Laundry Concerns

[jodie84124]

One option I've not seen anyone mention (and don't intend to do myself), but on a 12hr port day, take your dirties with you and drop off at a 'wash and fold' laundry, go sightseeing, pickup on the way back to the ship. I've done laundry on other long (bus) trips with no problems. You just need to be flexible.

 

Just a thought. Jodie

[Lsimon]

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.

 

I'm sorry you had such problems. All I can say is that we've used the ship's laundry quite a bit, around 8 cruises over the past 5 years, and have always been pleased. I don't know what sort of issues you had with wrinkles - I do know that if you do one of the bulk coupon/specials they do not include pressing nor return items on hangers and sometimes the items are more wrinkled then others but never more than what we expect for laundry that doesn't include pressing. If an item is of a type that needs pressing (for example a button up shirt as opposed to a casual t-shirt) we send it in on a service rate that includes pressing and they've always been returned in good shape.

 

We have had items returned to the wrong room twice, once was when I put the wrong stateroom down on the slip, and both times they located our items within an hour.

[blakey]

So, are there laundry facilities for guest use on the Century? And what decks are they on? I really like to pack light and don't mind an hour or two. Of course, will pay if that's the only way...lol.

[Lois R]

So, are there laundry facilities for guest use on the Century? And what decks are they on? I really like to pack light and don't mind an hour or two. Of course, will pay if that's the only way...lol.

 

Nope, there are no laundry facilities for guests to use on any of the ships.

Or was your question rhetorical?

[Jade13]

What is the per bag price for laundry?

 

We are used to HAL where they have an unlimited rate for the cabin (based on cruise length), or $20.00 for all you can stuff in a bag. (The older HAL ships have do it yourself laundry too).

[Guest maddycat]

So, are there laundry facilities for guest use on the Century? And what decks are they on? I really like to pack light and don't mind an hour or two. Of course, will pay if that's the only way...lol.

 

Celebrity does not have self-serve laundry facilities. You can send out what ever you want washed or dry cleaned to the ship's laundry for a charge.

[Lsimon]

What is the per bag price for laundry?

 

We are used to HAL where they have an unlimited rate for the cabin (based on cruise length), or $20.00 for all you can stuff in a bag. (The older HAL ships have do it yourself laundry too).

 

On recent cruises Celebrity has not had a bag of laundry special until the the end of the cruise when the laundry isn't busy. Occasionally I'll read reports of someone who was on a cruise where there was a mid cruise special but not that I've seen personally in 4 years or so. The exception to this is that there are bag of laundry, or 30 item, coupons for Elite, and Select Captains Club members. Elite cruisers receive coupons for 30 items free and sometimes an additional coupon for a bag of laundry for $20 which I believe is also the Select level benefit.

 

When I have seen a bag of laundry special on the ship it has been for $29. My experiance back when they had these earlier in the cruise was that if one was extremely careful and diligent you could stuff enough in the bag that it would have cost $45 to $55 at the regular piece rate. While a $15 to $25 discount is great it isn't enough to really change my laundry habits on board and I wouldn't forgo using the laundry if I had to pay full price. Besides in recent years the bag of laundry special is wash and fold only and includes no pressing (although sometimes I've read of cruisers who got their items back pressed). But the peice rate includes pressing for appropriate items which are then returned on a hanger.

[tartanexile81]

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. . .

 

I don't mind the cost but I like to take more care with my clothes than have them washed in some vast drum then squeezed through huge rollers to be flattened- I mean pressed. Although I don't do much washing I much prefer when ships have laundries so I can iron my own clothes

[CathyCruises]

I understand that, but in my experience they do a better job than I do at home! And for certain more tricky items I choose dry cleaning over washing, always at a more reasonable price than I pay at home.

[CruisinTeach99]

I didn't realize they had a dry cleaning service too. I could always dry clean items that I am concerned about shrinking too. It might be a little pricey, but certainly worth it to not ruin a shirt that I love. All part of the cost of vacation.

[Shining Clem]

We just returned from a TA on Constellation in May. Thanks to these Bds this is what we did abt laundry/Dry cleaning on our first cruise.

 

As we were packing, discovered a need for DC'ing DH's dress blazer. The first day on board, sent it to the cleaners; it came back the next day, done beautifully. Meanwhile, he wore a dress shirt & tie to the first formal night.

 

We brought with us 2 of those twisted stretchable clothes lines - one a hand-me-down from my mother who had used it 25 yrs ago on a train trip across Canada. :cool: These can hook around tub/shower fixtures & are available from such as Magellan's, AAA offices, etc. Abt half of our underwear was of the nylon/poly variety which dries quickly (ex-officio type). Rolled in towels to help drying process along, also used bathroom attached blow dryer to help some spots.. Brought travel soap packets, etc. (I also am not a fan of woolite-there is a horse shampoo, put out by P&G, which works much better) The sink was large enough to put tops, lightweight pants, etc into (not the case on land elsewhere on the trip). Brought 2 solid plastic hangers with us & got additional wire ones from cabin steward.

 

Also, I use one of those relatively new flat ceramic irons for my hair. A good one with adjustable temps allows one to use it as an iron to smooth out folding wrinkles in front of shirts, on collars. Had to plug in by desk/mirror with adopter.

 

Got the infamous bag of laundry order offer 3 days before landing. For one thing, there was no bag in cabin. Gathered items such as men's pants, shirts which needed ironing, etc and even if they had just been washed, the charge would have been more than just the wash & press cost, so sent things as a regular order, expecting them back the next day, as stated on order sheet. Well, all that "bag laundry" put the ship's laundry behind, and we didn't get it back until 2 days later. We were not amused, as we had counted on one shirt being returned in a timely fashion. Also, one back pocket button on a pair of chinos was broken - they probably put it in a press and the pressure or heat broke it. I can find a replacement probably.

 

So....the moral of the story is, if you want something done, which is not part of the great bag offer, get it placed BEFORE the ship's laundry is busy with the last few days orders.

 

This was one of the minor glitches on an otherwise great cruise experience.

[geduffer]

The last couple of times, I've done one bag of laundry mid-cruise and DC if necessary so DW doesn't have to jump into doing laundry as soon as we get home. I haven't had a problem with laundry on any of my cruises.

[CanWeGoYet?]

It's a good idea to make a list of the items you send out, because more than once we had clothes that weren't returned. I sent out laundry a few times on a 2 week cruise, besides doing some in the cabin. If I hadn't noticed items not coming back they would have been gone for good - our cabin steward looked for them & was able to locate them.

[BBsails]

Ditto CanWeGoYet. Our laundry was returned minus a pair of slacks, but our butler was able to track them down by identifying the label. Make a list not only of the number of items, but a descriptor so your butler or steward has information other than a generic "black slacks," or something similar. I wouldn't send anything I value highly to be laundered.

[Going Coastal]

The form that we fill out to send with the laundry or dry cleaning or pressing has duplicates attached and one of these stays with us. If we should forget, the steward will remove it and leave it in the cabin when he takes the bag.

GC

[ajaxup]

I was wondering-- when you send your laundry I imagine you fill out some sort of ticket. Do they ask or give you a choice of wash temperature so that items that should be cold wash get done properly?

[Can'tstopcruising]

I send only things that I don't care about. I have some very old beachy clothes that require cold water. I write it on the form (there isn't a specific space for that). Whether or not it is ignored, I do not know and since these are old clothes, I do not care!

 

Anything good waits until we get home!

[Lois R]

I was wondering-- when you send your laundry I imagine you fill out some sort of ticket. Do they ask or give you a choice of wash temperature so that items that should be cold wash get done properly?

 

Hi,:) there is something you fill out. It has a list of different types

of clothing on it and you put a number in next to the item.

Example pants (2) so that would be 2 pair of pants. There is nothing

on the form for water temperature.

[Sabbycat]

There is a section for "Special Instructions". You can note whatever there. I have requested, hang dry, cold water wash etc. It appeared that my requests had been honoured. (ie: the clothes that I requested hang dry, had the appearance of being hung to dry. Anyone, who has hung dry knows what I mean.)

[Lois R]

There is a section for "Special Instructions". You can note whatever there. I have requested, hang dry, cold water wash etc. It appeared that my requests had been honoured. (ie: the clothes that I requested hang dry, had the appearance of being hung to dry. Anyone, who has hung dry knows what I mean.)

 

Thanks for posting that:)....I totally forgot about that section. You can

tell what I fill out:eek:

[Glammy Grammy]

Used the laundry facility on Connie last year, sent my DH dress shirt for laundering/pressing came back pristine. Will do the same again this year, plus other items as it's a 12 night cruise and need to keep the weight of our luggage down. Only thing to mention though, when we got home I noticed our cabin number written on the inside of the shirt at the bottom in permanent black marker!!, suppose it's the only way they can identify so many items.

[CanWeGoYet?]

Used the laundry facility on Connie last year, sent my DH dress shirt for laundering/pressing came back pristine. Will do the same again this year, plus other items as it's a 12 night cruise and need to keep the weight of our luggage down. Only thing to mention though, when we got home I noticed our cabin number written on the inside of the shirt at the bottom in permanent black marker!!, suppose it's the only way they can identify so many items.

 

I don't recall finding numbers on the insides of the clothes we sent. We don't go on as many cruises as many of the people here on CC though. Might get tricky if those same clothes go on multiple cruises - wonder if they start crossing out old numbers. Otherwise the odds of clothes being misdirected would be even higher!

[CruisinNole]

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.

 

We have always had good results with the laundry service until our TA on the Equinox last month. The laundered items really took a beating. We had planned to toss some of the underwear and t-shirts so it wasn't a total loss, however, one of my husband's dress shirts was ruined by the dry cleaner -- threads were pulled out all over it. We were reimbursed right away but he had planned very carefully when he packed for the 2 week+ trip and really missed that shirt!

[Can'tstopcruising]

I don't recall finding numbers on the insides of the clothes we sent. We don't go on as many cruises as many of the people here on CC though. Might get tricky if those same clothes go on multiple cruises - wonder if they start crossing out old numbers. Otherwise the odds of clothes being misdirected would be even higher!

 

My husband found numbers on his shirt. Now he will give them only old shirts.

[GeorgesGal]

While on Eclipse in April, we sent clothes to the laundry as well s items to be pressed, and we were not impressed. Clothes over-dried and somewhat folded, then shoved back into the laundry bag unpressed. Linen shirt for pressing had to be sent back TWICE to get a somewhat proper job done.

 

Their laundry service didn't come close to that of HAL, which actually presses the laundry, carefully folds it and places it in wicker baskets for return unwrinkled. Celebrity doesn't hold a candle to HAL's laundry