New pillow tops on beds in outside cabins

[Hazelnut1106]

In December we were in a mini-suite on the Coral Princess. The bed was fine. However our friends had a balcony cabin and their bed was like a concrete slab.

[cruisemom42]

I've posted this before on discussions about Princess's beds, but will say it again.

 

There is a difference between "firm" and "hard". The Princess beds I had on the last 3 cruises I took with them were hard. As someone else said, you wake up feeling practically bruised if you're a side sleeper.

 

I do not find the HAL beds too soft. They are firm with a plush top that gives, but also supports. The mattress is a full 12" (nearly twice the height of what I've measured on Princess. Yes, I measured. I'm a detail freak.) And there is a full set of box springs underneath. Not so on Princess.

 

You can read about the HAL beds here:

http://www.shophollandamerica.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category_detail&category_id_int=11671

 

They are made by Sealy Posturepedic. Who makes the Princess mattresses? Unknown, simply listed as being "custom made by an Italian manufacturer." Ack, that would explain it! About the only beds I've found worse than Princess's are the ones in some Italian hotels I've stayed in....

 

Incidentally, a little research also turns up an article here on CC that says Regent also uses Sealy Posturepedic mattresses. Upsetting (to me) is that the same article claims that Princess supplies more deluxe mattresses in higher category rooms. As a previous poster said, I really don't like the idea that because I'm in an ocean view room I have to put up with a less quality bed. That doesn't seem right....

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?id=289

[seamanfs]

We are booked on the Golden 4/11 so hope the new pillowtops are in our outside cabin!! Thanks for the info. On the Crown in Jan our wonderful steward, Wilfredo, went above and beyond in trying to improve that saggy, hard mattress for me. I have scoliosis and arthritis of the spine so I asked for a couple of eggcrates before we boarded. He placed blankets, a thick mattress pad and a coulple of eggcrates under our queen and it was really great! I had no problem with the mattress on that cruise.

[monakayk]

ITA about HAL beds being so much better than Princess, Royal Caribbean and Carnival.

 

This past cruise on the Emerald...HARD beds (as ususal with Princess ships), so I requested my steward to put an eggcrate AND take the duvet from on top of the bed and put it under the bottom sheet with eggcrate. Made A LOT of difference for sure. We only needed a top sheet and a light blanket on top of the bed.

 

So it is nice to hear that they will be adding a 'topper' to the mattress on most of the ships.

[kkshelton]

All - I apoligize if this was already posted. I just noticed that for the Sapphire Princess, Ruby & Star (I didn't try for every ship), when checking prices and availability (pretending to book a cruise on Princess.com), when you select Step #3 for Stateroom Type, click on the camera icon for a room description and pictures -> take a close look at the Room Amenities list for mini-suites & suites, there is a reference to

Comfortable luxury pillow-top mattresses

 

There is no reference of this for Balconies or lower categories.

 

Sue from Suisun City, CA

 

Thanks for this tip, Sue. I checked for my mini suite on the Crown and saw the same description! Whew. I am feeling better about the bed.