Laundry Concerns

[CruisinTeach99]

Between our 10 day cruise plus some days before in Rome, we will definitely need to do laundry. I just searched old threads and was disappointed to see that the laundry service on the Equinox washes clothes on hot and dries them on high. I'm thinking this is fine for pj's, gym clothes and undies. But for my nicer shirts, I'll have to handwash in the sink.

 

Has anyone hand washed in the sink and then clothes pinned their items to chairs on the balcony? Will they blow away? (We are in AQ on the hump.) Will they be yucky from the salty sea air?

 

Is there really no clothes line in the bathroom? That is so frustrating!

 

Other ideas on how to handle this are welcome. I just wish Equinox had a laundry room where I could do our wash myself!

[cruisestitch]

True there are no laundry lines in the bathroom. Celebrity requests that clothes not be left unattended on the balcony. I believe that as long as you are there, you can pin them to the backs of the chairs, but the dangers are twofold -- having them blow away, or having them ignite if a smoker who is not following the rules which prohibit smoking on balconies throws a cigarette butt overboard. They can get sucked back onto balconies.

 

I rinse things out on every cruise, and either attach them to a hanger which I hang over the shower head. Things dry pretty well. Sometimes I put my wet bathing suit over a chair while I am on the balcony, but I bring it in when I come back into the stateroom.

 

The laundry has always done a fine job for me when I have sent things to be washed. I don't send delicate silks or 100% cotton which might shrink. I've always been very pleased with the laundry service.

[BrusselsGirl07]

You can also buy travel clothes lines that are 2 pieces of thick twisted elastic with suction cups at either end that allow you to hang the line from a mirror or metal surface. We don't send our 'good' things to be washed, and hand wash in the sink and then hang the item in the cabin. If you take along a microfibre towel, lay the towel flat, lay the wet item on the towel, roll it up and then step on the towel, most of the water gets squeezed out so the item dries quickly after you have hung it up. I passed this tip on to quite a few people on our last Xpedition cruise, and they just used the bathroom towels to do this, and were very happy with how much more quickly things dried!

[CruisinTeach99]

So it's confirmed - no clotheslines. Boo!!

 

Do you have a recommendation of a brand of travel clothesline? I'm filling up my Amazon.com cart with all sorts of fun trip items (woolite packets, a travel alarm clock, clothespins, etc...)

 

I also saw inflatable hangers for hang drying clothes too??

[cruisestitch]

To me, the inflatable clothes hangers are just more weight I don't need to carry. I used to take a small clothesline with me, but discovered that I seldom actually used it. There are two knobs in the shower -- not far enough apart to drape a clothesline between, but a wire hanger (ask the steward for one) can be hung from them, with things draped over the hanger and that works for me.

 

I'm not a fan of woolite brand -- there is a liquid called "Delicare" which I think works much better than Woolite. I also have some Tide laundry detergent packets which work fine. Woolite just doesn't do as good a job at getting clothes clean, to my eye.

[eandj]

Those hangars are nice. I hang things on the two hooks in the shower until the drips are gone, then move things to the hooks in the room. They easily dry overnight. But somwone here said there is a kind of clothesline that will work on the "not square" shower and door. It's more triangular.

 

For the record, I had a nice pair of lined slacks done in the laundry and just wrote in HUGE lettering to wash in cold and dry on medium heat. I held my breath until they came back perfectly done. Will it always be that way? Not sure.

 

We did a 12 day plus two day pre cruise in the Med and we really had only a handful of things that needed to be sent out. Of course it wasn't in the heat of the summer.

[CruisinTeach99]

I appreciate all of this input. I'm going to bring a clothesline and hand wash detergent packets (looking into the delicare, woolite, tide packets, etc.), but if I'm just not feeling it, maybe I'll just send everything out to the laundry. I've never traveled for this long before (14 days) especially in hot summer weather where you have to wash everything after wearing. So, I want to be efficient with our packing and laundry plans. I like to be prepared (can you tell??)

[Joanne G.]

We like the inflatable hangers. They work great for t-shirts and blouses that you have rinsed out in the cabin. As a previous poster said, wrap the item in a towel to get most of the water out. We find that when deflated, the hangers pack flat and weigh practically nothing. Without a clothes line in the shower, however, I am not sure where you will be able to hang them.

 

Do none of the Celebrity ships have a clothes line in the bathroom? Even without in-cabin laundry, it's nice to have a place to hang a wet bathing suit.

[cruisestitch]

s class ships have no laundry line; M - class ships have a laundry line in the shower. The shower stall in the S-class ship is kind of triangular, not rectangular like on the M- class ships. I can't remember what the Century has or doesn't have....

[marieps]

We had coupons for laundry on Equinox and had no complaints. They did not fold underwear, just laid it flat and stuffed it in the bag. Who cares?

T-shirts were nicely folded. We did not use the service for anything delicate. We have a 14 day on Connie coming up and will certainly use the laundry again without concern.

[miched]

That is a tough situation. Never thought about going on a long cruise without having a laundry area.

 

We have sailed on other cruise lines and they did have laundry areas and they were busy. My wife and I took turns waiting in line to use them on a 21 day Hawaii repositioning. The hold up were they dryers, but washers and dryers were still available.

[Bakersboy]

So it's confirmed - no clotheslines. Boo!!

 

Do you have a recommendation of a brand of travel clothesline? I'm filling up my Amazon.com cart with all sorts of fun trip items (woolite packets, a travel alarm clock, clothespins, etc...)

 

I also saw inflatable hangers for hang drying clothes too??

 

On our recent Transatlantic we had occasion to use the laundry twice; had I known how great the laundry treated our clothes I would have packed less. Everything was done perfectly, four bags full. We did wash out some socks and underwear and used the skirt hangers from the closet(the ones with clips) to hang them to dry. No problem

[Denny01]

That is a tough situation. Never thought about going on a long cruise without having a laundry area.

 

We have sailed on other cruise lines and they did have laundry areas and they were busy. My wife and I took turns waiting in line to use them on a 21 day Hawaii repositioning. The hold up were they dryers, but washers and dryers were still available.

 

Not a tough situation at all. There is a laundry area on Celebrity - the ships laundry where they do it for you. that way, we don't sit around in laundry rooms, watching, smelling and feeling the washers and dryers. And we have used Celebrity laundry on pretty much every cruise for the last 5 years and have had no problems with regular and delicates, and all cottons. No shrinkage and few wrinkles.

 

So there is a fine laundry area on all the Celebrity ships and as far as I'm concerned, the best afloat - they do it! By the way, although you may have helped your wife, what I saw on our 2 Princess cruises was a lot of women sitting in there and doing all the work, while the husband who didn't want to spend the money on laundry service was off enjoying the cruise. Go figure.

 

Den

[CathyCruises]

I second that. They have always done a great job with our laundry, no matter what I send out. Shorts, delicate/lacy tops, it always comes out great and very reasonable IMO.

[Jo and Rob]

I have been on land holidays for a fortnight and packed enough clothes for our four of us for everyday. I have also been on cruise lines where there is a free washing machine, tumble drier and iron and ironing board available. Both systems work perfectly.

 

My concern on the Eclipse for us is a combination of a lack of storage space and no self serve laundry. :mad: A launderette does not force anyone not to use the ship's laundry service but does provide choice which I'm all for.

 

So I am faced with packing clothes for 4 for 14 days, squashing them into the limited drawer space and then not being able to iron them when they look creased. :( I'm sure for some with free laundry credits or unlimited funds the ship's laundry is ideal but when you have a family it can work out quite pricey!

 

I really don't understand why there is no clothes line in the shower. This is encouraging passengers to leave costumes on the balconies which is not advised. :confused:

[sddsddean]

If you want to know where the laundromat in Civitivecchia is (about 2 minute walk from the dock gate)...just in case(!), drop me an e mail and I'll send you directions.

 

Simon

[cruisestitch]

Jo and Rob said:

 

I really don't understand why there is no clothes line in the shower.

 

When you see the shape of the shower on the S-class ship, you will see why there is no clothesline there.

[Lois R]

s class ships have no laundry line; M - class ships have a laundry line in the shower. The shower stall in the S-class ship is kind of triangular, not rectangular like on the M- class ships. I can't remember what the Century has or doesn't have....

 

I was just on Century and there are clothelines in the shower.

[CathyCruises]

It always amazes me that folks can spend thousands and thousands of dollars on a cruise, and heaven knows how much on drinks packages, excursions, casino, etc., and then complain about $20-$30 for having their laundry done for them on board. . .

[Jade13]

 

what I saw on our 2 Princess cruises was a lot of women sitting in there and doing all the work, while the husband who didn't want to spend the money on laundry service was off enjoying the cruise. Go figure.

 

Den

 

My DH does all the laundry at home and while we cruise.

[Lsimon]

We've been on several long Celebrity cruises which followed land trips of 2 to 7 days, so we've done lots of laundry on the ship.

 

The ship has always done a great job on our laundry.

 

We're fortunate enough to be Elite cruisers so we get several coupons the best of which are for 30 pieces laundered & folded (no pressing or hanging included). We use these and also send in nicer pants and shirts at the regular pay per item rates so they'll be returned pressed and on hangers. I'd say we spend about $30 or so on a long cruise for this and that the two 30 free peice coupons (my wife and I each get one) save us an additional $70 to $100.

 

So without coupons our total cost would probably be $100 to $130 for laundry, pressing and dry cleaning during a cruise. While this is not cheap it isn't a ton of money considering we're talking about 14 to 18 days including pre-cruise stays in the Caribbean and/or Europe. It also isn't a ton of money in relation to the total cost of a vacation and I'd much rather be spending this then spending time sitting in a laundry room on or off the ship instead of enjoying our expensive vacations or spending time at the sink in the bathroom doing laundry every night. The only thing we typically do in the sink is rinse the salt water out of our swimsuits which we then hang in the shower or on the balcony to dry out. We even send those in for laundry after a couple days of use.

[miched]

Not a tough situation at all. There is a laundry area on Celebrity - the ships laundry where they do it for you. that way, we don't sit around in laundry rooms, watching, smelling and feeling the washers and dryers. And we have used Celebrity laundry on pretty much every cruise for the last 5 years and have had no problems with regular and delicates, and all cottons. No shrinkage and few wrinkles.

 

So there is a fine laundry area on all the Celebrity ships and as far as I'm concerned, the best afloat - they do it! By the way, although you may have helped your wife, what I saw on our 2 Princess cruises was a lot of women sitting in there and doing all the work, while the husband who didn't want to spend the money on laundry service was off enjoying the cruise. Go figure.

 

Den

 

 

Very good point. I sure would have paid for it but it was our first cruise, before the internet was popular and there was no cruise forums to learn the ropes plus we were "younger and dumber". Live and learn. Having it done is a small price to pay for the time wasted.

 

I don't know about the part of the husbands not wanting to spend the money though. Some people just aren't comfortable with someone else doing their laundry as it may not be up to their "standards" plus the unknowns.

 

Also as can be seen on these forums there is cheapness in everyone. If it wasn't for the cheap people everyone would be sailing in the penthouse suites and over 50% of the topics could be eliminated on these forums. Just look through the topics and see how many are trying to cut corners: cheapest parking, cheapest hotel, cheapest fare, sharing drinks, best time to book, cheapest way to get to the port, is this worth the extra, best deal, tipping, and etc. Everyone has their own comfort level and ways of doing things and may never change.

 

That is what drives these forums. The great thing is getting everyone else's point of view and their great advice.

 

I like your explanation and attitude. ;)

 

 

.

[Chicago Boy]

Between our 10 day cruise plus some days before in Rome, we will definitely need to do laundry. I just searched old threads and was disappointed to see that the laundry service on the Equinox washes clothes on hot and dries them on high. I'm thinking this is fine for pj's, gym clothes and undies. But for my nicer shirts, I'll have to handwash in the sink.

 

Has anyone hand washed in the sink and then clothes pinned their items to chairs on the balcony? Will they blow away? (We are in AQ on the hump.) Will they be yucky from the salty sea air?

 

Is there really no clothes line in the bathroom? That is so frustrating!

 

Other ideas on how to handle this are welcome. I just wish Equinox had a laundry room where I could do our wash myself!

 

We always have our laundry done on the ship and we have never had a problem. Everything comes back just fine. If I were you, I would not worry the drying temperature. I'm sure your clothes will be fine. We did a Trans Atlantic crossing last fall from Rome to Fort Lauderdale on the Equinox and it is a beautiful ship. I have never heard of anyone hanging their clothes on their balcony to dry. Outrageous! The Equinox is not a tenament, please do not treat it like one

[Sabbycat]

Not a tough situation at all. There is a laundry area on Celebrity - the ships laundry where they do it for you. that way, we don't sit around in laundry rooms, watching, smelling and feeling the washers and dryers. And we have used Celebrity laundry on pretty much every cruise for the last 5 years and have had no problems with regular and delicates, and all cottons. No shrinkage and few wrinkles.

 

So there is a fine laundry area on all the Celebrity ships and as far as I'm concerned, the best afloat - they do it! By the way, although you may have helped your wife, what I saw on our 2 Princess cruises was a lot of women sitting in there and doing all the work, while the husband who didn't want to spend the money on laundry service was off enjoying the cruise. Go figure.

 

Den

 

Up until my most recent cruise I would agree with the above post, but read on . . .

 

Alas, on our most recent trip we found the laundry was not done well at all. They lost one of my socks, they created a huge grease stain on one of my dh's dress shirts. Furthermore, the clothes were returned wrinkled.

 

When we complained, they told us there have been many complaints the last few months, but it is getting worst. Laundry batches are being charged to the incorrect stateroom and then retuned to the incorrect stateroom. The horror stories went on. Long and short of it is I will probably not use the laundry facilites on board again. They are unreliable at best.

[Going Coastal]

I hesitate to tiptoe into this debate but have a slightly different point of view. If we have a 14 day cruise with 2-4 days pre or post cruise and use the laundry service twice, we only have to take half as much, which saves room both onboard and in the suitcases. This saves money and effort. There is also excellent pressing and dry cleaning service in my experience.

CG