Random laundry question

[macandlucy]

Recently my niece was traveling and she got pulled out by customs for a luggage check. As the customs officer was asking what is this, what is that she asked about the contents of a plastic bag. My niece said it was her laundry. The customs officer, aghast, said, "you packed your dirty laundry!?"

 

I always do that, bring all our laundry home to wash. Are we the gross weirdo family? Does anyone else bring their laundry with them, or do you all do it onboard or have it done for you during your trip? Just curious :)

[CathyCruises]

That's crazy, of course you have to pack it! What else are you going to do, throw it away?? Not everyone wants to spend vacation time seeking out laundromats! (Although we did spend one fun evening in Paris doing our laundry!)

[Lsimon]

... Does anyone else bring their laundry with them, or do you all do it onboard or have it done for you during your trip? Just curious :)

 

I think everyone brings dirty laundry home!

 

They do have laundry services on board that we use frequently, but we use it for clothing we plan on wearing again later in the cruise. I imagine that there are some people who get their clothing laundered on the ship to take home clean but that these are the exception.

 

Heck, I even bring some clothes from home that are dirty on my way to the cruise! If we're packing clothing for our cruise that needs to be dry cleaned I'll pack it dirty instead of sending it out just before we pack. That way we can have it done on the ship. The prices are not much different than at home and that way those items are going to look fresh and nicely pressed.

[macandlucy]

It makes me feel better to know we are in such good company; thanks for your replies Cathycruises and Lsimon :)

Edited February 28, 2015 by macandlucy

[4774Papa]

Most of the time every stitch of clothing in my suitcase is dirty laundry on my way home.

[CRUZBUDS]

Most of the time every stitch of clothing in my suitcase is dirty laundry on my way home.

 

if it's not, you packed too much! :)

[Muushka]

Heck, my dirty laundry isn't even in it's own plastic bag, it gets the entire suitcase!:eek:

[I Fly]

Maybe the customs officer thought she was leaving on a trip and not returning home. I can't imagine a person who goes through luggage as a profession would be surprised to see dirty laundry when someone is returning from a trip. Either he was joking or just seeing what her reaction might be. Some people might fold their dirty laundry neatly, while some might lump it together in a big bag, but the idea of being surprised of seeing dirty laundry in a suitcase is just ridiculous!

 

Steve

[Phxazzcruisers]

Yep, that made me chuckle. I have NEVER returned home form a trip WITHOUT dirty laundry. That would be impossible

[NLH Arizona]

Sounds like the customs official was doing something we rarely see them do....making a joke!

[miched]

The agents are trained to ask off the wall questions just to engage people in a conversation. They are trying to detect nervous reactions or any other sign that you may be trying to conceal something. We always get asked crazy questions when we go across the border into Canada and also on the return. Sometimes it is very hard not to reply with a wise crack and just say yes sir or no sir.

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[celebritydave]

The only time we came back with clean laundry was on our Azamara cruise. They have free laundry facilities and we made use of that.

 

Don't know if I would do that again though, it did take some time and we didn't have any sea days on that cruise.

 

Normally when we travel, we take space bags along and all our dirty laundry gets compressed so we have more room for souvenirs:D

 

Dave

[macandlucy]

Well thanks everyone for your replies -- I definitely feel a lot less weird now ;)

[cb at sea]

Heck, my dirty laundry isn't even in it's own plastic bag, it gets the entire suitcase!:eek:

 

Same here!

[JanineM]

I once travelled to NYC with a friend. She packed all of her dirty lingerie around the masses of clothes she bought, thinking this would dissuade the Customs agents from digging too deep if they searched her bag.

 

Guess what? Didn't work. They are pretty used to seeing dirty clothes (and who knows what else!)

[Mparis184]

Wow what a stupid question at customs. I always have dirty laundry in my luggage returning home. If the ship has a laundromat I will do wash midway into the cruise because I only travel with a carry-on and don't bring a lot of clothes. The dirty clothes get put in a large zip lock bag and everything needs to be washed anyway, what's the point? I can't get over that the customs agent even mentioned it at all.

 

Marion

[TravelerThom]

if it's not, you packed too much! :)

like:)

[macandlucy]

In the interest of accuracy I should say I was being a little discreet in my original post. Full disclosure: (and apologies in advance if this is tmi) niece said it was her undies in a plastic bag, told the customs lady when she asked what was in it, and the customs officer said, "you didn't wash your underwear?!". Clearly disgusted, the officer then tossed the bag several feet. The agent's apparent shock and dismay over the whole thing got me wondering if this was somehow an unusual thing to do.

 

Frankly that customs agent should count herself lucky that she hasn't encountered my husband's post cruise socks. :D

[Mparis184]

You brightened my day, that was very funny macandlucy.

 

Marion

[Mark_K]

Sounds like the customs official was doing something we rarely see them do....making a joke!

I would sooner think he was surprised it was packed in a bag as opposed to just shoved into the suitcase.