policy as well." The issue seems to be well-known, with another commenter saying, "Chair hogs .... One of my pet peeves. I was on a Carnival cruise last January. My friends and I were on an upper deck enjoying the view, sun and chatting. Chairs with items on them were unattended for nearly 2 hours. Ugh."
Still, some aren't completely reassured by the policy, with one commenter saying, "LOVE the chair hog policy! If it works, will remain to be seen." However, maybe just the threat of having their stuff removed might keep the chair hogs at bay. Only time will tell. Either way, here's a simple tip for a better cruise experience: Be nice to the crew, even if they remove your stuff. They're just doing their job.