mnak

I love going to Labadee. I feel badly about this whole situation and for the Haitian people. Do we know if there are still protesters there? Does RCI have any staff there maintaining the grounds?

People,

You can call us complainers, whiners, over-exaggerators - whatever you want. I CAN'T SLEEP ON THIS MATTRESS, and I'm HERE, NOW, on my favorite ship, Freedom of the Seas. Employees recognize me on this ship, I've been here so often. I go greet employees the day of departure. Why would I complain over nothing? This has been my go-to ship for YEARS. I was here last March for a back-to-back after my best friend died. Employees/friends here were comforting me. So, make fun of me, call me a complainer - do what you please. Then when YOU are on an RCI ship (and by the way, the company is Royal Caribbean International, so for those who say RCCL, catch up on the company you're cruising with), decide for yourself just how comfortable the mattresses are. Perhaps you like extra-firm. If so, good for you -- you'll sleep like the proverbial baby.;)

Some people need to see for themselves for sure, but not fair to judge us that have experienced this first hand. Those mattresses should not be called "firm"....nope!

I hope that people come back and continue to post their personal experiences,with the new mattresses and whether they make the mattress toppers available. I, for one, do not believe that Royal Caribbean will ignore a flood of negative criticism. Will it take a while to identify a trend and then figure out a resolution? Absolutely. No corporation can afford to have one issue derail their corporate strategy of providing wonderful vacation. And for most people, quality of sleep on vacation is a big issue.

very well said, I agree!

I am really concerned about the firm mattresses. I don't mind "firm", but when I see otherwise intelligent people using gross exaggerations, I simply throw my hands in the air. I simply cannot process "concrete slab", and the like.

 

So, here's what I may extract from this thread:

1. Something has changed - harder mattresses are being used. How bad - I simply cannot tell.

2. Investigate a carry on egg crate topper to bring myself. (sigh)

 

Until I experience these new mattresses (JS on Navigator in March), I can only plan for the worst.

 

But, maybe we are just victims of a few over-complainers here - I'm not sure. If I listened to the complainers here on Cruise Critic, I would have cancelled my very first cruise 10 years ago - my TA talked me out of cancelling - and I'm glad she did. But this one seems different - I think enough people are speaking up to raise my concerns.

 

shrug..

Good call....you need to judge it for yourself. I promise this is the very first and only time I've ever complained about anything on a cruise, I am very addicted to cruising and love RC so much! I truly hope they will hear us and make a change or at least offer toppers that will be sufficient. I can't imagine they won't, they've always come through with customer service.

Absolutely !

Unfortunately people want and need to sleep and since Royal went with such hard matresses what's else can folks do but make it better for themselves.

The topper I have here at home is real nice it's not the cheap egg crate foam. If you take it out of the box but still keep it wrapped it can fit in a shopping bag and easy enough to carry on....I've been doing my homework cause I'm carrying , might as well stick a couple bottles of wine in the bag too:D

Could you please tell me what topper you have, I need to get one soon as we are cruising end of this month and I can't risk the back pain for another week. Thank you so much :)

I hope those who are having such difficulty are letting Royal know by mentioning it in the comment cards and contacting Royal directly (either via email/phone and/or their Facebook page). While I know that Royal does have someone possibly reading CC but there's no guarantee that they will become aware of this issue unless they are told directly. Hopefully they can come up with something that will help those passengers who cannot sleep on the hard beds (maybe there's a good topper that is available that doesn't have health/hygiene issues).

I have contacted Royal Caribbean and they said they were unaware of the problem. I hope more people call in as well.

Struggling again to find a comfortable enough layer under me to actually rest, and, hopefully sleep *sigh*. I'm exhausted and I just want to get this cruise done, go home, and never look back. End of rant...counting the days.

I'm sorry Sharon. That is how I felt. The pain was too much. Hopefully they'll change those mattresses.

If I had to guess I would guess Sharon was being sarcastic about the traction.

 

If not maybe she has a portable device she carries on vacation with her.

Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't realize the meaning of the word traction. I use it as slang for I could barely move. Sorry about the confusion.

I have to wonder about the statement you make "I was in traction the next morning" would seem to me to be 'over the top'.....and it puts doubt into everything else you say. If you never cruise again, someone else will fill that cabin -- I have no fear of that.

I'm sorry that you feel that way. I was involved in a car accident back in 1998 and my back has never been the same. Usually when I travel, I take a heating pad just in case I need it. I haven't taken one with me cruising in a few years because the beds have always been good. This is the first time I've had a problem. What I said is true. My husband had to help me out of bed in the middle of the night because I could barely move. This is not exaggerated at all. We are not big complainers and we know that our room attendant tried his best. Unfortunately, it wouldn't feel like vacation if I had to sleep like that again and go through the pain. This is why I said we would have to choose not to cruise. Of course the cabin would get filled. I found your comment to be quite rude.

I understand completely. I didn't get a full nights sleep the entire cruise. The cushioned loungers in our balcony were more comfortable than the bed. We took a long nap out there one day. I sure hope RC sees that this needs to be changed. They will lose a lot of customers if not.

We were on FOS week after Thanksgiving. Our first time in a Grand Suite. We couldn't believe how hard the bed was! Literally thought we were laying on Plywood. We were told no more egg crates so we made the best of it. I was in traction the next morning. Talked to the suite concierge and by day 3 we had an egg crate topper on our mattress. One topper was not enough. We spoke to the room attendant more (very nice man) and had to get the concierge involved again. We only slept barely comfortable with 4 egg crate toppers. I know if sounds crazy but it was that hard. It took a few days of being off the ship to feel normal in my back again. I love cruising but if we find that this is how it will be, I doubt we'd continue to cruise :(

Does anyone know who the cruise director will be on the Liberty in March 2015? Thank you!