We had a bad experience a few years ago where my 80 year old mother-in-law had an argument with a woman who ignored her "towel saved" deck chairs until we sat down on them. We had been round and round for at least half an hour before we decided no one was using the chairs and put the towels in a hamper. Not long after we sat down, this woman came up and had a hissy fit because we were sitting in her chairs.
My mother-in-law would have sat there all day but I was embarrassed by the scene and we gave up the chairs. We did notice that the woman never used them again. She just periodically came back to make sure her towels were there and the chairs were empty.
The last time we cruised on Royal Caribbean, I noticed that RC employees were going around the pool area and putting towels in hampers. I can't say how pleased I was to see that.
We are going on Mariner next February and there are three at sea days. I've read that passengers are now issued towels and if you leave one on a deck chair and it's removed, you have to pay for it. Is that true?
Marian,
Yes, it is one of RC's attempts to try to curb the rampant deck chair saving. You can always exchange your towel for a clean-dry one on deck and sign for additional towels - but they need to be returned - or you are charged. Unfortunately, it does not happen on every ship in their fleet. If memory serves me correctly the Mariner adheres to the rule.
Nancy
We got up at 6am and went out there and then took turns going to breakfast so we would have our chairs. There were college kids who were wrapped up in towels who went back to sleep after they went out there.(Sun wasn't even up yet!)
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Carnival Freedom June 2009
Crown Princess March 2009
Carnival Glory January 2008
Naviagator of the Seas Mar 07
Sovereign of Seas Oct 06
Carnival Glory March 2005
Nordic Empress 1996
This past July we cruised on the Sovereign and on the Serenade.
On both ships, there were "pool" towels in the stateroom and it was easy to acquire fresh towels, espeically at certain times of the day in the Solarium pool on the Serenade.
On some days we had a good half-dozen of these towels in our possession---we would wrap ourselves in them shivering from too much fun in the pool and scurry back to our stateroom for a shower. Our saint of a room steward always gathered them up for the laundry. I doubt if anyone on our cruise ever had to pay for a towel.
We also take our own towels on trips because when in the pool or in the water at Cocoa Cay, I am as blind as a bat without my eyeglasses and I look for my trustee bright pink towels to guide me back to the correct deck chair. No one has ever touched my pink towel!
People have mentioned in several different threads that the deck chair saving is different depending on the ship. Does anyone have first hand knowledge of the situation onthe Rhapsody of the Seas? We'll be cruising in late September and I know that poolside lounging is a big part of our plans, so I want to be prepared.
I would guess that this mainly depends on the mix of passengers onboard. Of course, on a ship with few deck chairs, it will be worse than on a ship with many of them. Just hope that you won't be having a large group of my fellow countrymen onboard, who are infamous for saving deck chairs.
Thanks, Raoul! I'll be on the lookout for packs of deeply tanned Germans!
But I wonder if anyone has sailed on this particular ship (The Rhapsody of the Seas, which usually sails out of Galveston, TX) in the recent past and knows what the policy regarding towels and deck chair saving is on this ship. It's just that I know my wife will be deeply unhappy if she can't find her place in the sun.
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