What happened to the beds?

[funinthesun1964]

I'm cruising on Conquest in a couple of weeks. Here's hoping that the mattress will be acceptable. I've had mostly good luck in the past, but now I'm a little worried. I also have Fibromyalgia and deal with enough pain and sleep deprivation, let alone pain from a hard mattress! I do prefer a mattress on the firm side - but not so firm that it will hurt! :eek: Note to self -- bring even more ibuprofen than originally planned.

[lazydayz]

We noticed the harder beds on our Labor Day cruise. We were on the Paradise and have sailed it several times before. The RS did bring us a topper., but still not soft. Come on Carnival. Beds are too important to go cheap on.

[HollandAvery]

When we were on the Triumph in February we didn't think the beds were too bad...a little firm but still comfortable enough.

 

At home our bed isn't as firm and is super comfortable...it just depends on peoples preferences I guess. But like I said, we didn't find the beds unbearable...we slept well!

[Avril]

I cruised on the Carnival Splendor in January and the bed was great and very comfy!

 

I sure hope they have the same mattresses onboard now, I like my bed soft(er) and the ones on my last couple of Carnival cruises have been rock hard so that I woke up with a sore back and sore hips in the morning!! :( I'm sailing on Splendor in a couple of weeks (14 days:D) so I hope they haven't been changed. Does anyone know the last time the ship was in dry dock?

 

Good to know about the egg carton bed softeners. If they have changed the beds, I'll be sure to ask for 1 (or 2)!!

[cruise_girl2002]

With a mattress, not everybody is going to be happy. Some like firm, some like soft (pillow top). I love the mattress on carnival. I have a pillow top at home and wake up kind of sore. You want a hard mattress? Stay at the Una hotel in Sicily, Italy, terrible.

[smellywax]

They are definitely different. My sister bought one of the carnival dream beds when they first introduced them and they were firm yet a plush top...now they are just plain hard and when we were on the Breeze this past spring we asked for egg crate foam toppers to help but were told they no longer had them and they could only put an extra comforter which didn't help much. We almost bought an air mattress in Mexico as I was in a lot of pain. Going on the breeze again btb and this time will definitely bring a mattress topper.

[dmdiver]

I've always thought the beds were pretty hard. The one time we asked for one of those toppers, we were told they no longer had them. Our room steward put an extra comforter under the bottom sheet. It helped a little. I still sleep fine on a cruise, but I think that's due to the fact that I'm up later and really tired when I go to bed. Also, if there's any movement, it's like being in a cradle to me - love it!

[JinxyB]

The mattress in my cabin on the Breeze in Oct was absolutely the worst! It was cheap, rock hard, and you could feel the springs when you sat down on the bed. I would wake up with my arms numb for some reason and my hips were killing me-I felt like I was 80 years old with arthritis!

[jacmo24]

Breeze 12-13 bed was VERY firm. I like a firm bed but this was hard.

Freedom 7-14 was the old comfier bed. Firm but nice.

Pride 12-14 - HARD and painful. My kid slept on the couch bed and his bed was so much better I begged him to trade with me. :p

 

The firm beds are fine for a few hours but we're in pain by early morning. Won't stop us from enjoying a cruise though!

[Rankbronc]

They used to advertise the comfort beds in the cabin with contact information on how you could buy them. I am guessing Carnival had a deal with the comfort bed people that gave Carnival a good deal on the beds in exchange for the advertisement in the cabins. The contract most likely expired and Carnival did not want to have to pay full price for the beds and opted for something cheaper.

I remember how great the comfort beds were compared to the rock we slept on for 3 weeks on our last cruises to Sydney.

[texast518]

As others have said - each person is different. What is comfortable to one person isnt to another.

IMHO: I have always loved the beds on Carnival, EXCEPT on the Magic earlier this year it was like a rock and I didn't sleep. Maybe I had a new mattress that hadn't been broken in yet? But out of all the cruises I've been on, that was the first cruise with a uncomfortable bed.

 

Last 2 Magic cruises the bed was hard, uncomfortable for us in our mid-70's. Ordered mattress cover & helped some.

[suebee53]

I loved the old Carnival Comfort bed so much we bought one for home...and had to get a memory foam topper immediately because it was so NOT-Comfort-able.

 

A few weeks ago on the Triumph, my first night was miserable because I failed to lie down and check it out in time. The subsequent nights, softened by a comforter under the bottom sheet, were so much better.

 

An entire family is taking their first Carnival cruise on the Magic this Sunday, and I am so glad to read this thread to remind me to give them the heads up about asking for mattress toppers if needed.

[SunshineCruiser24]

I actually woke up with bad back pain each morning, even the first morning before I'd done anything very active. I have a crappy back, it's from years of moving patients and working on an ambulance, but that isn't how I wake up at home. Carnivals beds mean I need to stock up on NSAIDs to be functional.

 

This was my past two times on the liberty, but when I sailed the glory and the ecstasy I found the beds to be perfect.

[richfret]

After I retired, I worked part time at Sears selling mattresses. The stories I could tell you. When people bought mattresses, they expected all (I mean all) of their back problems to magically go away. They expected they would sleep contentedly for several hours the minute they laid on the mattress. It was too hard. The next person would say it is too soft. It had lumps. It was too high. It was too low. On and on it would go. So I came to the conclusion, it was impossible to build the perfect mattress. It ain't going to happen!!! So when you cruise, just consider your bed as the mat you will be sleeping on (Hopefully). Then enjoy the cruise.

 

Glad I got that off my chest. Having been wanting to say this for years.

[kyrisong1]

OP, you're not alone.

 

Most recent thread on this subject:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2024109

 

..and there have been others, some that got *POOFED* because, I guess, they got too heated. Those of us that have noticed Carnival has obviously traded out its fluffy, soft pillow-topped Comfort beds were flat-out being called liars by others who swore the beds have not changed.:( But we know better.

 

The bed on our first (2005) Carnival cruise inspired me to go on a mission of building a better bed at home, to make it more like that lovely bed on Inspiration. What Carnival offers now is pain-inducing in its firmness.

 

And now, what makes it worse is that they seem to be discontinuing even the less-than wonderful option of having the Room Steward place a foam egg-crate on your bed.:( At least with one of those on that hard bed, I could sleep. Not sleep well, but sleep without pain. This is a very real issue for some of us. Not sleeping for a week while on what should be a great vacation is miserable.

 

I have now been pushed by Carnival's cutbacks to the ridiculous point of seriously considering buying a king-size foam bed topper and bringing it along on my cruise next month.:mad: I'd have to leave it behind at the end of the cruise. I wouldn't want it in my house after it had been on a public bed.

I totally agree, the beds used to be pillowtops, now they are too hard to sleep. I bring 2 cheap eggcrates and leave them behind, it's like 40 bucks just blowing in the wind but I don't care, I am NOT going to be uncomfortable on vacation. Definitely thinking of trying HAL, they advertise those cushy beds. We did sail on Celebrity and the beds were also hard, but the room steward did produce a nice eggcrate.

I will say the room stewards mostly try their best to soften up the bed, adding a comforter under the sheets helps a little. But I'm a double pillowtop sorta gal at home and I hate the hard things they use now.

Carole

[smellywax]

I realize that there isn't a perfect bed but I cruise a lot with all the lines and over the past two years have found Carnival's beds unbearable. All of us wake up with pain in the hips and back. They were not like that before so they are using a different manufacturer. I too will be buying a topper to lug on an upcoming btb which sucks because they are so heavy. Anyway, I don't let it ruin our cruise but it sure would be nice to have the old ones back. They may have the same name on them but they are NOT the same.

[elainmir]

Boy this thread has me worried...we have a scenic OV on the Glory in March. I'm hoping when they did those rooms when she was in dry dock last that they put in the nice mattresses....(crossing fingers and praying) Hubby has back issues...serious ones...I do NOT want to spend all vaca with him miserable...I may bring a mattress topper with a plastic liner completely covering it so I can chuck the liner later and save my mattress topper...

[Liverpoollovely]

The mattresses have always been very firm (some might say "hard") but I, for one, love them! I always sleep so well!

 

I love the mattresses being firm nothing worse than a soft mattress :(