another newbie question

[spearmint]

We are not used to having laundry facilities (Celebrity cruiser) available to us. This influences our packing. Will someone tell us about them? Are they available by deck , what coinage/bills are needed, do they need to be reserved, are there better times than others to utilize them? I presume that one remains there with one's laundry.

 

Bill

Edited March 14, 2016 by spearmint

[vantec]

We are not used to having laundry facilities (Celebrity cruiser) available to us. This influences our packing. Will someone tell us about them? Are they available by deck , what coinage/bills are needed, do they need to be reserved, are there better times than others to utilize them? I presume that one remains there with one's laundry.

 

Bill

 

We have only sailed on the larger ships and have found laundry rooms on each deck - if you go to one and all the machines are taken, you can go up one deck, or down one deck and see if you have better luck. You do not make reservations. I'm guessing sea days are busier than port days. They do get a little busy the day of formal night with people using the irons and ironing boards. The last time I used the washers and dryers the machines took quarters, I think I've heard that is changing, not sure about that. If you need quarters there use to be change machines in the laundry room - although they did not always work. Sometimes I stayed with my laundry, other times I did not; there is a sign telling you how long each machine takes so I would feel comfortable going back to my cabin and returning when the machines were done.

[FritzG]

You don't have to stay in the laundry room, but it is extremely important to set a timer so you are back before the washer/dryer stop. People get very upset if they need to do laundry, and the machine is stopped but not emptied--and rightfully so. I usually get back 5 - 10 min. before the cycle is done. Some people sit in there the whole time; do whatever is comfortable for you.

You're right about the busy times--sea days and formal nights are the busiest. We usually do a load on embarkation day after dinner because most of the time we've done a 4 or 5 day land tour pre-cruise.

[mmckm]

Some ships use tokens which you can get by swiping yours card and other ships take quarters which guests services will sell you. dinner time seems to be the best time but not the most convenient time. Also port days in the late morning if you not in a hurry to get off.

[Colo Cruiser]

We are not used to having laundry facilities (Celebrity cruiser) available to us. This influences our packing. Will someone tell us about them? Are they available by deck , what coinage/bills are needed, do they need to be reserved, are there better times than others to utilize them? I presume that one remains there with one's laundry.

 

Bill

 

 

Have you checked out the Princess website/deck plans?

It shows locations for self serve laundry.

Every ship is different, some take the cruise card/tokens and some are still taking US coinage ($3 per load washer/dryer).

We generally give the cycle 45 minutes and leave.

[speedyjane]

I love having the laundry facilities on Princess cruises. We will be on the Royal soon. So to avoid carrying loads of quaters, does anyone know if the Royal laundries use coins, tokens, or the cruise card.

Thanks.

[sportsmum]

All the Princess ships we have been on in the last couple of years have had token machines. $3 for wash $3 for dry. I do not know the detergent as I bring 'pods'.

 

re: staying with laundry. I used to go back and forth (just saw the time signs this last cruise) but at Christmas this changed. I came back to check on dryer and found a woman holding up my son's jeans looking like she was measuring them up. I say, "HEY!" and she put them back in the dryer and went out the other door. I still had time on the dryer so it wasn't a case of being nice and emptying it for me. I did notice cameras in the laundry rooms on the last cruise.

[anthonyy7]

When I was on the Regal you had to swipe your card to pay for tokens. There is a specific token for washer and dryer however they cost the same. I remember it being $2 on embarkation day and then went up to $3. The pods went from $1.25 to $1.50 but you can bring those from home if you wish. I suggest checking and buying the tokens you need on day 1 if the price is lower.

 

Each deck had a laundry room, usual 2-4 washer/dryer sets however I can't remember. There are chairs and TVs in there so you can sit and wait however you don't have to. Set your watch timer, leave a post it note of your cabin number and go hang out there. There is a phone so someone could call you if it's done or another problem.

 

Sea days are usually busy and you may have to go up/down a deck or two. Even then you may be out of luck. If your an early riser you can do laundry when most people are still sleeping. Not to mention it's the best time to explore the ship!

[spearmint]

Thanks, everyone for some useful information. Being on a back to back, it is nice to know about embarkation day pricing. And about bringing a few pods. This is really new for us, as we are used to laundry and dry cleaning being perks on Celebrity.

 

Bill

[Treven]

I've always taken along a roll of quarters plus enough Tide pods for the number of laundry loads I anticipate doing, based upon the length of the cruise. Yes, the Purser's desk can sell you change for the machines, but I think they've got enough to do without me bothering them. Of course once whatever ship I cruise on requires tokens or card, I'll spend the quarters somewhere else.

[LACruiser88]

For the past couple of years, we have not been on a ship that still took quarters. Only tokens purchased in the laundry room using your cruise card...

[speedyjane]

We were last on the Ruby in Sept. 2014. At that time they were still using quarters. Thanks Anthony for the embarkation Regal tip. On the Royal the situation is probably the same. I always bring my own pods too.

[Pam in CA]

This is really new for us, as we are used to laundry and dry cleaning being perks on Celebrity.

Stick with Princess long enough and you get unlimited free laundry and pressing. You can send out laundry daily if you want. Plus a whole bunch of other perks. :)

[FritzG]

The Royal and Regal both use tokens, and I think most of the other ships have gone to the token system, too.

 

I carry pods because I use fragrance free detergent. I used to carry a baggie of Tide Free, but I don't want to attract any extra attention from TSA with a bag of white powder in my luggage!

[fishywood]

As they were launched after Princess began the conversion of launderettes to tokens from quarters, Royal and Regal have always used tokens. And now that Ocean Princess has left the fleet can it now be definitively said that all Princess ship use tokens? Maybe we can finally put these daily laundry threads to bed.

[hel0013]

And now that Ocean Princess has left the fleet can it now be definitively said that all Princess ship use tokens? Maybe we can finally put these daily laundry threads to bed.

 

I found this thread helpful. :) including your contribution... thank you...

[Corinda]

Amazon sells combination washer/dryer sheets. I prefer them to pods as no possibility of leakage.

[Murphey]

Amazon sells combination washer/dryer sheets. I prefer them to pods as no possibility of leakage.

 

I've wondered about these...do they actually work????

[JF - retired RRT]

I've wondered about these...do they actually work????

Yes.:D

[LeeW]

Filters on dryers clog rapidly. You might have to clean them during a load.

[Cruisin' Chick]

On our last couple of cruises, the machines displayed how many minutes are left in the cycle. But sometimes that may be off by a few minutes. We also prefer fragrance free so having a self service laundry is important for us when traveling.

 

And yes, you should check the lint filter before running a load. If I doing a heavy load even at home, I'll check the filter at times.

[caribill]

When I was on the Regal you had to swipe your card to pay for tokens. There is a specific token for washer and dryer however they cost the same. I remember it being $2 on embarkation day and then went up to $3.

 

There is no embarkation day special price.

 

Your embarkation day might have been the last day of $2 cost before the price went up permanently to $3.

Edited March 15, 2016 by caribill

[skynight]

Less crowded days are, of course, port days. Do your laundry before going ashore. You say you are doing a b2b, that is also a good day. But if your turn around is at a US port be sure to go through the immigration process first.

[wishIwascruising]

We were recently on the Coral and found that laundry rooms on different decks had either more/less/same number of machines. I think Deck 10 if I remember correctly had about 8 but the deck above had only 4 or 5. I found that early morning around 7:00 AM was a great time to do laundry or around 10:00 PM at night. If you used the laundry on deck 10, you could load your machine and walk just a short distance to the back of the ship and sit on the loungers on the deck and watch the world go by, read or even snooze. I purchased a mesh folding laundry hamper that popped up ($7 Amazon). I kept it in the closet for loading and carried it by the handles to the laundry room. It folded flat when not in use and fit easily in luggage. It had pockets on the sides to carry laundry soaps or the all-in-one laundry sheets (soap/fabric softener/static control) which worked just fine. The Coral used tokens which you got by swiping your card.

[anthonyy7]

I purchased a mesh folding laundry hamper that popped up ($7 Amazon). I kept it in the closet for loading and carried it by the handles to the laundry room. It folded flat when not in use and fit easily in luggage.

 

Yes, a collapsing laundry hamper works great for collecting and carrying laundry. However it's ALWAYS in use so there is no putting it away. :rolleyes::p