Beds on GCT river cruise ships (European)
 

I just received a brochure that seems to show actual beds in some of the GCT cabins rather than the pull-down contraptions. The e-mail for GCT doesn't seem to be working, and I wonder whether anyone here can answer my question. The cruise that I took in 2005 was great except for the uncomfortable bed.

We cruised with them in '09. Our beds were sort of bench like seats during the day, made into 2 twin beds at night. We went ahead and made them into beds during the day so we could nap. I don't remember them being uncomfortable.

That's what I remember. After 5 days my back started to hurt, and while I really liked the tour the next time around it will have to be on a ship with real beds. My husband has a disc problem, and the mattress is of supreme importance.

The beds on Viking were real beds and very comfortable.

As were the beds in our Uniworld cabin.

Underhill, we cruised GCT doing a Christmas Markets cruise in Dec. '09 and had a cabin on the middle deck. Our beds were the type that you pulled down from the wall and they opened into twin beds. While they were not the most comfortable, they were not the worst either. It was only 7 days so we didn't mind. The only downside was if you wanted to spend time in your cabin during the day you had to pull the beds down to have something to sit on. However, the beds may vary from ship to ship depending upon its' age. I'm sure the newer ships have nicer beds. I would call GCT and ask them that question and they should be able to tell you.

online@gct is the email address I see on their website. I would call them rather than wait for an email answer.

I believe that if you book a higher category cabin you would have different bed types also.

I never uncomfortable with my bed how it is? I can sleep any where I need to sleep.

That's nice for you, but unfortunately my husband and I aren't easy sleepers.

Many of the newer river cruise ships have pretty luxurious bedding: Ama, Uniworld, Viking. And cabins are bigger, too. These cruises may cost a bit more than Grand Circle, however. But the quality of the product is improving rapidly, so I think you have many different options now.

We've always had real beds on Viking and AMAWaterways

We have had five good trips with Grand Circle, and for the most part we like them a lot. One thing that has made me try a different line for our vacation next month is the beds. On both the riverboats and the small ships, I have to take pain medicine so I can sleep on the horrible mattresses. This is the only time ever I've had to do this. that said, others do not feel the same way.

We have cruised on Uniworld and Avalon and both had real beds and were very comfortable.