Travel/Cruise Friendly Bedding Topper

[awestover89]

We recently did our first 3 night Bahamas cruise, and to save a bit we opted to share a room with three adults. It worked well, except for the sofa bed being extremely uncomfortable. We have another 3N cruise scheduled next year, and a few AI resort stays where we will likely need to use a sofa bed again. 

 

Does anybody know of any portable bedding toppers that we could potentially invest in for future trips?

[clo]

I believe I've seen people mention air mattresses. Also with the cruise, perhaps you could get a 'comforter' or such to put under the sheet.

[crystalspin]

Look at backpacker stores (or websites) such as R.E.I. -- my mom used to have a packable air-mattress that was only about 1" thick blown up, but very comfy because between the coated canvas outer layers was a foam (?) pad. You'd roll it up with the valve open, expressing the air, then cap it. To inflate you just unrolled it, opened the valve and the foam would suck most of the air back inside. A couple of puffs to top it off! It was the Thermo-Rest brand, which has evolved into something I do not even recognize (!), but this Klymit model is the most like it I see:

https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/product/143301/klymit-self-inflate-v-sleeping-pad

 

In fact, this may be genius FOR my mom when she shares a mini-suite with us on a 2-wk cruise to Alaska!

[pf778c]

As I prefer a "pillowy" bed, I always request a topper prior to embarkation and it's always been on the bed when I board.  Not something I'd want to have to pack and bring with me!

[awestover89]

12 hours ago, clo said:

I believe I've seen people mention air mattresses. Also with the cruise, perhaps you could get a 'comforter' or such to put under the sheet.

 

Right, on a cruise we usually can with no problem, but with resorts, especially where the staff may not speak much English, we thought this would be a better route to take. It would also allow us to know exactly what the feel will be, vs having to worry about different egg shells or comforters or anything like that that might vary from cruise to cruise

[steelersfan4ever]

8 hours ago, pf778c said:

As I prefer a "pillowy" bed, I always request a topper prior to embarkation and it's always been on the bed when I board.  Not something I'd want to have to pack and bring with me!

Where do you make this request at?

[crystalspin]

19 hours ago, crystalspin said:

this Klymit model is the most like it I see:

https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/product/143301/klymit-self-inflate-v-sleeping-pad

 

In fact, this may be genius FOR my mom when she shares a mini-suite with us on a 2-wk cruise to Alaska!

Thanks to the OP for asking, I went ahead and bought the Klymit. Someone will get use from it at sometime!

[pf778c]

On 1/17/2020 at 4:52 PM, steelersfan4ever said:

Where do you make this request at?

I just email my TA and have them contact the cruiseline on my behalf along with any other requests I may need to make.

[awestover89]

We just got back from an All Inclusive resort in Panama, ended up going with a Klymit but a different type; the Static V Luxe. https://amzn.to/37BTKWH It rolls up a little smaller than the Self Inflate version and has a lower r-value, which basically means it offers less heat insulation. We were worried with the higher r-value of the self-inflate that it would be too warm.

 

Overall it worked out really well. Rolled up tiny for our suitcase, took only a few breaths to fully inflate, and was quite a bit more comfortable than the pull out bed at the resort. Slightly smaller than a twin bed, so a little snug if you roll around a lot while sleeping, but overall it worked very well for our intended use.