Oh,no! No king beds!

[poss]

I'm posting this separately-- hoping maybe to avoid for others the big disappointment that's just come tumbling down on me. As anyone knows who's been reading my other post, I've gotten terrifically interested in a PG cruise. Though the cruise would not be until '09, I was excited enough to begin looking at the deck plan, cabin choices, etc. Rude awakening to learn that the bed size is queen on that ship. No can do-- a major disappointment. Don't know how many other folks find sleeping in anything less than king virtually impossible, but here's the info in case it's helpful. (I wonder if there's any possibility that there'll be kings by '09. Or are those cabins simply too small to make that practical?)

 

Well, it was nice dreaming for the week or so FP seemed to be in the picture for us. Such a wealth of enticing details and suggestions on that other post! Sigh.

[newlondon]

The cabins are too small-even the penthouse suites for king beds. I sympathize--why don't you get them to set up as twin beds?

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Is it the length that's the problem? If so splitting into twins sounds like it won't solve the problem. Otherwise it's a sensible solution.

 

Why don't you plan a land trip to FP instead?

[AtA]

Geeze I never looked, but for us it's not a problem. (We're on the shorter size.) But I can certainly understand how it would be a problem for others. I'm sorry for your disappointment.

 

And I would think the larger suites could be made into king? Or is the configuration on the pg that different from the other 3 ships? Of course you could figure that you'd be exhausted after a full day of snorkeling, etc and wouldn't care where you slept. ;)

[petlover]

Poss, I understand your disappointment as it sounds like you're accustomed to sleeping in a King size bed.

BUT I certainly wouldn't let the size of the bed interfere with going and have the trip of a life time. We're use to a Queen at home and when we stay with our daughter we have to downsize to a double. It is an adjustment but it works.

 

I think having 2 twins would solve everything. Hope you're able to go!!

[fansynancy]

We too are used to sleeping in a king sized bed. We were lucky enough to cruise the PG a few years ago. We did not mind the queen bed. Maybe that's because we left the dog at home. There is so much more room in the bed without him!

 

Nancy

[azgkrudi]

Wow, I guess if you haven't sailed the PG in (what I call) Heaven on Earth, you wouldn't realize how totally insignificant something like your bed size is. That's the LAST thing I thought of as we glided through paradise. Please don't let that keep you from an experience such as this! :(

[ChatKat in Ca.]

. We did not mind the queen bed. Maybe that's because we left the dog at home. There is so much more room in the bed without him!

 

Nancy

 

My kind of people...That's the worst part of the beds on the PG. or any cruiseship..no DOGS ALLOWED!.

[poss]

Thanks for the various kinds of feed-back.

It's width, not length that's the problem for us. I'm a life-long insomniac (runs deeply in the family), and while my husband usually sleeps well (in the "right" conditions), both of us are restless sleepers-- big tossers and turners. Any time in our life that we've tried to sleep in queen bed, it simply hasn't worked at all: we're awake pretty much all night. On very rare occasions when we've absolutely been stuck, we've taken sleep aid-- but of course we're not about to take sleeping pills for a week or more. One of our kids has king bed in their guest room-- great. With the other one, when we sleep at their house, one of us sleeps on an air mattress on the floor beside the queen bed-- or sometimes we bunk at a motel.

In short, we've tried the queen bed trick, and it simply doesn't work for us. Things like whether or not baths are done in marble, or whether there's separate shower and tub, or whether the room size is luxurious (as it seems to us it is on Voyager, e.g.)-- such things are definitely not show-stoppers. Needing a king is not some "picky" or trivial detail for us: it's the difference between whether we sleep or not. (Finding appropriate accommodations in Europe is often tricky-- but I just have to look harder.)

Sometimes when it's been necessary to stay in a hotel where there weren't kings, we've had to do separate beds. Obviously, no great tragedy for a night or so-- but not something I'd look forward to (or settle for) for a longer period.

FP sounds absolutely ravishing, and I believe we'd love the PG, but we've survived without that splendid experience up til now, and I guess that's the way it's got to stay (unless there's a way to push twin beds together on the PG-- as has often worked for us in hotels; not ideal, but definitely acceptable).

I do appreciate the various suggestions and good-will. Thank you!

[BILLP1]

Wasn't a problem for us. Wife slept on the floor...

 

just kidding....

[AtA]

Darn I just looked for you to see if any of the rooms have 3 person capacity. Those rooms I believe have the sofa that folds out into a bed. No such luck on the PG.

[Hambagahle]

I sympathize with you and share your problem. However there aren't any king beds on the other ships - at least not in the PH suites which we have been in. What they DO have though are twins which are together and made up as one bed, and you can have separate duvets. Now at home we have a king bed which is in fact similar - two twins put together with one mattress pad, one fitted sheet and two duvets. This solves our problem and to be very honest the way the beds are on Mariner and Voyager do too even though they are 20cm narrower in total - but hey! that's only 10cm per person!! The important thing is that you have your own mattress so if you toss and turn the other person doesn't feel it. It is really worth asking if the PG has the same arrangement because if so, it may well work!!

[Hambagahle]

I sympathize with you and share your problem. However there aren't any king beds on the other ships - at least not in the PH suites which we have been in. What they DO have though are twins which are together and made up as one bed, and you can have separate duvets. Now at home we have a king bed which is in fact similar - two twins put together with one mattress pad, one fitted sheet and two duvets. This solves our problem and to be very honest the way the beds are on Mariner and Voyager do too even though they are 20cm narrower in total - but hey! that's only 10cm per person!! The important thing is that you have your own mattress so if you toss and turn the other person doesn't feel it. It is really worth asking if the PG has the same arrangement because if so, it may well work!!

[PaulaJK]

Poss,

I know from your posts that you have cruised.

I have never experienced a king size bed on any cruise,including

Regent, Silversea and Crystal.

 

Did you have a king size bed on your previous cruises?

Is it possible that you had the standard queen and it worked

for you?

[AtA]

If you've sailed on RSSC before you experienced a European King which is equivalent to an American queen size.

This is from the Regent website.

Amenities listed for Voyager, Mariner and Navigator: Each includes a private balcony, European king-size bed convertible to

Amenities listed for Paul Gauguin: All oceanview staterooms and suites (more than 50% with private balconies) that feature temperature control, queen-size bed (a limited number can have twin-bed configuration),

 

Here is a site that explains both. http://mattress.lifetips.com/cat/61072/mattress-sizes/

[PaulaJK]

Sherlock ATA. We've sailed both Voyager & Mariner

and didn't realize that the beds were 'king' size. I

wonder if the dimensions of these beds are the

same as the land based king beds because they certainly

didn't look like king beds to me. We have a queen

at home, so I would have thought that I would have

noticed. Apparently, I didn't.

[AtA]

Hi Paula, You posted before I ammended my post. Notice I did do that detective work also as I was curious. ;)

[PaulaJK]

ATA ---I never knew such a web site existed.

I confess that it possibly provided more information than I

could ever utilize.

Since the 'UK King' is more like the American queen, perhaps that

is what they mean by a European King???

 

Poss--- With all that said, I would really worry now IF the beds on

the PG are listed as smaller than the 'European Kings' on

other ships.

[poss]

I'm tickled at the continuing in-put. It may be that we'll never manage to cruise the PG, but that certainly won't be for lack of encouragement from CCers.

 

The beds on Voyager are definitely not queen. As has been said, they're "European King." You won't be surprised to hear that I did careful homework on that detail before we booked our first Voyager cruise. I had Regent (then Radisson) e-mail me the exact size of the bed since I'd been hearing so many different stories. Then we laid out those measurements on our king bed at home. The European king (as has been said) is a little smaller than the American king-- but only a very little bit-- a couple of inches. The kings on the Voyager are way closer in size to a king bed than to a queen. We were fine with it (better than fine!)

I will definitely contact Regent and get the exact size of those beds on PG. And of course the main thing-- find out if they can put two twins together for us. I'll call them early this coming week and will report back. (I know the world will be waiting for the answer with bated breath.)

Thanks, everyone!

[Charsie]

Sometimes I cruise with my husband, and we keep the beds together...but we are also used to a king bed at home, so I understand your concern! It's not the same, period. However, often I cruise with my best girlfriend, and the ship separates the "European sized king convertible twins" for us (with a night table placed in between). Completely separate, and completely comfortable. I know they can do this on the Navigator, and it appears from AtA's detective work, that "limited cabins" on the Paul Gauguin have this. It's worth checking into, Poss, for that wonderful experience.

[newlondon]

Poss, you're absolutely right. The european king is only slightly smaller than a standard american king. My wife and I can't handle a queen and on the PG in a penthouse suite-deck 8- we asked to have the twin configuration. We did the same on Silver Wind this summer and it worked fine. We are doing Voyager Venice to Istanbul 9/08 and we will stick with the Euroking set up. DO NOT let the queen size keep you from FP or the PG. It's a magical place and a wonderful cruise.

[egret]

Poss,

I also suffer from insomnia, even in FP. If it isn't raining you can sit out on your veranda and count stars, which worked for me. Another reason I loved the beach bungalow at Le Meridien on Bora Bora. I could get up and sit by the lagoon or take a quick dip even. Another poster mentioned that if you really have to have a king size, you may want to just do a land resort. All of the bungalows we have been in have had king size beds.

 

The PG is awfully nice, in my opinion, it would be worth it not to sleep for the entire cruise.

[poss]

OK, here's the scoop (if I've got it right):

 

Yes, on the PG there are certain cabins where there're twin beds that, yes, can be pushed together. BUT:

 

The bed size on the PG is different from on the Voyager. SO:

 

Even with two twins on PG pushed together, the size is not anywhere close to the European king on the Voyager.

 

On Voyager, king bed = 6'5"x 6'

On PG, twin bed= 6'7"x2'8"

Thus, on PG twins pushed together= 6'7"x64" (cf 72" on Voyager)

 

In fact, queen on PG is 6'7"x63". In other words, only 1" less wide than two twins pushed together.

 

My math may be all wrong, or I may have been given incorrect info by Regent. But that's the story thus far.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

So that doesn't sound so bad, considering that a normal (North American) twin bed is 39" wide, and considering that the main issue is not bothering one another while you sleep. But that's your call--I can tell you all the luxury resorts in FP have wonderful big king-sized beds!

[newlondon]

Poss, If you're worried about keeping each other from sleeping; don't push the beds together. Puts a crimp on other activities, but you will sleep!