Recommendations on laundry

[norcalemt02]

Planning a Europe cruise next year. At least 14 night. Wondering what are your recommendations for laundry. Since I never been to Europe don't know if laundromats are an option. Is the wash and fold on board worth it. I don't want to be carrying 14 days worth of cloths with me.

 

 

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[Biker19]

Start practicing doing your own in a small sink - like on the ship.;)

[Clarea]

Planning a Europe cruise next year. At least 14 night. Wondering what are your recommendations for laundry. Since I never been to Europe don't know if laundromats are an option. Is the wash and fold on board worth it. I don't want to be carrying 14 days worth of cloths with me.

We just stuffed 8 T-shirts, 16 underwear, and 6 pairs of socks in the $35 wash and fold bag. You would have to decide if that sort of volume is worth $35 to you.

[gerif]

Aside from what Bob mentioned above, the glop in the shower makes for dandy laundry "detergent" - I bring a lot of travel knits that wash and dry quickly with no wrinkles. Avoid heavy things like jeans when traveling.

[TubbyMrT]

I have them do a bag of laundry for me each day. Its a small price to pay to enable me to travel light and my room does not smell like a locker room because of used clothes laying around.

[George C]

We did RCCL laundry bag on our Europe cruise , would do it again

[bay guy]

We did B2B in Europe in 2015 and bought a Scrubba laundry bag through Amazon to take with us since my wife has allergies to many detergents and we didn't want to chance the ship's laundry detergent.

We took a small bottle of liquid laundry detergent and were able to do underwear, polo shirts, socks and other clothing items in the Scrubba. It takes a little elbow grease to do it but we were pleased with how well it cleaned the clothes.

The easiest way to put water into it is in the shower using the hand held shower head.

 

The ship laundry is OK but don't expect your clothes to come back bright white and they actually mixed our laundry with another cabin's clothes.

[jamesr3939]

I have them do a bag of laundry for me each day. Its a small price to pay to enable me to travel light and my room does not smell like a locker room because of used clothes laying around.

 

Even on seven day cruises I plan to send stuff out around day 3 or 4 so I don't have to pack so much stuff.

[Desert Cruizers]

When I pack for a 15 day cruise, I plan my evening clothes for a 1 week period & alternate & re wear. I figure in 3 formal nights rest will be casual. I plan 5 slacks and mix & match tops. You can alternate with a cocktail dress or skirt of you prefer. I try and hand wash as much as possible, for for both husband & I plan on sending out a load a week. We bring the collapsible laundry bag. The important thing to remember is to keep spare clothes since your laundry going out today will be returned the following afternoon so you don't want to have nothing to wear in the meantime.:)

[Little Buddy's Mom]

I have them do a bag of laundry for me each day. Its a small price to pay to enable me to travel light and my room does not smell like a locker room because of used clothes laying around.

 

How many people are traveling with you, if you have a bag of laundry every day? You are spending over $200. for laundry on a seven day cruise. Wouldn't be worth it to me, so I'll just bring some air freshener to mask that locker room smell.:D

[Desert Cruizers]

We don't spend $200 on a 2 week cruise with 3 loads max. Our 7 day cruise with friends next July, I am bringing only enough to fill my 22" and will probably wait until we are back home. Can't speak for my DH.:)

[SPacificbound]

We tend to spend extended time on ships and send our laundry about every four or five days. When we are disembarking for land travel we also make sure all of our laundry is done the day before.

 

Delicate things plan to hand wash, they will not survive being sent out. I usually hand wash my previous day's delicates while I am in the shower, then hang to dry.

Edited February 1, 2017 by SPacificbound

[lucymorgan]

Planning a Europe cruise next year. At least 14 night. Wondering what are your recommendations for laundry. Since I never been to Europe don't know if laundromats are an option. Is the wash and fold on board worth it. I don't want to be carrying 14 days worth of cloths with me.

 

 

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Most european cities have laundromats. Use google to search for one near your embarkation hotel (including google maps "Search nearby"). A lot of people might think it is a waste of time sitting in a laundromat but I find it fascinating and have met lots of locals this way. We've been to laundromats in Paris, Geneva, Kyoto(Japan), Warsaw, Krakow, Rome, Helsinki, many British cities, NYC, etc etc etc. Some places will also do a wash and fold for you for not much more than doing it yourself.

 

Our favourite so far was Kyoto (they are called coin laundries there and all hotels will give you a map to the nearest one) which had a range from little to big, had a guest book which my daughter wrote in and when we returned a week later, they had left a lovely reply.

 

and Krakow, which had a coffee and book shop attached and had very funky art.

 

Another option pre and/or post cruise is to stay in an apartment with washer/dryer provided. Most hotels in Europe don't provide guest laundries in my experience.

During the cruise, I find the washnfold fine for 'holiday clothes' (tshirts, shorts, underwear, socks etc) and I also have a scrubba wash bag and bring liquid detergent for items I would rather wash myself.

 

Edit: if you don't have a scrubba, ALWAYS bring a large zip lock bag or strong plastic bag in case the sink leaks or doesn't have a plug - I've noticed an increasing trend for hotels to not supply any plugs in their bathrooms.

Edited February 1, 2017 by lucymorgan

[lucymorgan]

I wanted to add that I always search out the laundromats before booking our pre/post cruise hotel, unless we decide to stay in an apartment with washer/dryer included, as travelling from Aus, it is easy to use two-three days worth of clothes before you arrive in the embarkation city. Travelling from Aus to Europe direct, I always sprint to the showers in the lounge at Dubai (or other transit city) so that means a change of clothes half way there. Then on arrival (always at least one day before the cruise) another change of clothes etc......

 

Same with travelling to the US - sprint to the showers in the lounge in LAX or Dallas (if there is time). :)

 

Same in reverse!

Edited February 1, 2017 by lucymorgan

[norcalemt02]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions getting great ideas. You guys are awesome!

 

 

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[K-Rev]

I second the Scrubba wash bag. I also bought a folding hanger with clips and a magnet with a hook. Put the magnet on the ceiling and hung the laundry hanger up to dry. Worked great.

[Cruise a holic]

Why would you want to spend any vacation time doing laundry? Better to either bring more clothes or pay for the laundry service on the ship. It is pricey- but so was the cost of the vacation. I consider my time more valuable then to spend it in a laundry on vacation.

Edited February 1, 2017 by Cruise a holic

[K-Rev]

Why would you want to spend any vacation time doing laundry? Better to either bring more clothes or pay for the laundry service on the ship. It is pricey- but so was the cost of the vacation. I consider my time more valuable then to spend it in a laundry on vacation.

 

 

I can manage 20 minutes. Besides, we were on the ship for three weeks, I enjoy the time with the laundry, don't always need to be around my 6000 new friends! I also have seen the result of my clothes with the ship doing the laundry, I don't mind if it's my husband's dark underwear or socks but I prefer to hang dry most of my clothes. It's my vacation and I spend it as I wish, just like you spend yours as you wish.

Cheers!

[lucymorgan]

Why would you want to spend any vacation time doing laundry? Better to either bring more clothes or pay for the laundry service on the ship. It is pricey- but so was the cost of the vacation. I consider my time more valuable then to spend it in a laundry on vacation.

 

For me, vacation isn't spending time in the sun or at the beach. I could do that any weekend if I wanted. I like to meet local people in the ports/places I visit. A laundromat is an ideal place to do this :)

 

I also love visiting supermarkets/grocery stores to see what people buy/eat in different places.

 

These are some of the things that I like on my vacation :)

 

edit: and when I get home, I always rewash everything we have taken, even if it has been 'cleaned' on board/in a laundry.

Edited February 1, 2017 by lucymorgan

[SargassoPirate]

We tend to do a lot of transatlantic and transpacific cruises and combine them with land travel before or after the cruise. Sometimes we have been out for 30-60 days and have a 90 day trip coming up this year.

 

When not cruising on Princess - with their coin laundries on each passenger deck - we do a lot "wear a day, air a day" for outer wear, pack mostly quick dry clothes, and wash out unmentionables as we go. Once we are on land, we try to find a coin laundry every few days. We, too, have had some wonderful experiences with the locals while sudsing our duds. Once in Amsterdam we found a coin laundry that was owned by an American from Boston who had married a Netherlands woman. We had a wonderful afternoon of conversation and we left with several local restaurant recommendations for out of the way places we would not have otherwise found.

 

If never hurts to offer the locals a smile and a greeting in their own language.

[Havingfun2010]

I often travel 12-14 days, with both ship and land. You can easily pack one suitcase, and one backpack for the trip, and stay below 50 lbs. Never once did I ever do laundry on vacation.

 

I understand, many people take 3 showers a day, feel dirty if they wear a pair of jeans, more than 1 day, or wear a shirt more than once, even if you wear t-shirts under them. I promise, the little germ gremlins will not attack, and you can survive under the harsh conditions of no laundry.

 

A pair of underwear and socks per day, a t-shirt per day, and all the rest of the clothes that cover those areas will be worn more than once and my jeans and/or pants 3-4 times each. A 14 day trip, you only need 6 days of clothes (I'm assuming at least 2 days on an airplane).

[K-Rev]

I often travel 12-14 days, with both ship and land. You can easily pack one suitcase, and one backpack for the trip, and stay below 50 lbs. Never once did I ever do laundry on vacation.

 

 

 

I understand, many people take 3 showers a day, feel dirty if they wear a pair of jeans, more than 1 day, or wear a shirt more than once, even if you wear t-shirts under them. I promise, the little germ gremlins will not attack, and you can survive under the harsh conditions of no laundry.

 

 

 

A pair of underwear and socks per day, a t-shirt per day, and all the rest of the clothes that cover those areas will be worn more than once and my jeans and/or pants 3-4 times each. A 14 day trip, you only need 6 days of clothes (I'm assuming at least 2 days on an airplane).

 

I completely agree with you. If we're only going for two weeks there's no laundry until we're home.

[jamesboat]

I would suggest princess for any longer cruises.

[Cruise a holic]

Carnival and Disney have washing machines for guest use. But Celebrity, NCL and RC do not- Not sure about others.

[Biker19]

I would suggest princess for any longer cruises.

 

Because of laundry? :confused::rolleyes: