Ships laundry- Are there options?

[utseabee]

OK, on our upcoming 10-day cruise, I plan on bringing enough clothes to last, but just in case... :)

I have read a few threads that it can be hard to get into the self-service laundry machines, and I'm not a rinse-my-underwear-out-in-the-sink kinda girl (EEEEEW!!!)

So if I send my laundry out, can you select your cycle? (Wash on cold, dry on low, some things that need to be hanged to dry, etc.) or is it take what you get?

[Loonbeam]

From what we saw in the laundry area, it's standard mass wash, probably cold for colors, hot for whites. I don't recall anywhere on the order form for instructions along those lines...

[paul929207]

You can ask for anything.

 

Prior to being Elite, my wife always found times to do our laundry.

These could be: When you don't go ashore in the morning. At 8 am when they open. I have heard of people putting in a load a few minutes to 10 (when they close the laundry room) and going at 8am to put it into the dryer

[Happy ks]

OK, on our upcoming 10-day cruise, I plan on bringing enough clothes to last, but just in case... :)

I have read a few threads that it can be hard to get into the self-service laundry machines, and I'm not a rinse-my-underwear-out-in-the-sink kinda girl (EEEEEW!!!)

So if I send my laundry out, can you select your cycle? (Wash on cold, dry on low, some things that need to be hanged to dry, etc.) or is it take what you get?

 

My Aunt would find this funny, she always washes her underwear out in the sink even at home.

 

I do it on vacation, it doesn't bother me in the least. I throw them into soapy water (I use the mystery shampoo that is provided by the ship) while I'm in the shower. If you find it really that gross, take a pair of plastic gloves along. I wouldn't put my bras in a laundry room washer and definitely not a dryer (at all, ever). As a matter of fact, the thought of using washers that hundreds of others are using grosses me out a bit.

[Cruzman]

Last month while on the Sea Princess, we spent 4 hours in the laundry room one day trying to get two loads of clothes washed and dried. In order to get clothes clean, we had to recycle them 3 times in some cases.

[luvs2travl]

OK, on our upcoming 10-day cruise, I plan on bringing enough clothes to last, but just in case... :)

I have read a few threads that it can be hard to get into the self-service laundry machines, and I'm not a rinse-my-underwear-out-in-the-sink kinda girl (EEEEEW!!!)

So if I send my laundry out, can you select your cycle? (Wash on cold, dry on low, some things that need to be hanged to dry, etc.) or is it take what you get?

 

To answer your question, which is, I believe, if you send your laundry out to the ship's laundry, can you request specific settings and drying? You can always request, but from my experience, everything is washed as the laundry personnel choose to do it. So yea - it's kind "take what you get."

 

We send our laundry out and I can't say that I've ever received anything back that was faded, shrunk, had any colors run, etc. In other words, we have been very satisfied with their service. I would not send anything out that you are extremely particular about, just in case. For instance, I have a linen/silk blend evening top with some beading around the collar area that is hand washable. I would not send that out to the ship's laundry. Ya' know what I mean? ;)

[sultan_sfo]

Does your home land laundry give the last option you list?

 

...

So if I send my laundry out, can you select your cycle? (Wash on cold, dry on low, some things that need to be hanged to dry, etc.) or is it take what you get?

[cruisin36]

About the only choices you have for the laundry are starch or no starch!!

[luvs2travl]

Does your home land laundry give the last option you list?

 

Mine does ( of course, it's in my house...:p:)!!)

[fun_seeker]

We will be taking our first Princess cruise on the Pacific Princess and have a question for those of you who have sailed Princess before. The laundry service we are referring to in the following question is carried out by the crew as opposed to us using the laundromat on deck 7. We have used the service on other Carnival Cruise Line ships. Frequent passengers (Elite?) and suite passengers can get free ship's laundry service as we understand it. Is it possible to pay to get this unlimited laundry service?

 

Thanks,

[Langley Cruisers]

I hesitate to use the ship's washing machines again - unfortunately, some of my clothes were ruined as I suspect the person before me ran a bleach load. No biggie, but one of my favorite shirts was ruined. :( Oh well.

 

(And I'm not blasting the entire line or the fact that the machines are available for passenger use - I think it's fantastic! I was just sad about it. At home, I know if I run a dark load or a bleach load; using a public machine, you just don't know.)

[luvs2travl]

We will be taking our first Princess cruise on the Pacific Princess and have a question for those of you who have sailed Princess before. The laundry service we are referring to in the following question is carried out by the crew as opposed to us using the laundromat on deck 7. We have used the service on other Carnival Cruise Line ships. Frequent passengers (Elite?) and suite passengers can get free ship's laundry service as we understand it. Is it possible to pay to get this unlimited laundry service?

 

Thanks,

 

Unfortunately, no - Princess has no type of unlimited laundry package available for purchase. HAL does (ex: $49.00 on a 7-day cruise for all persons in the cabin), but Princess has yet to adopt this concept. Full suite passengers on Princess DO get unlimited laundry and dry cleaning, as do full-suite passengers on HAL.

 

We make a request on our comment card as well as on Princess' on-line survery for some type of "Unlimited Laundry Package" to be made available to all passengers, but so far - nada!

[paul929207]

We will be taking our first Princess cruise on the Pacific Princess and have a question for those of you who have sailed Princess before. The laundry service we are referring to in the following question is carried out by the crew as opposed to us using the laundromat on deck 7. We have used the service on other Carnival Cruise Line ships. Frequent passengers (Elite?) and suite passengers can get free ship's laundry service as we understand it. Is it possible to pay to get this unlimited laundry service?

 

Thanks,

No, there is no flat fee for the cruise rate. On longer cruises, they often have a $20 for everything you caan cram into a laundry bag. It is advertised in the Princess Patter.

[utseabee]

My Aunt would find this funny, she always washes her underwear out in the sink even at home.

 

I do it on vacation, it doesn't bother me in the least. I throw them into soapy water (I use the mystery shampoo that is provided by the ship) while I'm in the shower. If you find it really that gross, take a pair of plastic gloves along. I wouldn't put my bras in a laundry room washer and definitely not a dryer (at all, ever). As a matter of fact, the thought of using washers that hundreds of others are using grosses me out a bit.

don't get me wrong, its not that i don't wnt to touch my own underwear (that would be weird) i just don't think I could count them as "clean" without a full wash cycle.

I've always washed all my bras on the "handwash" cycle in cold water, so far so good. Thats what brought up this question. A girl only has so many bras, and I don't have time to break in a new one :)

Does your home land laundry give the last option you list?

My land based laundry is in my garage, so, yes!

I'm sorry if it is a stupid question, this is my first cruise, so I really DON'T really know what to expect, I've been trying to plan. If it rains, I sweat a little more than I thought I would ziplining, I just wanted to know what my options were.

[huskerdan25]

I think that a positive review of the self-laundry use is needed. We did 3 loads in an hour and a half on our Coral cruise last week in Alaska. Each deck of cabins on the Coral has a laundry. We had no problems with any damage to our clothes and for $9, we went home with clean clothes. The settings on the washers and dryers are similar to what you would find at a public laundromat and worked just fine. We did one load of whites and two loads of colors. The dryers did a thorough job of drying the clothes in about 30-40 minutes.

 

I love that we can do laundry on some off time and it allows us to pack more lightly. Makes travel easier.

 

We have not used or asked about services where we would turn our clothes over to the ship laundry facilities. I would consider it if the price is reasonable but from what I heard, it is something like $49 for a week (unlimited) for a 7 day cruise. I'll save the $40 for an excursion or something else and do it myself :)

[Pam in CA]

When you send your wash out to the ship's laundry, it's done in a large machine but they use a chemical process, not hot water. I've sent undies, silk tops, linen pants, etc. and never had a problem other than a couple of broken buttons.

[Toto2Kansas]

So if I send my laundry out, can you select your cycle? (Wash on cold, dry on low, some things that need to be hanged to dry, etc.) or is it take what you get?

The simple answer to your question is NO, you can not stipulate how you want your clothes washed or dried, they are all done the same.

[rugbypopsie]

You hear about "laundry rage" all the time but honestly on all our Princess cruises which ranged from 10 to 42 days I have never ever had a problem getting the laundry done. You just have to think about when is the best time...first thing in the morning, when a really good show is on the in theatre..when you are in port but not in a hurry to get off.

 

I have always found the other laundry users to be courteous. The new digital machines make it easy to exactly when your load will be finished. The driers were fine and dried in one cycle.

[stinesheri]

I too, planned on sending my laundry out once during our 12 day cruise (with 3 days each pre and post). I packed way too much, and then say the prices. At around $1+ per panty, and up from there, it was going to add up fast, so we did our own laundry - 3 times!

 

Yes, on sea days, and just before the end it was a little hard to find an available washer. We called it the 'laundry dance', taking our clothes all over. Really wasn't that complicated, though I unfortunately put in an item that was not colorfast, so had to run some items in the first load through again. Items that I was not comfortable putting through the dryer I just hung in the bathroom and around the cabin. Not pretty, but they dried pretty quick.

 

On the second to last day, the laundries were packed, and finally, after checking out 3 different laundry rooms (2 on my floor, and one on the floor below), I just sucked it up, and waited about 15 minutes for the next washer to be free. Once you have a washer, you are pretty much guaranteed the next dryer that becomes available. If you just have some patience, and wait it out, you can easily get your wash done. Also, since they are commercial appliances, a regular load (not delicates) take only about 25 minutes for a wash and 45 for a dry, so you aren't spending that much time.

 

Have fun (and watch your colors!)

[karatemom2]

The issue for utseabee, myself and others planning a cruise on the Sea Princess is that it has been reported that the laundry rooms are closed for a few days while in Alaskan waters, so doing your own laundry will not be an option during that time frame. We always do a couple loads of laundry when we are gone more than a week, but it will take some careful planning for our upcoming Alaska trip due to the closure.

[MikeGE]

We will be taking our first Princess cruise on the Pacific Princess and have a question for those of you who have sailed Princess before. The laundry service we are referring to in the following question is carried out by the crew as opposed to us using the laundromat on deck 7. We have used the service on other Carnival Cruise Line ships. Frequent passengers (Elite?) and suite passengers can get free ship's laundry service as we understand it. Is it possible to pay to get this unlimited laundry service?

We were on the Pacific Princes earlier this month for our first cruise and used the laundry room exclusively. It has four washers and three dryers. The fourth dryer was out of service for the entire cruise and was removed when we stopped at Sorrento. The dryers are the bottleneck since they take about 40 minutes and the washers are about 20 minutes; however, each dryer can hold two washer loads of laundry. Two of the three times I did laundry, it was a double load. Hopefully, the fourth dryer will be fixed by the time you cruise.

 

The ship's laundry is priced by the piece, and I never saw a flat-rate laundry bag offer in the Patter. The Pacific Princess did not offer dry cleaning service, even though it was on the laundry price list. I wanted to have my suite cleaned and pressed before the first formal dinner, since it had been packed for several days prior to boarding the ship. Our cabin steward told us if the suit could not be washed with the regular clothing, then it was best to just have it pressed, which is what I did.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Floflegs]

Never had a problem with the laundry machines other than a wait for a free one. One time it was a great party atmosphere as folk waited for a free machine.

[windango]

Guess I've been lucky because I've never had a problem finding a washer or a dryer on any of the cruises I've been on. I do tend to launder mid-cruise and usually on a port day, so maybe that has something to do with it. It's great for packing light!

[AFT_LOVER]

I bring a zip bag with Purex 3 in 1 sheets in it. Great to toss in washer & then it is the dryer sheet and good to clean the lint filter than many folks do not do & that is a fire hazard. $1 a load & a 40 minute dryer was great. Then for those who love to iron they have them too.

 

We are carry on & bring 5 days of clothes for a 10+ night cruise, 4 for a 7 nt cruise. 5am NO ONE IS IN THERE!

[LARGIN]

I bring a zip bag with Purex 3 in 1 sheets in it. Great to toss in washer & then it is the dryer sheet and good to clean the lint filter than many folks do not do & that is a fire hazard. $1 a load & a 40 minute dryer was great. Then for those who love to iron they have them too.

 

We are carry on & bring 5 days of clothes for a 10+ night cruise, 4 for a 7 nt cruise. 5am NO ONE IS IN THERE!

 

On Princess, at 5am, the laundry area is locked.