Should I expect more from Royal Caribbean?

[mAdCapper]

Ok, I've been through this in my head a lot and I thought I'd look to some veterans for their opinion.

 

I was on the March 9th sailing of Adventure of the Seas and let me start by saying overall I had a blast.  Amazing service staff, great ports.  Had a great cruise.  That said, it was nearly ruined by a single, though major problem.  Our bed was the WORST bed I have ever slept on.  In my 20s I went camping with a tent and a sleeping bag and that was more comfortable than this bed.  It was TORTURE.  Both my fiancée and I suffered nightly.  We brought this to our attendant's attention day 2 (the attendant was sub par as it was unfortunately but nothing worth talking about)and nothing happened.  I asked for a topper and got nothing.  On the 3rd dinner service, our first in the MDR we mentioned it to our server in passing conversation and low and behold things were taken into action.  He told his supervisor and suddenly a topper was found, though our attendant said there were none.  

 

Unfortunately it was a half inch used foam topper that did little to assist in the sleep.  The bed frame was a solid sheet of metal...it looked like leftover from the ceiling construction to be honest.  The mattress was too thin and obviously too worn.  This was, as i said the worst I've ever slept on.  This was so disheartening as we had so much fun on the cruise.  We were 11 in total and every day was a blast, except every morning we woke up over tired and restless in sleep.  It nearly ruined what was a great cruise.  

I also felt I didn't have a poor expectation.  We had a spacious balcony from a royal up (from standard balcony, probably not worth in retrospect) so I felt like I paid extra for a worse sleep.  I sailed on Navigator in December and though we had a promenade view, the bed was 100x better than this.  In fact as a result I have been suffering from back issues for the last few weeks post cruise.  I would have had a week sick save for a great company that let me take a home week for work.  

 

To get to the point of the post.  I voiced this concern to both my survey and to RC's email address for customer concerns. I felt like this level of poor experience deserved something as an apology.  Both my fiancée and I are now Prime in the casino so we'd absolutely planned on being on RC again and we have a goal of 2 cruises a year.  

 

The response from customer service was we are sorry and value your feedback.  Nothing else, nothing more.  This has slightly soured my experience with Royal Caribbean.  I've never gone to a head office of any company before so I really want to know am I expecting too much?  Having previously worked as a store manager in retail, I know I've done a LOT more to make it right.  We spent $2000 on the cruise, and thousands more between specialty, drinks, casino, etc.  As a manager i'd over easily given a gift card as an apology and to make it right. 

This is something in the company's control.  I mean a decent foam mattress costs $500 and lasts years.  This is how much it would have cost for the situation to have never happened.  It isn't a complaint on weather or clearly defined rules.  

Am I over expecting?  

[wordell1]

2 hours ago, mAdCapper said:

Ok, I've been through this in my head a lot and I thought I'd look to some veterans for their opinion.

 

I was on the March 9th sailing of Adventure of the Seas and let me start by saying overall I had a blast.  Amazing service staff, great ports.  Had a great cruise.  That said, it was nearly ruined by a single, though major problem.  Our bed was the WORST bed I have ever slept on.  In my 20s I went camping with a tent and a sleeping bag and that was more comfortable than this bed.  It was TORTURE.  Both my fiancée and I suffered nightly.  We brought this to our attendant's attention day 2 (the attendant was sub par as it was unfortunately but nothing worth talking about)and nothing happened.  I asked for a topper and got nothing.  On the 3rd dinner service, our first in the MDR we mentioned it to our server in passing conversation and low and behold things were taken into action.  He told his supervisor and suddenly a topper was found, though our attendant said there were none.  

 

Unfortunately it was a half inch used foam topper that did little to assist in the sleep.  The bed frame was a solid sheet of metal...it looked like leftover from the ceiling construction to be honest.  The mattress was too thin and obviously too worn.  This was, as i said the worst I've ever slept on.  This was so disheartening as we had so much fun on the cruise.  We were 11 in total and every day was a blast, except every morning we woke up over tired and restless in sleep.  It nearly ruined what was a great cruise.  

I also felt I didn't have a poor expectation.  We had a spacious balcony from a royal up (from standard balcony, probably not worth in retrospect) so I felt like I paid extra for a worse sleep.  I sailed on Navigator in December and though we had a promenade view, the bed was 100x better than this.  In fact as a result I have been suffering from back issues for the last few weeks post cruise.  I would have had a week sick save for a great company that let me take a home week for work.  

 

To get to the point of the post.  I voiced this concern to both my survey and to RC's email address for customer concerns. I felt like this level of poor experience deserved something as an apology.  Both my fiancée and I are now Prime in the casino so we'd absolutely planned on being on RC again and we have a goal of 2 cruises a year.  

 

The response from customer service was we are sorry and value your feedback.  Nothing else, nothing more.  This has slightly soured my experience with Royal Caribbean.  I've never gone to a head office of any company before so I really want to know am I expecting too much?  Having previously worked as a store manager in retail, I know I've done a LOT more to make it right.  We spent $2000 on the cruise, and thousands more between specialty, drinks, casino, etc.  As a manager i'd over easily given a gift card as an apology and to make it right. 

This is something in the company's control.  I mean a decent foam mattress costs $500 and lasts years.  This is how much it would have cost for the situation to have never happened.  It isn't a complaint on weather or clearly defined rules.  

Am I over expecting?  

Mattress comfort is subjective.  Having said that, this is what I would describe as a known issue with Royal.  The beds are very firm.  I don't really like them either, but my wife loves them so it's not everyone who is complaining.  They can bring in the foam topper, but beyond that the beds are the beds and they aren't going to change them out.

[smokeybandit]

I always sleep well on RC beds.

But now you know for next time to bring something that you know will make your sleep more comfortable.

[CanHardlyWait]

2 hours ago, mAdCapper said:

Ok, I've been through this in my head a lot and I thought I'd look to some veterans for their opinion.

 

I was on the March 9th sailing of Adventure of the Seas and let me start by saying overall I had a blast.  Amazing service staff, great ports.  Had a great cruise.  That said, it was nearly ruined by a single, though major problem.  Our bed was the WORST bed I have ever slept on.  In my 20s I went camping with a tent and a sleeping bag and that was more comfortable than this bed.  It was TORTURE.  Both my fiancée and I suffered nightly.  We brought this to our attendant's attention day 2 (the attendant was sub par as it was unfortunately but nothing worth talking about)and nothing happened.  I asked for a topper and got nothing.  On the 3rd dinner service, our first in the MDR we mentioned it to our server in passing conversation and low and behold things were taken into action.  He told his supervisor and suddenly a topper was found, though our attendant said there were none.  

 

Unfortunately it was a half inch used foam topper that did little to assist in the sleep.  The bed frame was a solid sheet of metal...it looked like leftover from the ceiling construction to be honest.  The mattress was too thin and obviously too worn.  This was, as i said the worst I've ever slept on.  This was so disheartening as we had so much fun on the cruise.  We were 11 in total and every day was a blast, except every morning we woke up over tired and restless in sleep.  It nearly ruined what was a great cruise.  

I also felt I didn't have a poor expectation.  We had a spacious balcony from a royal up (from standard balcony, probably not worth in retrospect) so I felt like I paid extra for a worse sleep.  I sailed on Navigator in December and though we had a promenade view, the bed was 100x better than this.  In fact as a result I have been suffering from back issues for the last few weeks post cruise.  I would have had a week sick save for a great company that let me take a home week for work.  

 

To get to the point of the post.  I voiced this concern to both my survey and to RC's email address for customer concerns. I felt like this level of poor experience deserved something as an apology.  Both my fiancée and I are now Prime in the casino so we'd absolutely planned on being on RC again and we have a goal of 2 cruises a year.  

 

The response from customer service was we are sorry and value your feedback.  Nothing else, nothing more.  This has slightly soured my experience with Royal Caribbean.  I've never gone to a head office of any company before so I really want to know am I expecting too much?  Having previously worked as a store manager in retail, I know I've done a LOT more to make it right.  We spent $2000 on the cruise, and thousands more between specialty, drinks, casino, etc.  As a manager i'd over easily given a gift card as an apology and to make it right. 

This is something in the company's control.  I mean a decent foam mattress costs $500 and lasts years.  This is how much it would have cost for the situation to have never happened.  It isn't a complaint on weather or clearly defined rules.  

Am I over expecting?  

Best chance of ever getting any "customer service" is while you are still onboard.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

2 hours ago, mAdCapper said:

Ok, I've been through this in my head a lot and I thought I'd look to some veterans for their opinion.

 

I was on the March 9th sailing of Adventure of the Seas and let me start by saying overall I had a blast.  Amazing service staff, great ports.  Had a great cruise.  That said, it was nearly ruined by a single, though major problem.  Our bed was the WORST bed I have ever slept on.  In my 20s I went camping with a tent and a sleeping bag and that was more comfortable than this bed.  It was TORTURE.  Both my fiancée and I suffered nightly.  We brought this to our attendant's attention day 2 (the attendant was sub par as it was unfortunately but nothing worth talking about)and nothing happened.  I asked for a topper and got nothing.  On the 3rd dinner service, our first in the MDR we mentioned it to our server in passing conversation and low and behold things were taken into action.  He told his supervisor and suddenly a topper was found, though our attendant said there were none.  

 

Unfortunately it was a half inch used foam topper that did little to assist in the sleep.  The bed frame was a solid sheet of metal...it looked like leftover from the ceiling construction to be honest.  The mattress was too thin and obviously too worn.  This was, as i said the worst I've ever slept on.  This was so disheartening as we had so much fun on the cruise.  We were 11 in total and every day was a blast, except every morning we woke up over tired and restless in sleep.  It nearly ruined what was a great cruise.  

I also felt I didn't have a poor expectation.  We had a spacious balcony from a royal up (from standard balcony, probably not worth in retrospect) so I felt like I paid extra for a worse sleep.  I sailed on Navigator in December and though we had a promenade view, the bed was 100x better than this.  In fact as a result I have been suffering from back issues for the last few weeks post cruise.  I would have had a week sick save for a great company that let me take a home week for work.  

 

To get to the point of the post.  I voiced this concern to both my survey and to RC's email address for customer concerns. I felt like this level of poor experience deserved something as an apology.  Both my fiancée and I are now Prime in the casino so we'd absolutely planned on being on RC again and we have a goal of 2 cruises a year.  

 

The response from customer service was we are sorry and value your feedback.  Nothing else, nothing more.  This has slightly soured my experience with Royal Caribbean.  I've never gone to a head office of any company before so I really want to know am I expecting too much?  Having previously worked as a store manager in retail, I know I've done a LOT more to make it right.  We spent $2000 on the cruise, and thousands more between specialty, drinks, casino, etc.  As a manager i'd over easily given a gift card as an apology and to make it right. 

This is something in the company's control.  I mean a decent foam mattress costs $500 and lasts years.  This is how much it would have cost for the situation to have never happened.  It isn't a complaint on weather or clearly defined rules.  

Am I over expecting?  

So I’m just wondering what it is you are expecting to get for your discomfort?   I mean, I feel badly about your experience but as @wordell1 noted…mattress comfort is subjective.  Royal’s mattresses have been known to be good…bad…soft…hard…comfortable…uncomfortable.  
I would concentrate on all the great aspects from your cruise and move on from there.

[mAdCapper]

I guess my point is I was on Navigator of the Seas and had no such issues with the bed.  I get subjective but to have such a stark difference from not only the same ship line but the same ship class?  As for what I expect, I suppose the same service I would have given in my last job, some future cruise credit or on board credit as an apology for the terrible condition.  We aren't talking princess and the pea, here...I can sleep on almost anything, this set up was legitimately terrible.  That said it sounds based on replies here that I need to adjust my expectations?  Having a base line of my experience on Navigator of the seas 3 months earlier I would have thought that those beds, not great but did the job would be what you'd get on similar ships.  

[OCSC Mike]

5 hours ago, mAdCapper said:

I guess my point is I was on Navigator of the Seas and had no such issues with the bed.

Mattresses can vary on the same ship let alone from one ship to another. We had 3 different cabins on Indepedence in a 4 month span a couple years ago... one mattress was very hard, the other two were not.

[WAAAYTOOO]

11 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

Best chance of ever getting any "customer service" is while you are still onboard.

This !!  You absolutely MUST address this kind of issue while still onboard.  Once you disembark, there is virtually -0- chance you will get any assistance.  If your room attendant is no help, and you speak with the floor supervisor and get no help, then next step is the Hotel Director.  You must escalate these things yourself and do not cease until you get some kind of resolution.  I'm not saying that there is anything they could have done....if they don't have any spare mattresses, they just don't....but if there is any kind of compensation looming, this is where it would come from.  Once you're off the ship, you are pretty much SoL.

[CruisingNewb]

Did you ask for a new mattress topper?  We did on our last cruise and the room attendant had one brought over in about an hour.  We have never slept badly on an RCCL cruise.  Having said that, each cruiser and experience is different.  Sorry you did not sleep well.

[Va4fam]

I don't think you are expecting too much.   An uncomfortable bed put a damper on a very expensive vacation.

Royal does a lot of things well but consistent and comfy beds are not at the top of the list.  Post cruise resolutions aren't either.

Next time, keep asking and insisting on satisfactory resolution while still on the ship.

[CruisingNewb]

Oh, I forgot to mention:

If the mattress topper was "used" as you stated, then yes, you expect too much LOL.  That was a joke.

Seriously, you stated that the topper was "worn."  If you don't address the issue right there and then, it may be likely that the room attendant/RCCL will simply use that topper for the next cruise and someone else will also sleep poorly.  Address the issue right there and then.  Hopefully there is a solution.  After-the-fact complaints don't help you while you are on your cruise.

[atseau]

Speak with the Hotel manager they will fix the problem.

[tonyfsu21]

On 4/1/2024 at 7:57 PM, mAdCapper said:

Ok, I've been through this in my head a lot and I thought I'd look to some veterans for their opinion.

 

I was on the March 9th sailing of Adventure of the Seas and let me start by saying overall I had a blast.  Amazing service staff, great ports.  Had a great cruise.  That said, it was nearly ruined by a single, though major problem.  Our bed was the WORST bed I have ever slept on.  In my 20s I went camping with a tent and a sleeping bag and that was more comfortable than this bed.  It was TORTURE.  Both my fiancée and I suffered nightly.  We brought this to our attendant's attention day 2 (the attendant was sub par as it was unfortunately but nothing worth talking about)and nothing happened.  I asked for a topper and got nothing.  On the 3rd dinner service, our first in the MDR we mentioned it to our server in passing conversation and low and behold things were taken into action.  He told his supervisor and suddenly a topper was found, though our attendant said there were none.  

 

Unfortunately it was a half inch used foam topper that did little to assist in the sleep.  The bed frame was a solid sheet of metal...it looked like leftover from the ceiling construction to be honest.  The mattress was too thin and obviously too worn.  This was, as i said the worst I've ever slept on.  This was so disheartening as we had so much fun on the cruise.  We were 11 in total and every day was a blast, except every morning we woke up over tired and restless in sleep.  It nearly ruined what was a great cruise.  

I also felt I didn't have a poor expectation.  We had a spacious balcony from a royal up (from standard balcony, probably not worth in retrospect) so I felt like I paid extra for a worse sleep.  I sailed on Navigator in December and though we had a promenade view, the bed was 100x better than this.  In fact as a result I have been suffering from back issues for the last few weeks post cruise.  I would have had a week sick save for a great company that let me take a home week for work.  

 

To get to the point of the post.  I voiced this concern to both my survey and to RC's email address for customer concerns. I felt like this level of poor experience deserved something as an apology.  Both my fiancée and I are now Prime in the casino so we'd absolutely planned on being on RC again and we have a goal of 2 cruises a year.  

 

The response from customer service was we are sorry and value your feedback.  Nothing else, nothing more.  This has slightly soured my experience with Royal Caribbean.  I've never gone to a head office of any company before so I really want to know am I expecting too much?  Having previously worked as a store manager in retail, I know I've done a LOT more to make it right.  We spent $2000 on the cruise, and thousands more between specialty, drinks, casino, etc.  As a manager i'd over easily given a gift card as an apology and to make it right. 

This is something in the company's control.  I mean a decent foam mattress costs $500 and lasts years.  This is how much it would have cost for the situation to have never happened.  It isn't a complaint on weather or clearly defined rules.  

Am I over expecting?  

Edit: a “decent foam mattress” cost $500 x 2000+ beds so it’s just not that simple (not to mention the logistics). 

[ChessE4]

My wife has a terrible time sleeping. She has found that toppers aren't  always available, as already reported. For me, a thin pillow is more important than the mattress.

[WAAAYTOOO]

58 minutes ago, ChessE4 said:

For me, a thin pillow is more important than the mattress.

Dan, too.  He always brings his own pillow.

[Neesa]

Tagging @asquared17 here. I am always in awe of the things she brings to be living her best life inside that cabin. In my estimation she can make it work no matter what the cabin situation. She has taught me so many tips & tricks, good morning @asquared17 what do you suggest in this situation? 

[OCSC Mike]

4 minutes ago, Neesa said:

the things she brings

Well when you have enough luggage for three people... . I kid, I kid.