New mattresses on the Freedom absolutely hard as a rock!

[Oneluckywoman]

Hello, I am live from the freedom of the seas. Also a loyal rcl cruiser with 400 points after the completion of this cruise. One of the things I have always enjoyed on royal are the comfortable beds. This time, i sat down on our bed and honestly it was like sitting on a board. What? I thought they must have forgotten the egg crate or the mattress topper. Asked my room steward and she said they have no more egg crates or mattress toppers, and we had a brand new mattress. Ok. But i can't sleep on a board! She said she would get the housekeeping supervisor to fix it. I also called guest services and asked for a replacement. Of course, they said. No replacement. After the 3rd call, no replacement. No one called to see if the issue had been resolved, at least not yet and we are on day 4. Not the kind of service one would expect.

 

On a brighter note, my room steward has done everything in her power to make the bed more comfortable, and after adding several thick duvets, the bed is at least tolerable.

 

I did speak to the hotel director to give some constructive feedback. He was unapologetic, and said that he had noted hundreds of complaints about the hard beds, and he would send them to his superiors. He also confirmed that these mattresses will be replacing the old comfy ones fleetwide on shops that are 10 years or older, and that the egg crates and mattress toppers have been discarded due to sanitary reasons.

 

Maybe it's just me, but I am not too happy about this change, and would love to hear from others who also got to experience first hand the new mattresses. Apparently not all of the mattresses have been replaced, but they are phasing them in. So you have been forewarned.

[island lady]

Totally agree. Just off Freedom Sunday. We were in the same JS cabin as last time, but

this time we had the replaced Flintstones rock bed!! :eek: Auuggh!! :(

[bbiggar]

Not too happy to read this as I have a hard enough time sleeping in beds other than my own. Hoping at least the pillow will be what I need if I have to have a bad back from the mattress I don't need a neck ache too from a rock hard bed.:eek:

[Turtles06]

RCI must have gotten them from the same place they got the mattresses for Anthem, also incredibly firm. (I like a firm bed, but this was really firm.) The pillows were hard too.

Edited December 16, 2015 by Turtles06

[njmomof2]

Not on Freedom, but sailing on Anthem this Saturday. Others have reported the new, hard beds. My mom will love it...me, not so much. I like a softer mattress and if they no longer have the egg crates, I'm going to have to ask for some duvets to soften the bed. Have been suffering from back and hip issues lately, and while most think a firm mattress is a good thing for that, it's not for my issues.

 

And we've sailed Freedom several times and always sleep wonderfully on their mattresses. Just the thought of a rock hard bed makes me sad.

 

Please let us know if anything else is said about this.

Edited December 16, 2015 by njmomof2

[JuliaNicker]

Not too happy to read this as I have a hard enough time sleeping in beds other than my own. :

 

Well each to their own I suppose.

 

This is not a nice story, its a pity about the beds not being as comfy as we would have liked.

[LadeeBug100]

Just off Freedom also. We also had the new mattress.

I guess it's just us but my husband and I liked the new mattress.

The pillows were not to my liking.

I did take my own pillow , so that was not an issue.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[vrock]

We just got off the anthem on Saturday and the description of Flintstone rock hard beds is accurate unfortunately. We would see people napping in the two70 we were joking saying people prefered the couches to the beds in their room.

 

I have to say other than the beds we loved the ship and had a wonderful cruise.

[mlmc424]

I have started bringing my own egg crate to each of our sailings and just leaving it behind when we depart. Other than the Crown Loft Suite on the Oasis, I find most of the beds on RCL ships to be too hard or too old and saggy.

[2CatsInFlorida]

Hello, I am live from the freedom of the seas. Also a loyal rcl cruiser with 400 points after the completion of this cruise. One of the things I have always enjoyed on royal are the comfortable beds. This time, i sat down on our bed and honestly it was like sitting on a board. What? I thought they must have forgotten the egg crate or the mattress topper. Asked my room steward and she said they have no more egg crates or mattress toppers, and we had a brand new mattress. Ok. But i can't sleep on a board! She said she would get the housekeeping supervisor to fix it. I also called guest services and asked for a replacement. Of course, they said. No replacement. After the 3rd call, no replacement. No one called to see if the issue had been resolved, at least not yet and we are on day 4. Not the kind of service one would expect.

 

 

 

On a brighter note, my room steward has done everything in her power to make the bed more comfortable, and after adding several thick duvets, the bed is at least tolerable.

 

 

 

I did speak to the hotel director to give some constructive feedback. He was unapologetic, and said that he had noted hundreds of complaints about the hard beds, and he would send them to his superiors. He also confirmed that these mattresses will be replacing the old comfy ones fleetwide on shops that are 10 years or older, and that the egg crates and mattress toppers have been discarded due to sanitary reasons.

 

 

 

Maybe it's just me, but I am not too happy about this change, and would love to hear from others who also got to experience first hand the new mattresses. Apparently not all of the mattresses have been replaced, but they are phasing them in. So you have been forewarned.

 

 

We are sailing Freedom in February so thanks for the warning and if the mattress is hard we will avoid that ship in the future. Living close to three ports in Florida we have our choice of cruise lines and ships. Last week the Celebrity Constellation had comfortable mattresses on our cruise.

Edited December 16, 2015 by 2CatsInFlorida

[mollyeilis]

Hoping at least the pillow will be what I need if I have to have a bad back from the mattress I don't need a neck ache too from a rock hard bed.:eek:

 

I've embraced my inner princess, and I bring my own pillow. I sleep (on my side or back) on a stomach-sleeping pillow, as in a really *flat* pillow. If I hurt, I'm not happy. If I have to take pain medication, I'm not happy. So...I bring my pillow and stay happy.

 

I have started bringing my own egg crate to each of our sailings....

 

Nice idea. Might have to try it.

[Camlott]

Not sure if our mattress was old or new, but our recent sailing in a GS on Rhapsody was the hardest mattress I've ever slept on. This is disappointing news if they are going fleetwide.

 

Steward did bring us egg crate topper, but it didn't make much difference.

[CaroleV]

When I asked for an egg crate on the 1st morning on the Anthem I was told by the room steward that I should have asked the night before because now all the suites got all egg crates & no more left. Huh? How did I know what the mattress was like til I slept on it. He put a duvet under my side, didnt help.

[sugcarol]

On the second cruise of Navigator of the Seas post dry dock, the beds were rock hard too. Asked for egg crate but told they were all gone. Sailing this coming February post dry dock on Liberty of the Seas, and hope the new beds will be better this time.

[CVU]

I wondered how sanitary those foam egg crate toppers were.......so I guess they figured out they weren't that great to pass on to each new passenger. I had seen some sad ones out in the hallway on change over day.:eek:

[John&LaLa]

Steward on Brilliance improved ours with a duvet as padding. It seemed to work

[workathome]

We were on. Freedom over Thanksgiving and they were replacing the mattresses when we boarded. When I went to our room they were putting the new mattress on the bed. I asked for a egg crate but they said they could not longer use them. I was fine with that and the new mattress was definitely firm. I then left a 20 for my steward. My sister -in-law'so mattress in her room was like a rock. She asked her steward for the egg crate and same story, was told no more. She went to guest services and asked for something to be done. Again same story, no more egg crates. However, theven next day she received an egg crate. My mattress was firm but no where near as bad as my sister-in-law's. Funny thing is I had an egg crate the next day !

Everyone was very nice when they were explaining the new "policy" and did work with us. I am sure those crates are not the cleanest, but then don't get rock hard mattresses.

[JuliaNicker]

I wondered how sanitary those foam egg crate toppers were.......so I guess they figured out they weren't that great to pass on to each new passenger. I had seen some sad ones out in the hallway on change over day.:eek:

 

I often wonder and shrudder at the thought of it all.

 

more wine please.

[Johnamac123]

Any suggestions on whom to contact (email?) in advance of a future FOS cruise if I want an egg crate or duvet added to my mattress?

[Clarea]

Any suggestions on whom to contact (email?) in advance of a future FOS cruise if I want an egg crate or duvet added to my mattress?

You can try [noparse]special_needs@rccl.com[/noparse].

[fredflint]

I was on the Allure in November and our bed was as hard as a rock we did get a topper it did not help much. We now have an odd list of questions to ask for our next cruise, where can I get a mad to order omelette, coffee in the morning and how hard are the beds, and of course how fast is your internet?

[MermaidMary]

This is not good news at all - I am booked on Independence of the Seas for a music charter next year, and just returned from this year's charter, which was on the Norwegian Pearl. Our mattress on the Pearl was incredibly comfortable both this year and last year (first year of our charter, and my first cruise, so I have only sailed the Pearl).

 

I don't understand why they would cut corners in such an important area - a good night's sleep and a pain-free day are very important for a good vacation experience!

 

No, there isn't a lot of time to sleep on a music charter, but the sleep we do get needs to be good quality. :eek:

 

Mary

Edited December 17, 2015 by MermaidMary

[CookieDiva]

While I've read any number of things that COULD concern me about our very first cruise - reading that the mattresses are hard and terribly uncomfortable is the one thing that HAS me concerned. One of my very favorite things in life is staying in a hotel with a "Heavenly Bed" (or the like) and getting a wonderful night's sleep.

I may not get a good night's sleep tonight worrying about this. [emoji15]

[11madmic]

Does anyone know when they replaced the mattresses on Allure? was on her in July post dry dock and i was very pleased how comfortable it was then. It will be a huge disappointment if they changed it to inferior mattresses. In my opinion a hotel's number one priority is to provide an excellent night of sleep, regardless if it is a floating hotel! :D

[h20skibum]

Maybe Royal should take a cue from Princess. They are replacing beds fleetwide with new luxury bedding.

 

http://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/princess-luxury-bed/?utm_campaign=PE5MS116B_US&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua&utm_source=BRAND&utm_medium=EMAIL&utm_campaign=SHIPNEWS&utm_content=PE5MS116B_516B&elqTrackId=f934e49a2317448983d47316442892d3&elq=9120d8c5c237408e845577e8e8812bc4&elqCampaignId=1345&elqaid=1475&elqat=1