cruise mattresses and back issues

[momtodogs]

Just a tip, for people with back issues.  

 

I use an adjustable Sleep Number bed, and find flat hotel and cruise ship beds to be excruciatingly painful for my arthritic back. I go to Walmart and get a pool floatie mattress to take on cruises. Inflating it and letting just a little air out and putting it under the sheets on the beds makes all the difference for me (between smiling in the morning, or crying in the bathroom all night.)

[mom says]

I believe an egg crate mattress topper is available on some ships if you go through the cruise line's special needs office. Have you tried that? I can empathize with you, since I have similar problems with my back. The body pillow I had on my last cruise was probably the only thing that helped me get a half decent sleep.

[GUT2407]

12 hours ago, momtodogs said:

Just a tip, for people with back issues.  

 

I use an adjustable Sleep Number bed, and find flat hotel and cruise ship beds to be excruciatingly painful for my arthritic back. I go to Walmart and get a pool floatie mattress to take on cruises. Inflating it and letting just a little air out and putting it under the sheets on the beds makes all the difference for me (between smiling in the morning, or crying in the bathroom all night.)

I love my sleep number bed, might give this a go.

 

[cb at sea]

Apparently, the OP needs elevation while sleeping, hence the "inflatable" to "prop" him up.  It's not about the hardness or softness of the mattress...just that beds are FLAT...and he can't sleep totally prone.

[ReneeFLL]

On 7/28/2019 at 7:02 PM, cb at sea said:

Apparently, the OP needs elevation while sleeping, hence the "inflatable" to "prop" him up.  It's not about the hardness or softness of the mattress...just that beds are FLAT...and he can't sleep totally prone.

No where does the op mention needing to be propped up. I believe they use the floatie so that the bed conforms more to their body and isn't so hard.

[cruznjan]

I find my back hurts less on a cruise ship mattress than my mattress st home.

[Kate P.C]

We like the mattresses on the ship and tend to sleep good. It has never been a problem.

[ger_77]

On 7/26/2019 at 5:27 PM, momtodogs said:

 go to Walmart and get a pool floatie mattress to take on cruises. Inflating it and letting just a little air out and putting it under the sheets on the beds makes all the difference for me (between smiling in the morning, or crying in the bathroom all night.)

What a great idea for people with back issues!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[lenquixote66]

I have a chronic back problem and cannot sleep on a bed unless it feels like concrete.

[Kulpkruising]

I think the inflatable water float is a great idea.  Easy to pack in luggage and inflate once on the ship.

[clo]

On 7/26/2019 at 3:27 PM, momtodogs said:

I go to Walmart

Off-topic but I boycott Walmart because of how they treat their employees and their suppliers.  Dreadful.

[ReneeFLL]

On 11/3/2019 at 2:10 PM, lenquixote66 said:

I have a chronic back problem and cannot sleep on a bed unless it feels like concrete.

We're on the Allure right now and you would sleep great. These mattresses are very hard. 

 

Often I have had the issue with the beds that are sunken in the middle. It was so bad on one cruise the room steward had to put 6 - 8 pool towels to fill it in. Worst bed ever. Not knowing how the mattresses would be I went to Walmart and found these in the sporting goods section. These are inflatable seat cushions. They looked like they would be great to help fill in any areas. Maybe they will come in handy some other time. Now I wished I had brought one of the pool floaties from home.

 

 

[lenquixote66]

On 11/4/2019 at 11:35 PM, clo said:

Off-topic but I boycott Walmart because of how they treat their employees and their suppliers.  Dreadful.

If you want to boycott companies that treat their employees awful you would not go to any store on the planet.

[clo]

3 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

If you want to boycott companies that treat their employees awful you would not go to any store on the planet.

That's not so.  Look at Costco.  It's hard to find an employee who's been there fewer than ten years and twenty is common.  There's a reason for that.

[lenquixote66]

7 minutes ago, clo said:

That's not so.  Look at Costco.  It's hard to find an employee who's been there fewer than ten years and twenty is common.  There's a reason for that.

Okay,one out of thousands. However,not everyone wishes to pay a membership fee to shop at a store

[clo]

1 minute ago, lenquixote66 said:

Okay,one out of thousands. However,not everyone wishes to pay a membership fee to shop at a store

Okay, here's a few.  BTW, I used to work for a corporation who was a supplier to WM.  They were complete jerks to work with.  And as to their employees, as I understand it, as they may have raised wages they then have reduced hours and then didn't have to pay benefits.

[lenquixote66]

2 minutes ago, clo said:

Okay, here's a few.  BTW, I used to work for a corporation who was a supplier to WM.  They were complete jerks to work with.  And as to their employees, as I understand it, as they may have raised wages they then have reduced hours and then didn't have to pay benefits.

I never worked for a corporate enterprise .All of my years of employment were for non profit organizations,enjoyable to work every day and I could sleep at night.

[clo]

3 minutes ago, lenquixote66 said:

I never worked for a corporate enterprise .All of my years of employment were for non profit organizations,enjoyable to work every day and I could sleep at night.

https://www.businessinsider.com/best-retail-jobs-glassdoor-2018-11#1-lululemon-15

[adventuredancer]

i hate the mattresses on the ships. they are always too hard. i sleep best on something super fluffy otherwise various limbs end up going numb. even though DH & i have "our side" on the bed at home, when we get in the room, he lets me test out both beds to see which one is softer. he prefers slightly hard (not concrete floor). i haven't had a lot of luck in asking for the mattress toppers in the past. i will ask my cabin steward, but it sometimes gets forgotten. i have in the past taken the big bag they keep under the bed with the next cruises' comforter and placed that under my bottom sheet as extra padding.

i may need to go searching for a pool float. but i am worried with how much room it will take up as our next cruise is a MED cruise so for once we actually have to fly to a port (not to mention another country/continent). i don't mind buying a cheap one and then leaving it in europe. i know they aren't that expensive. any tips on what to look for

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, adventuredancer said:

i hate the mattresses on the ships. they are always too hard. i sleep best on something super fluffy otherwise various limbs end up going numb. even though DH & i have "our side" on the bed at home, when we get in the room, he lets me test out both beds to see which one is softer. he prefers slightly hard (not concrete floor). i haven't had a lot of luck in asking for the mattress toppers in the past. i will ask my cabin steward, but it sometimes gets forgotten. i have in the past taken the big bag they keep under the bed with the next cruises' comforter and placed that under my bottom sheet as extra padding.

i may need to go searching for a pool float. but i am worried with how much room it will take up as our next cruise is a MED cruise so for once we actually have to fly to a port (not to mention another country/continent). i don't mind buying a cheap one and then leaving it in europe. i know they aren't that expensive. any tips on what to look for

For me there is no such thing as being too hard.I have a chronic back condition and if the mattress feels like concrete I am very happy.

[S-and-J]

I had a very bad time of CMV Magellan a few weeks ago, being stiff and unable to sleep.  After a couple of bad nights I asked the cabin steward what he could do to help and he had no idea.  So I asked him to put the spare blankets under my sheet when he made the bed and that helped.  Then I had an idea and fetched the spare quilt - I slept on top of the bed quilt and put the spare quilt over me.

 

So for the final five or so nights I was OK.

 

I don't know what the problem was because normally am I OK with a firm bed.

[ReneeFLL]

 

On 11/5/2019 at 2:10 AM, ReneeFLL said:

We're on the Allure right now and you would sleep great. These mattresses are very hard. 

 

Often I have had the issue with the beds that are sunken in the middle. It was so bad on one cruise the room steward had to put 6 - 8 pool towels to fill it in. Worst bed ever. Not knowing how the mattresses would be I went to Walmart and found these in the sporting goods section. These are inflatable seat cushions. They looked like they would be great to help fill in any areas. Maybe they will come in handy some other time. Now I wished I had brought one of the pool floaties from home.

 

 

This did help some, but it leaked air. It doesn't have the typical blowup valve like pool floats have. You have to blow it up with a little straw provided and then seal the hole up by pressing it together. It can be blown up again. It is also a little odd shaped and not a regular square.

[cruiserbear55]

My wife can not sleep on the cruise ships beds with her bad back. We go out and buy a 3"Serta queen size bed topper. I leave it in the box and put our cabin luggage tag on it.When it is delivered to the cabin, I strip the bed , put the topper on , and remake bed. It is the difference between night and day as far as comfort goes.When the cruise is over, we give it to the cabin steward for his/her bed.They're big enough that the steward can cut it in half , use one half and give the other half to someone else!

[ger_77]

On 12/4/2019 at 7:24 PM, cruiserbear55 said:

My wife can not sleep on the cruise ships beds with her bad back. We go out and buy a 3"Serta queen size bed topper. I leave it in the box and put our cabin luggage tag on it.When it is delivered to the cabin, I strip the bed , put the topper on , and remake bed. It is the difference between night and day as far as comfort goes.When the cruise is over, we give it to the cabin steward for his/her bed.They're big enough that the steward can cut it in half , use one half and give the other half to someone else!

Isn't it amazing the lengths we're willing to go through to keep on cruising?  It's very kind of you to leave the topper for the stewards!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[angie7911922]

If the mattress is uncomfortable, I always ask for help. Once on a Luxury liner, the mattress was too soft for me. When I asked the stewardess what she could do, I was amazed what happened next..... the carpenter came and they put a piece of wood under the mattress. I slept like an angel for the rest of the cruise.