What happened to the beds?

[k2excursion]

The mattresses have not all been changed on every ship. Most ships will have a mixture of some soft mattresses (the old style) and the hard mattresses (the new ones). I think that the Breeze has nothing but the hard beds, because it was the first ship to be built after this change from soft to hard took place. Many people prefer hard beds, so they will be pleased with the change. I absolutely hate hard beds. I had nothing but the soft mattresses, which provided me with the best sleeps possible, until I sailed the Miracle in 2011. I slept horribly. The difference is blatantly obvious. Since that cruise, it's been a hit or miss, but mostly it's been the hard beds. Anytime mattresses are changed out now, they seem to be the hard ones. Ships don't change out all their mattresses at once, and they can be changed out at any time, not just at drydock. They are changed as needed on a room to room basis, and could even be changed on you in the middle of your sailing.

 

Even the sofa beds used to be very soft & comfortable. But now, the new sofa beds are harder than a rock, even harder than the new mattresses, if that's even possible. I sleep on top of the comforter to get some cushion.

Edited August 29, 2014 by k2excursion

[ShakyBeef]

Of course they're not "rock hard", but they are certainly beyond firm and well into the realm of "hard".

 

For all of you who have only had comfortable beds and good nights' sleep on Carnival, I am happy. Really.:) And I wish you only more of the same. But if you ever do happen to experience the change in the mattress as the rest of us have, you'll probably think to yourself (or even say out loud), "All those people on CC weren't full of it after all.:eek: This mattress does suck!":mad:

....

 

 

Oops - I made a minor typo in this post that seems to change my intended meaning. It should read:

 

...This mattress does suck!:mad:"

 

Not:

 

...This mattress does suck!":mad:

 

The unhappiness is that of the speaker upon their hypothetical first experience with one of the new, hard mattresses. Not mine. I wasn't trying to express any anger there.:o Sorry 'bout that.

[MichelleChell]

I just had back surgery and cruise Magic on Thanksgiving week. I just remembered how much I hate their beds. UGH. Gonna have to figure out something to do. I also have a Sleep Number bed. Love it! We always hurt getting home from the cruise from the beds. I may have to bring a topper too.

[ShakyBeef]

I just had back surgery and cruise Magic on Thanksgiving week. I just remembered how much I hate their beds. UGH. Gonna have to figure out something to do. I also have a Sleep Number bed. Love it! We always hurt getting home from the cruise from the beds. I may have to bring a topper too.

 

My topper arrived today!:) It was only two days ago that I ordered it! That's some crazy-fast free shipping from WalMart!:eek: If you're going to take a topper, I suggest you buy it at least a couple weeks before your cruise. It needs to air out and de-compress for about a week according to the included instructions and the reviews I read. But it looks like once it is re-vacuum packed, it will fit in a carry-on sized suitcase.;) Good luck with trying to get some comfortable sleep on your cruise. And don't forget to take your pain pills with you, just in case the bed thing doesn't work out well.:o

[MichelleChell]

Thanks lucky for me it wasn't a major surgery but I still have about 6 more weeks or recovery with no bending and lifting. I am hoping by cruise I will be good as new. TOTALLY not gonna forget the pain pills just in case.

Im thinking I may just tip the steward to put a extra comforter under the sheet.

[Rudyard]

My first cruise on Triumph the beds were nice and soft. On our second cruise, which was after the drydock repairs and 2.0 upgrades, they were definitely firmer.

[travelerblue]

The beds and the comforters on the Sunshine were great, and I slept without any problems.

 

I hope we get lucky like you when we go on the Sunshine in 3 weeks. My DH has fibromyalgia and needs a good night sleep. He likes a firmer mattress than I do so hopefully it won't be a problem for him. But I am not looking forward to achy hips so I hope we get the comfy mattress!

[utopiagal]

Owen and I just got off the Triumph this morning and I thought the bed was a little more firm this time, but as usual I slept like a baby the entire cruise. Nothing to complain about here.

[pokergirl34]

I definitely noticed a harder bed on the Conquest in February compared to all of our other cruises. My hips hurt so badly I slept on a pillow :( I never had that happen before.

I will ask for an egg crate topper this time!!

[dickinson]

In 2011 I booked a Princess cruise after sailing mostly on Carnival. There used to be threads there about how hard the beds were although some people were saying they were getting new pillow top beds. I had the pillow top and it was quite comfy. Now that it is a couple of years later there are no more threads about how bad the beds are.

 

Now I read that the Pride out of Baltimore is going to do some longer itineraries in 2016 and I am considering a b2b which would total 21 days. Yesterday after hearing about this I started reading the Carnival board again . To my horror I am reading about newer hard beds!! Oy. I am now afraid to go on a 21 day cruise . I guess the good news is that because we are so close to the port we would be dropped off so easy to bring along a mattress topper. Can you bring it on in a large trash bag or do you need to put it in a suitcase?

[dandsfranklin]

One of the things I've always loved about Carnival are their comfortable beds. I just returned on the Triumph and the mattresses were HARD and very uncomfortable. Everyone in our group complained. Curious to know if it's like this on the Magic or other ships.

 

I noticed this on the Triumph on our Dec 2012 (11th) cruise. Before our next cruise in Aug 2013 I bought a twin size egg crate (my husband said the bed felt fine to him so he didn't need anything on his side) and took it with me. I have cruised with it three times now and it's packaged up and ready for my upcoming cruise on the Magic. I may not need it on this ship but I've learned I'd rather take a chance and take it than to be without. The cruise without it was rough on my bones.

[dickinson]

For long time cruisers out there…. are these beds any harder than what they had before the comfy beds? We never cruised with those comfy beds but had no trouble with what Carnival did have in the 90's and up to 2004.

[lindnet]

Has anyone asked John Heald about this? Just thinking if enough people complained about it, he might take it to the beards.

[dickinson]

Has anyone asked John Heald about this? Just thinking if enough people complained about it, he might take it to the beards.

 

Just did it :)

[lindnet]

Just did it :)

 

Good job! I must have missed it. Did he answer you?

[rainbowflag]

I will ask for an egg crate topper this time!!

FYI, never once has an egg crate topper been available for me when I requested one. The steward always brings a comforter and remakes the bed. This helps, at least I can sleep. Good luck.

[CrimsonTideGal]

Has anyone asked John Heald about this? Just thinking if enough people complained about it, he might take it to the beards.

 

 

Yes I did last week and he responded

 

John Heald No, absolutely not. The Carnival Comfort beds are not being changed. I was sent a link from cruise critic yesterday to my blog and I saw someone had said this and it is simply not true. Now there may be the odd mattress that needs replacing and please remember you can always ask your cabin steward to do so. Last Sunday I conducted a poll here and we had over 5000 comments which the vast majority said they had a wonderful nights sleep. I am sorry that yours was uncomfortable, thats not good and I am sure your next cruise you will sleep so well. If there is anything I can do please let me know and have a brilliant time

[DGP1111]

For long time cruisers out there…. are these beds any harder than what they had before the comfy beds? We never cruised with those comfy beds but had no trouble with what Carnival did have in the 90's and up to 2004.

 

Although I'm rather rarely cruising on CCL for the last few years, I can say that on my last one I did not notice any difference. I got a quality comfortable sleep.

 

When a somewhat recent shipment of mattresses arrived at Port of Tampa for a Carnival ship, the factory tags on them only listed as being 'Firm'. I did notice that the vendor name was different from those I'd checked on earlier sailings, but no big deal I guess.

 

.

 

.

[EZ4]

The mattress question has been around for a few years. This thread is from 2011.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/archive/index.php/t-1406414.html

[dickinson]

Yes I did last week and he responded

 

John Heald No, absolutely not. The Carnival Comfort beds are not being changed. I was sent a link from cruise critic yesterday to my blog and I saw someone had said this and it is simply not true. Now there may be the odd mattress that needs replacing and please remember you can always ask your cabin steward to do so. Last Sunday I conducted a poll here and we had over 5000 comments which the vast majority said they had a wonderful nights sleep. I am sorry that yours was uncomfortable, thats not good and I am sure your next cruise you will sleep so well. If there is anything I can do please let me know and have a brilliant time

 

Interesting.. I wonder what he meant by "there may be the odd mattress that needs replacing".. replacing with what? Shouldn't it be replaced with the same kind of mattress?

 

EZ4- thanks for that link. Unfortunately the OP never responded back after they slept on it. I will assume it was ok but one never knows. They said they would post after they slept on it but never did.

 

Over all John Heald's response does not seem to jive with what some people on this thread are saying. Too many people complaining of aching bones from firm mattresses.

[evandbob]

Probably trying to downplay bedbug situations by calling them " an odd mattress to be replaced".

[v3cruiser]

Cruising on the legend in 11, victory in 12, glory in 14, there was quite a diffrence in matress quality from the more comfortable mattresses on legend and victory. The new matresses on glory were pretty hard. Lookslikecarnival is continuing to cut back. Thier matresses used to be a big deal years back and they were pretty proud of thier comfortable bed.

Im 6 1 210 lbs

My wife is 5 3 110 and we both had the same opinion.

[ShakyBeef]

So, I'm back from my cruise on the Pride. All went perfectly, according to plan. I took the foam mattress topper and laid it out on the bed upon unpacking on Embarkation Day. I asked the room steward to install it whenever he got a chance. He said "No problem" and popped in and did it sometime before turn down.:)

 

On debarkation day, I asked the steward if I could leave the mattress pad with him, letting him know it was bought new for this cruise. I said I hoped he knew of somewhere it could be put to use and suggested it could be easily cut in half for two twin beds. He grinned really big and said, "Sure! I can put it on my bed!:D" This is just what I was hoping for.:) Even if he just tossed it into the garbage, it was worth the $30 to ensure DH and I could sleep on our cruise. But I do hope he put it to use - I hate to waste.:o

 

Just thought I'd share my experience for those thinking of doing the same thing.:o

[dickinson]

So, I'm back from my cruise on the Pride. All went perfectly, according to plan. I took the foam mattress topper and laid it out on the bed upon unpacking on Embarkation Day. I asked the room steward to install it whenever he got a chance. He said "No problem" and popped in and did it sometime before turn down.:)

 

On debarkation day, I asked the steward if I could leave the mattress pad with him, letting him know it was bought new for this cruise. I said I hoped he knew of somewhere it could be put to use and suggested it could be easily cut in half for two twin beds. He grinned really big and said, "Sure! I can put it on my bed!:D" This is just what I was hoping for.:) Even if he just tossed it into the garbage, it was worth the $30 to ensure DH and I could sleep on our cruise. But I do hope he put it to use - I hate to waste.:o

 

Just thought I'd share my experience for those thinking of doing the same thing.:o

 

Thanks for letting us know. Did you test the bed first to confirm it really was hard? How thick was your mattress topper?

[ShakyBeef]

Thanks for letting us know. Did you test the bed first to confirm it really was hard? How thick was your mattress topper?

 

Yes, I checked first. Nearly broke my butt sitting down on the bed without the topper!:eek::p The mattress pad had several zones of differing thicknesses and patterns. I'd say the thinnest part was about 1 1/2", and the thickest was about 4". It worked out pretty well. Not the most comfortable bed, and nothing like the old Carnival Comfort Bedding, but definitely do-able.:)