Ruby Princess answer for hard mattress

[cruisefreaks]

Hi Julia -

 

We will be on the Sapphire with you for the October cruise. For 29 days I am concerned about the comfort of the beds. 21 days on the Star almost killed us!!

 

How thick are the air mattresses you found?? Would you please email me at donn70040 @ msn dot com as I have a couple other questions for you? :D thanks!

 

I like both ideas. So far the air mattresses I've found are about 8 in high when inflated. I don't see that working well on top of the mattress.

 

Is there another product out there I need to look at??

 

ToTo2Kansas - where do you find your egg crates?

 

Thanks for any help!!!

 

Donna

[Toto2Kansas]

ToTo2Kansas - where do you find your egg crates?

 

Thanks for any help!!!

 

Donna

 

Donna, most discount stores carry them at a decent price. Plus you can find sales online. But after reading about some of these smells others are finding in the online ones, I think I may just stick to the discount store memory foam that I can 'sniff' first. lol

[BlueBayou08]

Ignorant me! What is a "space bag"?

[juggles]

glad I don't have a problem, I can sleep on a clothes line

[Va_Cruizer]

Ignorant me! What is a "space bag"?

 

A space bag is a plastic bag that comes with a port hole in which you can place a vacuum hose to suck all the air out. They come in a variety os sizes and can be found in most stores, I know WallMart caries them.

I'm sure you have seen an advertisement on tv for one of them at some point.

 

Kevin

[karinad]

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

How thick are do the twin aerobeds blow up to? We do have an older queen size one, but I think it would be to heavy and to high to put on top of the cabin beds.

[julia]

Hi Julia -

 

We will be on the Sapphire with you for the October cruise. For 29 days I am concerned about the comfort of the beds. 21 days on the Star almost killed us!!

 

How thick are the air mattresses you found?? Would you please email me at donn70040 @ msn dot com as I have a couple other questions for you? :D thanks!

 

I like both ideas. So far the air mattresses I've found are about 8 in high when inflated. I don't see that working well on top of the mattress.

 

Is there another product out there I need to look at??

 

ToTo2Kansas - where do you find your egg crates?

 

Thanks for any help!!!

 

Donna

 

Hi Donna:

 

I'll answer your question here for the benefit of others, and will then e-mail you. The Aerobeds are approx 7" high. We don't mind a higher bed if it provides more comfort. (The beds are pretty low to start with). The two twins were more expensive than a queen, but will pack better.

 

See you in three weeks!! :p

[julia]

How thick are do the twin aerobeds blow up to? We do have an older queen size one, but I think it would be to heavy and to high to put on top of the cabin beds.

 

 

Yes... the older queen size Aerobeds are quite heavy (but so durable & comfortable!). It also would not fit on the existing beds in a cabin because two twins pushed together do not equal a queen.

 

The twins are approx 7" high, so the bed will be higher, but my 6'5" DH will like that. Also, we can each adjust the firmness to our liking (Sleep Number bed!) :) Each came with it's own pump (needed 24 hrs of charging), and I am only packing one.

[BlueBayou08]

Thank you Va Cruiser! Yes I've seen them but didn't know the name.

[DiRon]

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 -

 

We have a memory foam topper (about 1 1/2" - 2" thick) on our queen bed at home - and it weighs a ton! Have you beene able to find something that is not so heavy???

[cruisefreaks]

I found some foam toppers to day at Wally World and they were not too heavy (weight wise) - but only about 1 1/2 inches tick. I really don't if they would do much good. :confused: Others weighed a TON!!

 

Any comments???

 

Have many of you ever taken an air mattress on board? Can the steward fit sheets over them? if you use two twins on a queen size....will they fit ? will they slide apart?? :confused: Anyone have experience with this?

 

How big are the beds??? :confused: Anyone have measurments??

 

Thanks! :D

 

donna

[Toto2Kansas]

Toto -

 

We have a memory foam topper (about 1 1/2" - 2" thick) on our queen bed at home - and it weighs a ton! Have you beene able to find something that is not so heavy???

 

Maybe they come in different weights? The ones we purchase at the discount stores do not seem that heavy at all. In fact, on our last cruise (only 7 days) it went into the suitcase in the space bag, we packed only two pieces of luggage, and I really tend to pack on the heavy side, and the luggage was till within the limits. I would check out those that Wal-Mart or K-Mart or other discount stores carry and see if they might be what you are looking for, lighter in weight. Keep in mind, these can be less sturdy then one you might purchase for home use, as you won't be using them every single night for years, but only for cruises. ;)

[julia]

I found some foam toppers to day at Wally World and they were not too heavy (weight wise) - but only about 1 1/2 inches tick. I really don't if they would do much good. :confused: Others weighed a TON!!

 

Any comments???

 

Have many of you ever taken an air mattress on board? Can the steward fit sheets over them? if you use two twins on a queen size....will they fit ? will they slide apart?? :confused: Anyone have experience with this?

 

How big are the beds??? :confused: Anyone have measurments??

 

Thanks! :D donna

 

Hi Donna:

 

Below are mattress dimensions. When the cabin beds are pushed together (they are twins) it is wider than a queen. As for the sheets, we may have to use a flat sheet if a fitted won't fit... still, NOT a problem. :p

 

Mattress Sizes

 

• Twin--39 x 75 inches (or 99 x 190 cm)
  
• X-Long Twin--39 x 80 inches (99 x 203 cm)
  
• Full--54 x 75 inches (137 x 190 cm)
  
• Queen--60 x 80 inches (or 153 x 203 cm)
  
• King--76 x 80 inches (or 198 x 203 cm)
  
• California King--72 x 84 inches (or 182 x 213 cm)
  

[Toto2Kansas]

All of the sheets onboard, even the bottom sheets are flat sheets. I have never seen the cruise line use fitted sheets for the beds. ;)

[julia]

All of the sheets onboard, even the bottom sheets are flat sheets. I have never seen the cruise line use fitted sheets for the beds. ;)

 

 

Thanks ToTo! :):)

[cruiserus]

Tyhanks for the advice. Think I will bring my own. I'm used to sleeping on a tempupedic. LOL

 

I have back problems and we sleep on a Temprapedic also. We get the egg crate from Princess and I am fine. We have cruised 235 days with Princess, so you can see it doesn't prevent me from coming back.:D

[KruzPrincess]

I have a huge problem with Princess beds. I always ask for foam toppers and they do little good. I've had the foam topper and the duvet. Still hard, but a bit better. On my last cruise, I asked the steward to make the bed as soft as possible and gave him a tip in advance. I got a good 4 inches or more of foam. I still couldn't sleep because it was like foam on top of concrete. Come the 2nd to the last night of the cruise one of the people I was cruising with came in to my cabin and sat on the bed. He couldn't believe how hard it was. He looked under the mattress to find hard plastic food trays someone had put there. So, my tip is to be sure to check under the mattress for hidden trays. It was still hard, but I would have slept probably without trays and all the foam. I'm trying Celebrity on my next cruise and I'm looking forward to seeing what their beds are like. I didn't leave Princess because of the beds, but I'm looking forward to seeing if I sleep better there. It's hard to enjoy your vacation if you can't sleep and are in pain every day. I like the air mattress idea and may look into that for my next Princess cruise. I've always worried this would be too heavy, so I'm glad to read about a lightweight air mattress. My memory foam topper at home weighs a ton. It would cost too much to pay for the topper and the extra suitcase for me. The cheaper foam toppers at the discount stores are lighter, but I've always been able to get something similar to that from the steward.

[iancal]

We finally solved our problem with Princess mattresses.

 

The last cruises that we have booked have been on Hal, Carnival, Celebrity, and the next one in December is Celebrity. Princess is a great line...just wish that they would upgrade their beds and their coffee.

[cruisefreaks]

JULIA and TOTO !!

 

Thanks so much for the information!

 

What a huge discussion out of this topic!! ha ha :D

 

I have enjoyed and learned from each post from all the CC folks.

 

Thanks!!

[karinad]

Being comfortable and sleeping is a very important issue. I know that some dotors would say that the firmer the surface, the better it is for your back. Not for me! If you're a side or stomach sleeper it's very uncomfortable to be on a hard surface. I loved the bed at the Sheraton FLL last yr. pre-cruise. It was sooo soft! Then we went to the Ruby Princess.............

[kymbakitty]

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!

 

First off, the mattress may not be an issue for you. So I wouldn't jump the gun. There is a percentage of the population that have no issues with the beds.

 

Having said that, I think your criteria of not wanting to spend more than $50 because you are going to leave it behind may be flawed.

 

Let's say you do want one....it is a drop in the bucket. I figure we'll be able to get one at BJ's or Costco for anywhere between $120-$140 for a queen. I've looked on line and they are on sale right now for $99 (shucks!)....but the regular price will be $129 when we are in FLL. I do have a free membership coupon so I won't have to pay 15% surcharge for the membership. I understand there is a Costco also so I have that as an option as well.

 

We are not going to buy it ahead of time....we will just buy it at the port and open it up as soon as we get in the cabin. It may take a day, but we'll just appreciate it more on the 2nd night!

 

It's just like the VISA we have to get for our cruise to Brazil. It will cost us over $400 just to get the VISAs and that is just part of the cruise. It is not a deal breaker...it's just something we need to do if we want to cruise.

 

So if you put it in perspective of just something you need to do for your cruise, we may be able to swallow it more....like a gratituty or something. Some people would baulk at the idea of spending $125 for a mattress pad but not think twice of putting $500 on the casino (I'm not saying this is you!).

 

The egg crates are useless for us. We have 3 and they didn't make a bit of difference. We just need to figure out how to get one in the port of Rio for our cruise in March and then how to get one in Bejing for our cruise in October 2011....now that will be interesting!

 

As far as the mattress pads "piling" up...I have a feeling that is not an issue. I envision a long list of staff members on a big waiting list for these! Seniority takes the next one, of course. I would be very surprised if the staff members aren't GLAD to take these off our hands. One of our stewards said their beds are worse than ours....which he admitted was hard to fathom.

 

Enjoy.

[Astro Flyer]

We also experienced the Princess "food tray" fix for their sagging metal mesh mattress support. When I told our cabin steward about it they removed the trays & appeared to have pulled up the support mesh. It was slightly better but in our case the mattress still sagged in the middle. We've never experienced a too firm mattress but it's obvious they exist.

 

Guess it's like trying to win the lottery to get a comfortable mattress. There's a reason that Princess doesn't brag about their bedding. So they know it's poor quality but appear to be in no hurry to improve it while they're sailing full ships.

[Toto2Kansas]

As far as the mattress pads "piling" up...I have a feeling that is not an issue. I envision a long list of staff members on a big waiting list for these! Seniority takes the next one, of course. I would be very surprised if the staff members aren't GLAD to take these off our hands. One of our stewards said their beds are worse than ours....which he admitted was hard to fathom.

 

Enjoy.

 

Last fall there was a F&B manager on the Pacific that worked split shifts every day, he seemed to always be on duty except for his little 'nap' in the afternoon. We got to talking about the beds one day and he told us that if we thought the ones in the cabins were bad, we should try to sleep on what they give the staff. I decided right then and there where my memory foam topper was going, so I asked him if he would like it at the end of the cruise. I still remember the huge smile on his face. And the final morning onboard, he went with us to our suite and instructed our cabin stewardess where to 'stash' it for him until he could come for it later in the afternoon. He said all he could think about was getting his hands on that memory foam and sleeping like a baby. lol Those left behind are welcomed by the staff, no doubt in my mind, after what we witnessed.

[kymbakitty]

Last fall there was a F&B manager on the Pacific that worked split shifts every day, he seemed to always be on duty except for his little 'nap' in the afternoon. We got to talking about the beds one day and he told us that if we thought the ones in the cabins were bad, we should try to sleep on what they give the staff. I decided right then and there where my memory foam topper was going, so I asked him if he would like it at the end of the cruise. I still remember the huge smile on his face. And the final morning onboard, he went with us to our suite and instructed our cabin stewardess where to 'stash' it for him until he could come for it later in the afternoon. He said all he could think about was getting his hands on that memory foam and sleeping like a baby. lol Those left behind are welcomed by the staff, no doubt in my mind, after what we witnessed.

 

That was my suspicion...thank you for confirming.

 

Now for anyone not wanting to leave something like this behind, just consider it a small token of appreciation for all the service your steward provides for you during your cruise--perhaps it will be a little easier to swallow.

 

But thank you for providing the actual scenario....I will specifically ask my steward if he/she would like our 2.5 memory topper when we leave. I have a feeling if he/she already has one, they'll probably know someone else that would enjoy it.

 

:)

[nho9504]

All these hard mattress talk really makes me worry.

 

I am a side sleeper and really prefer my bed on the softer side. I dont remember our bed on Crown this Feb was that hard. I had eggcrate as usual but may be also a duvet? I really cannot remember. In April we were on Eurodam and the bed was a marked improvement from the bed on Princess.

 

We will be on Emerald in a week for her 10 days South Caribbean Medley.

 

Should I bring an air-mattress? I think we have it at home but the last time it is used would be at least 5 years ago. I am not even sure it still works.

 

Is this the problem only on Ruby or it is fleet-wide?