Allure Matresses and Pillows

Read varying accounts of the mattresses across the RCCL ships. I need the ruth about situation on The Allure. Many stating mattresses on RCCL so hard cannot sleep at all and access to foam or toppers varies even when promised by special needs. It almost seems to vary from cabin to cabin. I rarely see people complain about this issue so much, from my point of view seems that most Hotels and CL have improved the quality of their mattresses in recent years and most have topper options for those who need them.

I am speaking from viewpoint of a man whose DW has always required a soft comfortable mattress in hotels, CL or hospital. Not a wish - a requirement.

I need a better idea of the reality on the Allure. DW will actually be in cabin in bed a lot during the cruise. Yes, we have contacted special needs, but from earlier posts, I question whether what we were told by them can be trusted. They state that double toppers are on all Allure beds now. If were not flying in with much medical luggage, we would bring back ups in case needed. I want to avoid getting to cabin and finding we have a problem that will cause SEVERE health issues for DW. In past we have always requested double foam padding to be safe and received it even when CL had an excellent mattress as good as what we use at home.

Someone please relieve my mind about the Allure or give me the terrible truth so know what we are dealing with.

PILLOWS- told by special needs that only one type of pillow on the Allure. A hypoallergenic poly-fill pillow. Are these all the same super big stuffed poly-fill pillows or do they have varying thicknesses? This is the first time I've ever been told only one type of pillow onboard a ship. Steward usually brings a variety for us to choose what will work for her neck condition. The cabin pictures show big overstuffed poly-fill pillows. I know these will not work for her. This may not be the reality onboard, so need to hear from those who have been onboard Allure recently. She hasn't used a poly-fill pillow in over 10 years. If not so thick might work. Again, flying with so much medical luggage is an issue.

Before someone chimes in that we should stay home if so many issues. Is our first, real vaca since 2012. Want to savor the time we have. A ship is a hotel, so have a right to expect what we do from a hotel. But since we cannot run out to target after we get on the ship, need the true situation before we board. To make enemies at airline if situation is covered onboard is silly.

Dealing with RCCL special needs on land and having promises in writing does little good if once onboard the ship they cannot accommodate. One thing I have learned from past cruises, is that special needs dept. and ship do not communicate that much and many things are left to do on sail date.

I would not be asking for experiences if there has not been some question about RCCL honoring the promises the special needs department makes. One person on another RCCL ship was promised a topper by special needs, did not get though promised and begged onboard, suffered greatly, then as debarked looked into other cabins and saw many had toppers on their beds. The inconsistency is as much a concern as anything. Some even say mattresses comfortable. That does not mean would work for DW.

The real question should be why RCCL bought such terrible mattresses when the trend everywhere else is to improved mattresses. I do not want to be demanding. I want to find the truth about the Allure and decide what we must do. Do not want to be stuck on ship and tearing apart 20 pillows to stuff poly-fill into a duvet to make a topper just to survive. To critics of this post, I truly hope you never have to experience what DW has to everyday of her life. I am concerned that RCCL special needs is assuring those with special needs before sailing and not coming through onboard.This is not my personal experience with RCCL. I am getting this from posts from others about various RCCL ships.:confused:

Welcome to cruisecritic.

It sounds like you have a lot of specific needs. No one here is really going to be able to answer all those questions, or guarantee that your needs will be met. If you can't be confident in the answers from Royal Caribbean you may want to change plans. Based on the apparent seriousness of the needs, it wouldn't be smart to go on the cruise relying on third hand opinions from a website like cruisecritic.

This is a great place to discuss excursions, booze, ships, cabins, etc etc etc. But if one has serious medical needs, they shouldn't base a trip decision on opinions solicited here.

As with many things related to RC. Get it in writing. Confirm with special needs that there will be a mattress topper available and print off a copy of the email.

For pillows, as much as it might be an inconvenience, if DW will have that much trouble caused by a bad pillow, I would bring your own.

As for the matresses, many have discussed using self inflating roll up type. They are small and fit into your luggage easily. Perhaps that would be one less thing to worry about.

I'm sure others will pop in with other brands, but here is one that is well recommended on Amazon.

Since this is a necessity for you, I would bring my own topper. When we were on the Allure in Nov/Dec, the bed was hard as a rock and it was a new mattress. There were no toppers available according to our cabin attendant who stated that Royal was no longer providing toppers for the new mattresses. As we were debarking, they were hauling up new mattresses to replace the ones they had not yet changed out. I don't know if Special Needs can supply what you want or not, but I personally would pack an extra suitcase with a topper and a pillow. Our attendant was very helpful with adding pillows to our bed and the pillows were quite comfortable for us. I hope you and your wife have a wonderful cruise. I know what it's like to travel with someone with special needs.

Since this is a necessity for you, I would bring my own topper. When we were on the Allure in Nov/Dec, the bed was hard as a rock and it was a new mattress. There were no toppers available according to our cabin attendant who stated that Royal was no longer providing toppers for the new mattresses. As we were debarking, they were hauling up new mattresses to replace the ones they had not yet changed out. I don't know if Special Needs can supply what you want or not, but I personally would pack an extra suitcase with a topper and a pillow. Our attendant was very helpful with adding pillows to our bed and the pillows were quite comfortable for us. I hope you and your wife have a wonderful cruise. I know what it's like to travel with someone with special needs.

Hate to have to do it but this might be best solution for you. Bring own topper and pillow...

Sorry to ask too much of forum. Just wanted personal experiences with this ship since seemed like RCCL both with mattresses, pads, and special needs promises. I'd never seen that many complaints about a mattress anywhere we have traveled. I saw posted that others who had it in writing had issues where others did not. Just trying to prepare.

Harlequin- as far as those Amazon mats go, if they have improved over the years might be a possibility. We had similar style mats many years ago and they would never work for her. But things have changed a lot in all tech so may see what our friends that camp have in newer mats we can test before ordering. As with all things Amazon the quality varies. If she can stay on one of those on top of our mattress at home, we could consider ordering a queen size for the cruise.

I still have an issue if special needs claims they can handle but do not. Too late to cancel. I thank those with input.

I still would like to know if everyone only sees big fat uncomfortable poly-fill pillows throughout the ship or not.

We find the matrices on the Allure fine. If madam needs softer, have your steward bring more duvets. (Actually, there are usually two twin duvets stored under the bed. Put the sheet over the pile for a comfy sleep.

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Have you been on the Allure recently? Since others have said any bed that has not already been replaced by the super hard mattresses is in the process of being replaced. Others comments brought this issue up. I was expecting all to be fine. I really hate to even be asking about this.

I would like to know more about the pillow issue also.Does anyone know if they are only the super thick polyfill pillows or do they have some variation in thickness of pillows if you request them. Every Cruise I have ever been on had a pillow selection. Both pillow type as well as thickness. I just did a search. It looks like if true RCCL is only main cruise line that currently does not keep a selection of pillows onboard. Please tell me I am wrong.

The pillows that our cabin attendant brought us were smaller than what was on our bed. We were in a JS if that makes any difference as to what kind of pillows are kept on the bed. I like big pillows so both sizes were fine with me. Each size seemed to have the same amount of fill. Hubby slept on only one pillow and said it was fluffy enough for him. It's too subjective to say whether or not you will like the pillows. If in doubt, probably best if you bring your own.