Ruby Princess answer for hard mattress

[jomf]

Just got back from our last cruise, the bed was very uncomfortable. I have sent a letter to Princess asking for their reasons in having such terrible beds. Waiting for their reply.

The bed would stop us cruising on Princess again.

[rugbypopsie]

Just got back from our last cruise, the bed was very uncomfortable. I have sent a letter to Princess asking for their reasons in having such terrible beds. Waiting for their reply.

The bed would stop us cruising on Princess again.

 

I will keep sailing Princess because apart from the beds everything else suits me just fine! But I will be on the look out for something to put onto the mattress the new eggcrates don't do it for me either..wake up walking like an old lady..OMG I am an old lady, well oldish anyway.

[suenruss]

We must have been lucky - we just returned from the Ruby, cabin C433, and we slept like babies!

[cindep]

I brought my own mattress topper for our 14 day cruise. Fortunately, it fit into one of those collapsing zip-up bags. I left the topper, and had room for all the "goodies" we picked up along the way! Win-win.

 

Next cruise we're coming in a day early and I'll be off to find a topper before boarding!

[LoriPhil]

We love Princess and resigned ourselves to bringing memory foam to ensure a comfortable sleep. Since the beds are mid-way between queen and king size, we put a queen size topper on sideways and the steward brings extra pillows to fill in at the top. Last time we got a great close-out deal on a king-size foam which was a tad large, but we just snugged the overlap down by tightly tucking in the bottom sheet. We left it for our steward, so he could use it himself or cut it in half and share the wealth. If too many of us are doing this it could be a hassle for the staff during the end-of-cruise clean-up, but maybe Princess will pay more attention and quit claiming "gosh no one has ever complained about our beds". By then every crew member will probably be sleeping on extra memory foam! :D

[Atomica]

I'm still surprised Princess has such firm mattresses, considering most lines tout the comfort of their beds and are upgrading them as fast as they can.

 

HAL has truly nice mattresses, and NCL and Royal Caribbean weren't bad either (NCL's were a vast improvement over the old mattresses they used to have.)

[caribill]

we slept like babies!

 

Waking up screaming every couple of hours?

[BoPippy]

We always sleep like babies on all cruises and can barely get up in the AM!!:)

[helpmesailaway]

the words - "sacrificial slab" comes to mind:eek:

[vmom]

We love Princess and resigned ourselves to bringing memory foam to ensure a comfortable sleep. Since the beds are mid-way between queen and king size, we put a queen size topper on sideways and the steward brings extra pillows to fill in at the top. Last time we got a great close-out deal on a king-size foam which was a tad large, but we just snugged the overlap down by tightly tucking in the bottom sheet. We left it for our steward, so he could use it himself or cut it in half and share the wealth. If too many of us are doing this it could be a hassle for the staff during the end-of-cruise clean-up, but maybe Princess will pay more attention and quit claiming "gosh no one has ever complained about our beds". By then every crew member will probably be sleeping on extra memory foam! :D

 

How much too small was the queen? After reading that they are using different toppers than they were using before, I'm tempted to bring my own egg crate topper.

 

Just debating about maybe bringing one queen or 2 twins. I think one king size would be too hard to pack into a space bag.

[Toto2Kansas]

How much too small was the queen? After reading that they are using different toppers than they were using before, I'm tempted to bring my own egg crate topper.

 

Just debating about maybe bringing one queen or 2 twins. I think one king size would be too hard to pack into a space bag.

 

Our queen was about 8-10 inches short on either side when placed long ways on the bed. So, we have them place it across the bed and it fits fine. The only place there is no mattress topper that way is underneath the pillows, where we didn't miss it. ;)

[Comptech]

I personally like a firm mattress, so do you think just a thin foam topper will work ok, or am I adding foam to concrete?:p

[karinad]

For those that take or buy their memory foam/eggcrate mattress to take onboard, what inch do you usually get and how much do you pay for it? I was looking on Overstock and they have some under $50., but I think that's to much to pay if it has to be left behind.

 

This post has really made me think!

[vmom]

For those that take or buy their memory foam/eggcrate mattress to take onboard, what inch do you usually get and how much do you pay for it? I was looking on Overstock and they have some under $50., but I think that's to much to pay if it has to be left behind.

 

This post has really made me think!

 

Frankly I was thinking more of a foam eggcrate. Before you decide on ordering a memory foam topper, make sure that you like laying on memory foam.

 

Memory foam is very heavy and if flying, you may want to check your baggage weight limits. To me memory foam is hot to sleep on since your body heat does not disipate with it and it initially feels soft, but since it conforms to your body, it stiffs up and I think has a hard feel to it. At home I sleep on a latex foam topper which I love, but is not practical for travel. Some people love memory foam, just make sure you are one of them before buying.

 

I was thinking of getting an old fashioned regular foam eggcrate style, but one that is a bit thicker and denser than the ones offered on board. I know regular foam will squish down alot when compressed and is lighter in weight.

[fun and breezes 2]

I take along our own memory foam mattress topper now. I love princess, but there are two things I don't love about their ships, the mattresses and the coffee, so I found a way around both problems. If I can't purchase one in the port of embarkation, I buy one at the store here at home, take it out of the box and let it expand for a couple of days (it usually takes that long). Then I put it in a large space bag, suck out all of the air, and when we get to the ship it only takes a couple of hours for it to spring back into the right shape. Something about those space bags compresses them, but they don't take long to expand when you open them again after the initial couple of days at home of allowing them time to expand. ;)

 

If I have enough room in my luggage, I bring it back home with me (borrow the Room Stewards vacume cleaner), if I don't, I just leave it onboard. A small price to pay for a great nights sleep for us. :D

 

Toto I am intrigued with your idea. Can you share some of the specifics of what you are using. What size works best, what type and style work best? I'd like to try your idea.

[shoreham01]

We requested egg crate mattresses with Princess direct but when we got on the Grand they were not there. We just asked our lovely room steward and he put one on for us. I have to say that I slept really well throughout the cruise and we are used to a thick memory foam mattress at home.

[Toto2Kansas]

Toto I am intrigued with your idea. Can you share some of the specifics of what you are using. What size works best, what type and style work best? I'd like to try your idea.

We get either the 1 1/2 or 2 inch memory foam (whichever seems to be on sale or has the best price). it doesn't matter what brand as long as we can purchase it for under $100 (since we normally just leave it onboard). We buy a queen size and have the room steward place it on the bed sideways, as the queen size is a tad to narrow for the twins when pushed together, snf the king is way too big, but we don't need the memory foam under the pillows anyway so the queen works best for us. It fits perfectly and we then sleep like a baby. We look at the investment as under $10 per day for a 10 day cruise, and less per day for a longer voyage, and it's worth every penny to us to sleep well and enjoy our nights and waking hours well rested.

 

Just remember the trick to take it out of the package at home first and let it 'rise' for a day or so before putting it in a space bag. The space bad seems to keep it well even for several days so when you take it out, it expands within a couple of hours. If you take it directly out of the shipping packaging that you purchased it in, it will be at least one day and maybe two before it is useful. ;)

[celticlady]

We get either the 1 1/2 or 2 inch memory foam (whichever seems to be on sale or has the best price). it doesn't matter what brand as long as we can purchase it for under $100 (since we normally just leave it onboard). We buy a queen size and have the room steward place it on the bed sideways, as the queen size is a tad to narrow for the twins when pushed together, snf the king is way too big, but we don't need the memory foam under the pillows anyway so the queen works best for us. It fits perfectly and we then sleep like a baby. We look at the investment as under $10 per day for a 10 day cruise, and less per day for a longer voyage, and it's worth every penny to us to sleep well and enjoy our nights and waking hours well rested.

 

Just remember the trick to take it out of the package at home first and let it 'rise' for a day or so before putting it in a space bag. The space bad seems to keep it well even for several days so when you take it out, it expands within a couple of hours. If you take it directly out of the shipping packaging that you purchased it in, it will be at least one day and maybe two before it is useful. ;)

Wow, glad I brought this up. Now I know what to do. I'm bringing 2" memory foam. I will try overstock and put the queen in a space bag. Thanks:)

[karinad]

I think what I'm going to do is call Princess and ask them for the eggcrate, possibly another comforter on top of that plus a top sheet(since there's never a top sheet.) I also have a King size memory foam topper that I bought from Overstock. They said it was 1 inch thick, but no way is it, it's thin and light as a feather, it was only $20. I think I could fit that in a duffle or on top of clothes in checked luggage. The thing abought a new memory foam topper is, it smells! I ended up buying another thicker topper that's 3 inches thick for only $50. We've had it about 6 wks., and it still smells! I've sprayed it, I've aired it outside, the smell is still there!

[Toto2Kansas]

I think what I'm going to do is call Princess and ask them for the eggcrate, possibly another comforter on top of that plus a top sheet(since there's never a top sheet.) I also have a King size memory foam topper that I bought from Overstock. They said it was 1 inch thick, but no way is it, it's thin and light as a feather, it was only $20. I think I could fit that in a duffle or on top of clothes in checked luggage. The thing abought a new memory foam topper is, it smells! I ended up buying another thicker topper that's 3 inches thick for only $50. We've had it about 6 wks., and it still smells! I've sprayed it, I've aired it outside, the smell is still there!

 

Would you care to share the brand name of this stinky memory foam topper. lol I want to make sure to NOT order one of those anytime soon. ;)

[CaribbeanIsland]

Would you care to share the brand name of this stinky memory foam topper. lol I want to make sure to NOT order one of those anytime soon. ;)

 

It is a frequent review comment on overstock.com. I looked at ordering a temperpedic knock off from them and this was mentioned a lot. It apparently does go away but can take weeks.

[karinad]

Would you care to share the brand name of this stinky memory foam topper. lol I want to make sure to NOT order one of those anytime soon. ;)

From what I understand, all memory foam has a chemical smell that's supposed to go away in a few days. It's more then a few days! I bought a memory foam mattress from QVC. I think it's a PedicSolutions, this also has an odor. I'm not sure what the topper's brand is. I'm constantly changing the sheets, the mattress pad that's on top of the topper, and I'm keeping Fabreeze in business!

[Toto2Kansas]

From what I understand, all memory foam has a chemical smell that's supposed to go away in a few days. It's more then a few days! I bought a memory foam mattress from QVC. I think it's a PedicSolutions, this also has an odor. I'm not sure what the topper's brand is. I'm constantly changing the sheets, the mattress pad that's on top of the topper, and I'm keeping Fabreeze in business!

That is so strange. I have never had a smell with any of the memory foarm toppers I have bought previously. Interesting! ;)

[julia]

Ok... been following the "bed threads" with interest, since we have an upcoming 29 nights on the Sapphire. We have cruised enough to know that ALL beds are a crap-shoot (but Princess is historically poor), and we are NOT willing to take that chance (again). :(

 

Yesterday at REI, I purchase two twin Aerobeds that are 40% lighter weight and have a small rechargeable pump. Once home, I took one out of it's package, inflated it, and laid on it. It was great! (I actually slept on our queen Aerobed for several months following surgery and loved it). These fold up quite small and fairly light, (maybe 3-4 lbs) and pack in their own case. Both will fit easily in luggage. We will use as mattress toppers, with an eggcrate and sheet to hold them together. Hopefully we'll sleep well. I will report back in late November. :o

[LoriPhil]

We did have a smell with our most recent topper (it was a discontinued model from Target), but simply had 2 additional top sheets put on the bed which took care of the problem for us. (Note - with the sideways queen topper, we just ordered 2 extra pillows which filled in the gap at the top perfectly. Very comfy and easier to manage for both space and weight than the king). It's an extra expense but if you consider the average cost on a daily basis, we feel it's definitely worth it to us.