"Some people think it's perfectly acceptable to "save" a cruise ship lounge chair for an entire day, even if they barely use it; others think saving chairs for more than a few minutes is the height of rudeness - and the two groups have been known to come to blows."

"But even if cruisers could agree on this, there's still the tricky issue of how, exactly, to mark a chair as in use. Many will leave a towel on the chair to stake their claim. But one towel looks like another, of course, which can be confusing."

"Enter Darrell Bowman, an entrepreneur from Indiana who has invented the Lounge Hat, a covering that fits over cruise ship (or land resort) lounge chairs and tells others that the seat is taken. The product comes in a bevy of designs."

"Not that he's encouraging people to save lounge chairs indefinitely. Bowman says the Lounge Hat is meant for times when you need to walk away for just a few minutes - such as to take a swim or grab a drink at the bar."

- September 26, 2008

"Beachgoers and poolside dwellers can slip a Lounge Hat onto a lounge chair to reserve it while they take a dip."

Offered in a handful of vibrant colors, it's designed with a front and side pocket for keeping an MP3 player and suntan lotion handy. Pick from a variety of stock designs or get it customized with your client's name, logo and message."

- June 2009

"When Darrell Bowman and his family went on a cruise last summer, more than one scuffle over chaise lounges broke out on the main deck. Instead of merely relaxing in the sun, vacationers fought about whether another cruiser moved a towel to usurp a prized spot."

"There's high demand to get just the right chair during sun time, Bowman said."

"But rather than get riled up, he saw an opportunity. And on the drive home, he couldn't let the idea go."

"People were getting into arguments and I just kept thinking, there's got to be a better way, said Bowman, who works full-time as a logistics manager for a local wireless devices company."

"So in late May he launced Lounge Hats, an Indianapolis-based company that makes fabric covers that fit over chaise lounges to make one thing clear: This seat is taken!"

Bowman hopes to reach $500,000 in sales this year, selling the covers to resorts, advertisers and consumers. And that would be tapping into only a fraction of the more than 12 million people worldwide who took a cruse in 2006, according to the Cruise Lines International Association."