What is your position on self-service laundries on cruise ships

The cruise lines we book most frequently do have self-service laundries for no charge (except small charge on Oceania). Crystal, Seabourn, Silversea, Regent, Oceania. The laundries are always busy. Should that particular feature be eliminated, I'm certain that would be objections from the regulars.

Keep in mind that itineraries tend to be longer. We will be 5 weeks on Silversea later in the year. The laundries are very convenient for the long cruises.

What I don't understand is why anyone cares how someone else cleans their clothes on a cruise. I don't need advice on how to spend my "vacation." I don't offer advice on how someone else should clean their clothes.

Having a self-service laundry is not a deal breaker, just a convenience. We love Windstar (no self-serve laundries), and my #1 bucket list cruise is the Arctic circumnavigation (75 days) on the Russian icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov. I'd chop up and melt Arctic ice to wash my clothes on that cruise if I had to.

I am sure if the ship had facilities I probably would use them becuase it may be convenient, but when they don't it is really not a problem. My longest cruise was on a ship with no passenger facilities and everything went to the ship's laundry... 20 days worth. It really wasn't a problem and not all that expensive.

As we're doing longer cruises (our last three have been two-weekers), it's a must for us. We don't want to have to pack a ton of clothing and we have someone in our family who's allergic to laundry detergent. So the ship's laundry service would be out for at least some of our clothes. And some of my and my daughter's clothes need to be air-dried. I'm not about to invest in synthetic clothing just for a cruise.

In the end it really doesn't matter what we think about Self Service Laundries.

Most Coast Guard organizations and virtually all Marine Insurance companies agree that Self Service Laundries are fire hazards.

Cruise ships with self service laundries must pay exorbitant insurance rates, and risk increased fires onboard.

There are 3 choices:

Leave the self service laundries alone, and continue paying the ridiculous insurance rates and risk having fires onboard.

Remove the laundries to reduce the risk and the insurance rates.

Rebuild the laundries with extremely expensive fireproof bulkheads and fire prevention controls. (This would be more costly than giving free laundry service to everyone)

Unfortunately, many cruise lines today market to a demographic that cannot afford to send their laundry out to be cleaned. Many prefer to risk their lives in a fire rather than paying a few dollars more to have their laundry cleaned for them.

It obviously depends upon the length of the cruise. A 7 day cruise - you bring stuff back dirty. A 70 day cruise - you better wash your clothes at least a few time.

DON

It doesn't matter to me one way or the other, however RCCL & X don't have self serve which is fine with me.

Delicates that at home are done on the "hand wash" cycle, I hand wash in the shower.

Everything else goes to the ships laundry.

In a seven week DIY trip to Europe in 2008 my intention was to use coin laundries. I even found the laundries near our hotels.

In Paris, staying in the Rue Kler there was a coin laundry on the street behind our hotel. We go, get help from kind Parisian, get laundry done, go back to hotel with clean clothes. DH said "we didn't come to Paris to do our own laundry".

OK he wins! :D

In the end it really doesn't matter what we think about Self Service Laundries.

Most Coast Guard organizations and virtually all Marine Insurance companies agree that Self Service Laundries are fire hazards.

Cruise ships with self service laundries must pay exorbitant insurance rates, and risk increased fires onboard.

 

There are 3 choices:

Leave the self service laundries alone, and continue paying the ridiculous insurance rates and risk having fires onboard.

Remove the laundries to reduce the risk and the insurance rates.

Rebuild the laundries with extremely expensive fireproof bulkheads and fire prevention controls. (This would be more costly than giving free laundry service to everyone)

 

Unfortunately, many cruise lines today market to a demographic that cannot afford to send their laundry out to be cleaned. Many prefer to risk their lives in a fire rather than paying a few dollars more to have their laundry cleaned for them.

Yike, Bruce! :eek: You are making me glad that I've chosen to cruise with lines that don't have "death-trap" laundries!

Me too!

Thanks for the info Bruce.

Our last cruise was in the Caribbean with our three sons. We had flown from NZ to San Fran then San Fran to Orlando. Luggage space was at a premium and, given that we were heading up to New York for Christmas, mostly dedicated to winter clothes and coats. I used the ships laundry at least three times that week and it was a huge convenience for us.

Our first cruises were all Princess and I was shocked when we discovered that not all lines had self serve laundry, must be a real added cost on longer cruises, if you don't have status that brings free laundry or you are like DW and won't let others do some items.

In the end it really doesn't matter what we think about Self Service Laundries.

Most Coast Guard organizations and virtually all Marine Insurance companies agree that Self Service Laundries are fire hazards.

Cruise ships with self service laundries must pay exorbitant insurance rates, and risk increased fires onboard.

 

There are 3 choices:

Leave the self service laundries alone, and continue paying the ridiculous insurance rates and risk having fires onboard.

Remove the laundries to reduce the risk and the insurance rates.

Rebuild the laundries with extremely expensive fireproof bulkheads and fire prevention controls. (This would be more costly than giving free laundry service to everyone)

 

Unfortunately, many cruise lines today market to a demographic that cannot afford to send their laundry out to be cleaned. Many prefer to risk their lives in a fire rather than paying a few dollars more to have their laundry cleaned for them.

Bruce seems to have a lot of negative to say about those who pay his wages with recent comments about passengers who can't afford certain things, wonder if his bosses know about his attitude.

It obviously depends upon the length of the cruise. A 7 day cruise - you bring stuff back dirty. A 70 day cruise - you better wash your clothes at least a few time.

 

DON

Exactly Don.

When I was choosing a World Voyage, the free washers/dryers sounded like a big plus. After two months of wasting a half day to do laundry each week, I changed my mind. Now I spend a little more and get my clothes clean and pressed and already on hangars. After all, it is my vacation.;)

must be a real added cost on longer cruises.

No, not at all.

We typically are gone for three to four weeks with pre and post land touring on our own. We send out all of our laundry items when on the ship. We simply budget for it. Considering the cost of a long cruise/vacation, including all the extras such as travel, meals and hotels on shore, souvenirs, etc,. the laundry portion is actually a very small percentage of the full cost. Quite frankly, we would rather cut back at home on day to day routines to save money than pinch pennies on our vacation, especially doing our own laundry.

It's all about setting priorities. For us, spending a few extra dollars on our vacation is a higher priority than spending those same dollars on many of the routine things we spend on at home that we can easily go without once in a while.

We will not even consider if there are no laundry facilities. Crystal fits our ideal. We wash a load every day EARLY! Simple task!:D

My laundry is something that I'm just really particular about. I don't want anyone else doing it for me. If there are no laundry facilities, I'll be washing things out in the sink and drying them on the line.

(I'm the same way with my car - I'd rather walk from the parking lot than trust a valet).

My laundry is something that I'm just really particular about. I don't want anyone else doing it for me. If there are no laundry facilities, I'll be washing things out in the sink and drying them on the line.

 

(I'm the same way with my car - I'd rather walk from the parking lot than trust a valet).

DW is pretty much the same on the laundry.

Not the car :(

I do not do laundry . Never have . Don't know how. :eek:

It doesn't matter to me if they are available on the ship or not. I'm not on vacation to do laundry, so I will never use one. If I need laundry done I send it out. If others want to spend their time washing clothes why should I be concerned.

My laundry is something that I'm just really particular about. I don't want anyone else doing it for me. If there are no laundry facilities, I'll be washing things out in the sink and drying them on the line.

 

Well, just be aware that, if you ever cruise on a Celebrity Solstice-Class ship, you'll be needing to bring that line, too! :eek: May I suggest the REI travel clothesline. It's very flexible, has several options for attaching to surfaces, and does not require clothes-pins! :cool:

In the end it really doesn't matter what we think about Self Service Laundries.

Most Coast Guard organizations and virtually all Marine Insurance companies agree that Self Service Laundries are fire hazards.

Cruise ships with self service laundries must pay exorbitant insurance rates, and risk increased fires onboard.

 

There are 3 choices:

Leave the self service laundries alone, and continue paying the ridiculous insurance rates and risk having fires onboard.

Remove the laundries to reduce the risk and the insurance rates.

Rebuild the laundries with extremely expensive fireproof bulkheads and fire prevention controls. (This would be more costly than giving free laundry service to everyone)

 

Unfortunately, many cruise lines today market to a demographic that cannot afford to send their laundry out to be cleaned. Many prefer to risk their lives in a fire rather than paying a few dollars more to have their laundry cleaned for them.

I was always a bit more concerned about smokers setting their bed on fire than a washer causing a fire. At least that problem has gone away for the most part.

I was always a bit more concerned about smokers setting their bed on fire than a washer causing a fire. At least that problem has gone away for the most part.

I doubt the self-serve laundry is any more of a fire risk than the ship's laundry or the kitchen and various cooking stations in the buffet.

We would be perfectly fine with not having self service laundry on a cruise ship. It does not enter into our selection process. But, the longest cruse we have taken is 17 days and that is probably our limit.

I have been on ships that had a self-service laundry and those that did not. I have never USED the self-service laundry when available. I answered that a self-service laundry has little to no impact on my cruise selection.

HOWEVER...

Someday I hope to do a back-to-back cruise and a self-service laundry might be a nice to have if I'm on the ship for 14-days. Then again, I'm on vacation. Maybe I'd just send my clothes out to be washed.

I doubt the self-serve laundry is any more of a fire risk than the ship's laundry or the kitchen and various cooking stations in the buffet.

That's my feeling, too. The launderettes are regularly checked, and the irons are on a time switch, so unless the worry is about the lint in the dryer setting on fire...:eek: