Ruby Princess answer for hard mattress

[celticlady]

After reading about the hard mattress situation on the Princess lines I had concerns as I had recently had some issues with my back. I called Princess today and was able to order an eggcrate mattress and extra feather pillows for my stateroom. I wanted to share this info because I had been reading different posts about difficulties obtaining the eggcrates. So if this is important for you call princess and they can accomodate you.:D

[Coral]

Unfortunately they are not much help to many of us.

 

I am considering bringing my own for my next cruise.

[celticlady]

Sorry for the ignorance, but why are they not any help. Please give advice as sleeping on a hard mattress would ruin what would be a wonderful time. Thanks

[Toto2Kansas]

I agree with Coral. They used to provide a nice thick foam mattress pad, but these new little thin ones don't make much difference to us when it comes to the comfort of the extra firm mattresses. We have been taking our own for the last several cruises. That will free up some of those thin little foam pads for others who feel they make a difference. ;)

Happy to hear they worked for you though! :)

[Coral]

Sorry for the ignorance, but why are they not any help. Please give advice as sleeping on a hard mattress would ruin what would be a wonderful time. Thanks

 

I am used to a softer mattress and I find Princess's beds very hard. I have often gotten the egg crate mattress pad but they are very thin and don't seem to make the bed soft enough. Even with the egg crate mattress pad, I always have back pain after sleeping on the bed.

 

Maybe it is just me but I don't notice that much of a difference with or with out the egg crate mattress pad.

[celticlady]

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

[cruz guy]

Have they changed the eggcrates compared to what they were using previously? They eggcrates from our Golden cruise in June 09 and Crown 08 were just fine.

[Toto2Kansas]

Have they changed the eggcrates compared to what they were using previously? They eggcrates from our Golden cruise in June 09 and Crown 08 were just fine.

 

The last few cruises we have sailed with Princess, instead of the thick egg crate design foam pad, they were thin (maybe 1/2 inch thick) regular pieces of foam, slightly dimpled, no deep egg crates anymore.

[Astro Flyer]

Have they changed the eggcrates compared to what they were using previously? They eggcrates from our Golden cruise in June 09 and Crown 08 were just fine.

Based on a recent thread on Princess mattresses, it sounds like some beds (newer??) are very firm, some (older??) are like sleeping in a pit which has been my experience. A good eggcrate could soften a mattress that might be too firm but not much can be done with a broken down, too soft mattress. I think part of the problem is the mesh metal frame under the mattress...we've seen them so broken down that they had put food trays on it in an attempt to not droop so much.

 

It's also probably due to a lack of quality mattresses...I think that's the reason you don't see them bragging about their bedding in any of their promotional material.

 

We're hoping to get a firm mattress but it sounds like it's hit & miss if we'll get one on our upcoming cruises.

 

But the pros still far outweigh the cons for Princess & we'll happily continue to cruise with them.

[celticlady]

I'll bring an air mattress to put on top if I need to. Don't want this to be a problem. Thanks

[Putterdude]

The last few cruises we have sailed with Princess, instead of the thick egg crate design foam pad, they were thin (maybe 1/2 inch thick) regular pieces of foam, slightly dimpled, no deep egg crates anymore.

 

This is interesting, we haven't seen these yet....hope they work for us.

[SRQfireman]

I'll bring an air mattress to put on top if I need to. Don't want this to be a problem. Thanks

 

This is what we always bring....we have a little rechargable pump that blows it up.....the cabin person puts a sheet over the top and ya now have a very comfortable bed (where ya can adjust the firmness)

[Toto2Kansas]

This is interesting, we haven't seen these yet....hope they work for us.

 

We tried three of them on one of the brand new mattress on one cruise, and they didn't make a dent (pun intended) in the extra firmness. I hope you have a mattress that has been used for a few months, they might work then. (we are just not willing to take the chance anymore, we both have problems with our backs and sleeping on an extra firm mattress means mornings with of lot of aches and pains, above and beyond the normal amount.);)

[celticlady]

We tried three of them on one of the brand new mattress on one cruise, and they didn't make a dent (pun intended) in the extra firmness. I hope you have a mattress that has been used for a few months, they might work then. (we are just not willing to take the chance anymore, we both have problems with our backs and sleeping on an extra firm mattress means mornings with of lot of aches and pains, above and beyond the normal amount.);)

So if your not willing to take the chance, what do you do? I notice that you are still cruising on princess and I am just wondering because I have real back concerns and so does hubby. :)

[Toto2Kansas]

So if your not willing to take the chance, what do you do? I notice that you are still cruising on princess and I am just wondering because I have real back concerns and so does hubby. :)

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

[captainron]

This is interesting, we haven't seen these yet....hope they work for us.

 

P'Dude,

If you'd even sat on the bed we had on our Diamond cruise Frank you would have died...just like a concrete pad. Kath & I asked Harish, our stateroom steward for an eggcrate. He put it on but it was as described, merely a thin piece of slightly dimpled foam, and nowhere near as comfortable as the true "eggcrates" we used to get on Princess.

 

I do hear that you can buy these eggcrates in Canada at the Bay in Twin (CAD$49+taxes) or Queen size (CAD$99+taxes), so the idea of a space bag for these might just be the way to go.

 

Kath and I have booked the 12 day round Broitain cruise on the Crown next Aug 12 so we are going to enjoy a visit home even tho' the itinerary is coinsiderably port intensive.

 

Ciao for now!!!

 

Ciao for now!!!

[caribill]

It's also probably due to a lack of quality mattresses....

 

More likely due to different users almost every week, placing of heavy suitcases on the bed, etc.

[Putterdude]

We tried three of them on one of the brand new mattress on one cruise, and they didn't make a dent (pun intended) in the extra firmness. I hope you have a mattress that has been used for a few months, they might work then. (we are just not willing to take the chance anymore, we both have problems with our backs and sleeping on an extra firm mattress means mornings with of lot of aches and pains, above and beyond the normal amount.);)

 

Wow, thanks for the heads up. We have only had experience with the eggcrates and they have been just fine but this sounds like a whole new adventuue in discomfort.:eek:

[karinad]

This just brought back an "uncomfortable" memory from our Nov. 2009 cruise on the Ruby. We did call ahead and request the eggcrate. I guess it was very slightly less Hard. My dh would be snoring away(he likes a hard mattress) and I would be wide awake, trying to put the comforter under me, then the pillows. The only advantage of the topper was that it filled in the crack between the beds a little.

 

I won't have time to shop before our cruise on the Emerald in Oct. My dh would flip if he seen me taking a topper on the plane. I'm going to have to give this some serious thought. I just had a spinal epidural for a few herniated discs. Maybe Princess will start to offer a "Comfort" package for an additional charge!:rolleyes:

[Astro Flyer]

More likely due to different users almost every week, placing of heavy suitcases on the bed, etc.

I haven't been on cruise lines like HAL or Celebrity which other posters say their mattresses are much better.

 

I'm sure they also have frequent passengers placing heavy suitcases, etc on those beds...so why aren't those in the same poor condition if it's not a quality issue?

[caribill]

We tried three of them on one of the brand new mattress on one cruise, and they didn't make a dent (pun intended) in the extra firmness.

 

Some people have posted as asking the steward to put a duvet between the sheet and the mattress.

[BurBunny]

When I book a Princess cruise, the first thing on my packing list is my inflatable camping pad. In fact, before the last time, I went to a thicker pad because the original one just wasn't big enough (I now have a 2.5" thick model). I put the egg crate/foam on top of that to avoid the clammy feeling from the camping pad, and voila - an almost comfortable bed.

 

Still find it strange that both Carnival and HAL sister companies have such good beds, but Princess is a literal pain in the tush.

[Putterdude]

I'm sure they also have frequent passengers placing heavy suitcases, etc on those beds...so why aren't those in the same poor condition if it's not a quality issue?

 

I maintain that the problem is not all with Princess's mattresses, but rather then using a box spring that has a bit of give to it, the mattresses are placed on frame which is spanned with heavy guage steel mesh. There is no give to that mesh whatsoever and therein lies the firmness problem.

[Astro Flyer]

I maintain that the problem is not all with Princess's mattresses, but rather then using a box spring that has a bit of give to it, the mattresses are placed on frame which is spanned with heavy guage steel mesh. There is no give to that mesh whatsoever and therein lies the firmness problem.

It probably is a combination of the support mesh & the mattress.

 

While you've experienced the mesh to be so inflexible to cause the firmness problem, we had a mesh support so concave that they had placed food trays on top of the mesh to attempt to eliminate the pit we were sleeping on.

 

As I've mentioned several times, it's not a deal breaker for me & I'll eagerly sail on Princess again. But it sure would be nice for them to correct this problem shared by many of either too firm or too soft beds...and to find a happy medium.

[red4u2]

I have only sailed once with Princess and thought it was one of the best vacations in my life, except for the bed, i have bad back problems and even with two foam toppers it didnt help- so i slept half sitting up on about four pillow and then placed a couple under my knees to simulate a recliner type position.. it helped a lot. So does the thermal care wraps that you can adhear to your back.