New Elite - Laundry Question

We just got off a 17 day TA. Upon boarding we found a notice in our cabin that elite laundry would take 3 days and they held true to their word. I did a UST on this cruise and saw the washers/dryers used for pax as well as ship laundry. The pax laundry was in smaller front loaded washers using water. Clothes are ironed - including my jeans (ugh!) - and put on hangers. We ended up with a large assortment of hangers which the cabin steward removed for us. While we brought back clean clothes, some were dirty particularly those worn over the last 4 days of the cruise.

We watch the charge show up on our folio and know the clothes will be back the next night. They issue a credit to offset the charge late that night. All of our clothes were clean upon leaving home but we had a land trip prior to boarding so the first night we sent out our dirty laundry from the land portion.

Be careful with just about any expensive items. Delicate or not.

Take photo's of items before sending them in so you have proof of any damage.

We've had numerous things shrunk over the years with "laundry" but the "cleaning" had always been somewhat OK for myself but my wife recently told me they shrunk her jeans.

We have found that the laundry service has been acceptable. I don't have any reservation in sending any of my stuff out. My wife prefers to keep some of her items for a hand wash. Having said that, I have found that some of my clothes shrink while I am on board whether they are laundered or not.There just may be some correlation to the food intake. I am studying that part of the equation.

We have found that the laundry service has been acceptable. I don't have any reservation in sending any of my stuff out. My wife prefers to keep some of her items for a hand wash. Having said that, I have found that some of my clothes shrink while I am on board whether they are laundered or not.There just may be some correlation to the food intake. I am studying that part of the equation.

Interesting theory, I may just have to take another cruise to test it out.

Check your tee-shirts and underwear for little holes in them. It happened to me and my friends on the Royal Princess this year and the Emerald Princess in the past. Passenger service gave me SBC for compaction.

Tony

Just had a deep itch on my waist band. It was an old hard princess laundry sticker that had not been removed. It's been 4 months since my last cruise...

framer

On the Royal in June one night the phone rang and our steward was at our door at the same time. Our steward looked panicked and right behind him was his supervisor and the head purser. Huh??? Turns out one of my husbands shirts got caught in something in the laundry and was torn up! Everyone seemed so upset and afraid to tell us. After listening to the story, I said, hey everyone, relax, it's just a shirt! (Albeit yes, a rather nice one). They seemed so relieved that we didn't go ballistic on them. They gave us $30 credit and we chalked it us to "sometimes sh*t happens". The next day our steward said he was so thankful for us being understanding.

So yes, sometimes things do happen, but it's never going to be the end of the world.

Check your tee-shirts and underwear for little holes in them. It happened to me and my friends on the Royal Princess this year and the Emerald Princess in the past. Passenger service gave me SBC for compaction.

Tony

Darn, happened to me too. My favorite purple robe came back with pin holes all through the back. Unfortunately, I didn't discover the damage until I cam home and did not submit a claim.

I bring a roll of packing tape to close up the bag. The room steward is always appreciative as everything stays in the bag.

I bring a roll of packing tape to close up the bag. The room steward is always appreciative as everything stays in the bag.

I do the picture of the ticket before I close the bag with the packing tape and use about 1/4 of an inch of the bottom of the tape to tape the top of the ticket to the bag.

Only once did I have to use the picture to claim and I have received other cabin's clothes. If close to my cabin I deliver them myself. Make great friends that way.

On the Royal in June one night the phone rang and our steward was at our door at the same time. Our steward looked panicked and right behind him was his supervisor and the head purser.

The head purser? Dang! :eek:

On the Royal in June one night the phone rang and our steward was at our door at the same time. Our steward looked panicked and right behind him was his supervisor and the head purser. Huh??? Turns out one of my husbands shirts got caught in something in the laundry and was torn up! Everyone seemed so upset and afraid to tell us. After listening to the story, I said, hey everyone, relax, it's just a shirt! (Albeit yes, a rather nice one). They seemed so relieved that we didn't go ballistic on them. They gave us $30 credit and we chalked it us to "sometimes sh*t happens". The next day our steward said he was so thankful for us being understanding.

 

So yes, sometimes things do happen, but it's never going to be the end of the world.

Did it look like this?

We thought it resembled the islands on a map of the Eastern Caribbean.

Did it look like this?

 

We thought it resembled the islands on a map of the Eastern Caribbean.

Wow, that doesn't look good!

We have no idea because they didn't bring the shirt back to us. They just said it was destroyed!

We really don't mind doing our own laundry and wish we could get credit's to do so, instead of sending it to the laundry and waiting for it to come back. To answer the OP's question, when we have sent it out we had the option of items being folded or on hangers.

On our last two trans-Atlantic cruises, we've received a notice when we boarded that due to the number of Elites on board (approx. 1,000) and the number of suites passengers receiving free laundry, the return service would be extended to 3 days. In practice, it took 7 days in the spring and 5 days this month. They also shut down taking laundry several days before the end of the cruise.

So if you're planning to take minimal baggage for a long cruise, plan to have enough clothes to get by while your laundry is being done.

The laundry service is a great Elite benefit and we definitely appreciate it.

...................................

Laundry is not washed in water... hot or cold. It's washed in a chemical similar to dry cleaning.

Really? I only ask because when I did the Ultimate Ship Tour on the Ruby last spring it certainly looked like damp laundry items (shirts, blouses, etc.) that were coming out of the bin. The guy ironing put them on a form that expanded and then air would blow out of the form, through the item and you could see mist coming out. The guy then took the item and ironed it on his ironing board. Maybe they misted stuff before ironing? I don't know and no one asked.

BTW, it was funny (to me at least) because I saw him do one of my shirts that we had put in the laundry the day before. I told the laundry supervisor that I would be glad to save them a trip and take my own stuff then. He didn't seem amused. ;) We did get the laundry back that evening.

Really? I only ask because when I did the Ultimate Ship Tour on the Ruby last spring it certainly looked like damp laundry items (shirts, blouses, etc.) that were coming out of the bin.

Regular laundry is washed with water.

What used to be "dry cleaning" now uses a different process.

Regular laundry is washed with water.

I read here in a post by one of the power posters that it wasn't water.

Then I read that someone saw water washing during the UST.

Hard to know what to believe.

I read here in a post by one of the power posters that it wasn't water.

Then I read that someone saw water washing during the UST.

Hard to know what to believe.

Now that the question has come up maybe someone who does the UST in the future will ask the laundry supervisor during that stop of the tour and let us know. BTW, I didn't actually see "water washing" other than to notice the process that was used at the ironing area. It led me to believe that the clothes had been, or were still, wet.

Now that the question has come up maybe someone who does the UST in the future will ask the laundry supervisor during that stop of the tour and let us know. BTW, I didn't actually see "water washing" other than to notice the process that was used at the ironing area. It led me to believe that the clothes had been, or were still, wet.

My SIL just did the UST on the Grand and he says it's water.

I bring a roll of packing tape to close up the bag. The room steward is always appreciative as everything stays in the bag.

WOW - I never thought of that. I have ALWAYS taken photos of the laundry and the ticket. Last month, I decided for the 1st time in many cruises to send out a pair of my cotton underwear in the laundry. Guess what????? Someone else is wearing my underwear!!!!! They lost them --- AND my good pants came back about 1 1/2 inches shorter than when I sent them!!! :-(. So I am very careful about what I send. Let's face it - they have to dry everything to death in the dryers. At home, we all probably take stuff out of the dryer a little early and hang to finish drying.

We are always in a mini so we have a full tub. I always wash out my underwear every night. Plus I have a lot of blouses/shirts that can be hand washed, hung in the tub overnight to dry and never need ironing! I bring 2 small bottles of detergent with me to the ships. And I bring a long cord and clothes pins with me. If I have to do wash and don't want to dry the stuff to death, I stretch the cord across our "living room" in the mini and hang stuff to finish air drying!

WOW - I never thought of that. I have ALWAYS taken photos of the laundry and the ticket. Last month, I decided for the 1st time in many cruises to send out a pair of my cotton underwear in the laundry. Guess what????? Someone else is wearing my underwear!!!!! They lost them --- AND my good pants came back about 1 1/2 inches shorter than when I sent them!!! :-(. So I am very careful about what I send. Let's face it - they have to dry everything to death in the dryers. At home, we all probably take stuff out of the dryer a little early and hang to finish drying.

 

We are always in a mini so we have a full tub. I always wash out my underwear every night. Plus I have a lot of blouses/shirts that can be hand washed, hung in the tub overnight to dry and never need ironing! I bring 2 small bottles of detergent with me to the ships. And I bring a long cord and clothes pins with me. If I have to do wash and don't want to dry the stuff to death, I stretch the cord across our "living room" in the mini and hang stuff to finish air drying!

You sound exactly like us. My wife always takes items out of the dryer when almost dry but Princess seems to use extra hot temps for drying everything.

The only thing they do properly is the cleaning & even that is becoming questionable.

While taking a photo of the completed laundry list sounds like a good idea, I prefer to jot down a handwritten list of what I am sending. I'd rather be specific about what I sent, instead of "3 shirts, 2 slacks, etc,). That way I can be sure I am getting everything back that I sent. So far, it's never been a problem.