New mattresses on the Freedom absolutely hard as a rock!

[Sharon Sails]

lol. Two crate toppers, the comforter, my heating pad, sleeping pill, Tylenol PM= sleep on RCI ship for me. At least I found a way to get some rest without waking up aching. And I figured out why some of the pillows are so hard and SO heavy: it's a long pillow doubled over into one regular sized pillowcase. The first night hubby woke up with a stiff neck...now we don't use those pillows. Some of the pillows are what I call "normal." I'm not here to tell anyone what's best as far as mattresses go - I'm just telling you about my experience this week. I can't handle a squishy soft mattress either--the mattresses they threw out felt great to me--other than being old and a bit lop-sided...lol. That said, we had a lovely time on the short cruise around the shore of the island today on Labadee. I got some great pics, and said "goodbye" to Labadee for the last time. Good luck to everyone who sails on RCI now - if you like a truly FIRM mattress, bless you, you'll love it. But if, like me, you already ache all over half the time (I'm old: 67 years...), you'll have to ask your stateroom attendant for some help - and bring a mattress topper if you can!:p

Edited January 6, 2016 by Sharon Sails

[cruising sister]

We were in JS on the Navigator in December and had a rock hard mattress. Absolutely no give to it. It was like sleeping on a piece of wood. There is firm and then there is unyielding. Totally unnecessary choice. Someone in purchasing made a bad call.

[Sharon Sails]

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.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Sharon Sails

[mnak]

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.

[VPKara]

Wow, one would think a decent bed would be included in the cost of a cruise without having to pack an additional suitcase with cozy bedding. How are the beds on Princess, Celebrity or Carnival? :) Something new to consider now!

[TwoTimer81]

The beds are rather firm on Anthem as well (which came preloaded with the new beds).

[sdear]

We were in JS on the Navigator in December and had a rock hard mattress. Absolutely no give to it. It was like sleeping on a piece of wood. There is firm and then there is unyielding. Totally unnecessary choice. Someone in purchasing made a bad call.

 

I completely agree ! There is a difference between firm and HARD. I hurt so bad and slept so poorly after my last cruise I was run down seriously when we got home. Never had that happen before and I cruise a lot.

[Sharon Sails]

I really don't think they are going to change the mattresses again after they spent all that money putting them on every single ship. To me, vacation doesn't include trying to figure out how to make my bed comfortable enough to sleep. Night time is frustrating. Now I'm counting down the days til I get home and can enjoy a good rest. So sad. I'm a Diamond Plus, and the perks have been nice. But I will not cruise on Royal again. Thanks for your support here.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Sharon Sails

[brfan]

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).

[3Blessings]

So happy to read this post. When we were on Freedom two years ago we thought the mattress was so comfy. We were expecting the same type mattress on the Adventure this past July but the bed was rock hard. Unfortunately we didn't know you could ask for a topper so we didn't get much sleep all week. We'll be on Freedom in April and I will be sending an email to special needs as soon as we pay our final payment on the 19th. We need a comfy bed so we can get some zzzsssss.

[BillOh]

I completely agree ! There is a difference between firm and HARD. I hurt so bad and slept so poorly after my last cruise I was run down seriously when we got home. Never had that happen before and I cruise a lot.

 

I'm following this thread closely because like you, I've always had great comfortable beds. (Feedom was just find in April, so I assume replacements were made after then?

[workathome]

I'm following this thread closely because like you, I've always had great comfortable beds. (Feedom was just find in April, so I assume replacements were made after then?

 

Yes, they were switching them over during the Thanksgiving cruise. Ours was firm, but still received a topper, after being told they were discontinuing them. My SIL's was rock hard.

[mnak]

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.

[jillpra]

Watching the thread closely. Went in August on Freedom and bed was great! I have a husband who is in remission from cancer but has bone lesions on his spine. Sleeping on something that is like cement is a deal breaker for us! Had planned on cruising again on Freedom in May but watching the comments for the next month before booking.

[margeecruiser]

I agree the mattresses are very firm (hard as a rock). I spoke to the Hotel Manager on Navigator. He essentially said they are cheap and his budget did not cover better mattresses. I asked why they can't be as good as a large hotel chain, such as Hilton. He said Hilton doesn't charge $50 per night either. He was snippy and not receptive to complaints. I think they are aware and don't care

 

Margee

[Sharon Sails]

Jill?

Happy to hear your husband is in remission. Regarding cruising RCI, honestly, I have loved Royal for many years - enough cruises to be Diamond Plus. But this mattress situation IS a deal breaker for me. I can't function without some decent sleep. These mattresses are awful. I can't believe that RCI doesn't "know about the problem," as our stateroom attendant and his supervisor (head of housekeeping) were BOTH at the ready with mattress toppers and whatever else might help. I'm quite certain that a lot of our fellow cruisers have asked for the toppers; however, as far as I'm concerned, they aren't really much help. I even bought my own, and it's under the comforter, along with an RCI egg crate topper and the inside of a duvet, doubled over. I still am uncomfortable and I dread the night. It's sad, because one my favorite things about cruising was laying in bed at night with the ship rocking me to sleep. Now i have to knock myself out with drugs - otherwise I would not sleep at all. Just my opinion - and from the other messages here, perhaps others as well. Something to think about...

[John&LaLa]

I agree the mattresses are very firm (hard as a rock). I spoke to the Hotel Manager on Navigator. He essentially said they are cheap and his budget did not cover better mattresses. I asked why they can't be as good as a large hotel chain, such as Hilton. He said Hilton doesn't charge $50 per night either. He was snippy and not receptive to complaints. I think they are aware and don't care

 

Margee

 

It's really hard to compare hotel beds which are basically the same as our home beds to a cruise ship bed.

 

Cruise beds have to be convertible, they need room beneath them for storage, weight may even be a factor for all we know. Apologies to all who seem uncomfortable, but I like a firm mattress. I guess I'll see in March

[Sharon Sails]

I couldn't make any sense out of that last comment :confused:

For all the years that I've been cruising Royal, the beds have been very comfy.

Why would that make having hard mattresses make sense? Where is the connection to cruise ships and bad mattresses instead of comfortable ones like they used to have? Are you trying to say that they can no longer have comfortable beds because they have to have storage room under them? Then why were they comfortable before the change? Don't get the reasoning there...

[susiecreamchs]

Just emailed our concierge to see about getting a mattress topper. Hopefully it will help.

[John&LaLa]

I couldn't make any sense out of that last comment :confused:

For all the years that I've been cruising Royal, the beds have been very comfy.

Why would that make having hard mattresses make sense? Where is the connection to cruise ships and bad mattresses instead of comfortable ones like they used to have? Are you trying to say that they can no longer have comfortable beds because they have to have storage room under them? Then why were they comfortable before the change? Don't get the reasoning there...

 

I was just saying that a cruise bed/mattress is not the same as a hotel bed/mattress. Can a cruise ship mattress be comfy? Sure. Are they currently uncomfortable? That's what some folks are implying. I'll find out in March. Until then, I'm not going to freak out about it. Bed comfort is subjective. Your description is slightly over the top and we are taught in statistics to throw out extreme opinions.

[cruising sister]

I put in a complaint on the ship as well on my survey. They have to know there is a problem. My cabin steward knew exactly how to help us with extra bedding under our sheet. It was not great but helped soften it enough to not hurt the bones. I am sad they have put the new mattresses on the Freedom as we sail on her in December. We had great mattresses on the Brilliance in October. I guess they have not been changed out yet.

[Toddcan]

I'm struggling with this thread, and most of the complaints. I totally get that people have different firmness preferences, but when I read "concrete slab" "the floor would have been softer" "plywood" "Flinstone beds" - obviously over exaggeration is used to make a point - it's not particularly helpful.

 

So, I'm categorizing this thread as I do with food threads - too subjective to extract useful information.

[cruising sister]

I wish I was exaggerating. You have to experience it to comment. As a physician I would never recommend the mattresses to anyone.

[mareed]

I wish I was exaggerating. You have to experience it to comment. As a physician I would never recommend the mattresses to anyone.

 

Totally agree that you have to experience it to really understand. 4 very hard beds on Navigator and one on the Liberty, and I'll now travel with my own CA King size memory foam eggcrate topper. It fit the bed perfectly and we even easily tore off the extra to fit the curved RC bed and it will go with me on future cruises. It is ridiculous to have to resort to this, but not being able to sleep is not an option!

[cruising sister]

Totally agree that you have to experience it to really understand. 4 very hard beds on Navigator and one on the Liberty, and I'll now travel with my own CA King size memory foam eggcrate topper. It fit the bed perfectly and we even easily tore off the extra to fit the curved RC bed and it will go with me on future cruises. It is ridiculous to have to resort to this, but not being able to sleep is not an option!

 

Where did you get your eggcrate and do you pack it in a suitcase?