Laundry

[Darterjim1]

Has anyone ever done self laundry on board?   If so, details and opinions please.  Thank you!

[crazyank]

if you mean something like a laundromat, we've never seen one on any ship we've been on.

[Joe817]

2 minutes ago, crazyank said:

if you mean something like a laundromat, we've never seen one on any ship we've been on.

They have them all right. Many if not most ships in the Carnival fleet have them. I used one on the Dream back in late summer 2019. But only to press my slacks and shirts for elegant night. 

[crzndeb]

21 minutes ago, Darterjim1 said:

Has anyone ever done self laundry on board?   If so, details and opinions please.  Thank you!

Since I do longer cruises, I have used them several times. I get free laundry, but I prefer to do my own. I believe most of the ships now use your Sail and Sign card, so you don’t need quarters. What specific questions do you have?

 

7 minutes ago, crazyank said:

if you mean something like a laundromat, we've never seen one on any ship we've been on.

Carnival ships do have self serve laundry rooms. Maybe you didn’t notice them. They aren’t on every deck, but they are on several.

 

Edited June 27, 2021 by crzndeb

[Darterjim1]

Do the machines seem to work well ( meaning that is doesn’t take forever to dry clothes) & are in good condition?

[tytanbri]

25 minutes ago, Darterjim1 said:

Has anyone ever done self laundry on board?   If so, details and opinions please.  Thank you!

We use them all the time. We like to go to the casino and the smoke smell is terrible on clothes. We also travel as a family of seven. I prefer not to have 5 loads when I get home. 

My opinion on them is iffy. Some are really good and some are not. It depends on the ship and the washing machines. We have had issues with many of the machines being out of order or just not working when we went to start them.  The ones that work are fine. They are not overly large but they do the job. The dryers are hit or miss. We have used some that dried well and others that we had to run through twice to get dry. The dryers are fairly large and we have been able to dry two loads in one dryer. The cost the last time we used them in 2019 was $3 to wash and the same to dry. We pack the Tide pods in a sandwich baggie. 

[bluesman0711]

We have used between b2b cruises taking advantage of the slow time before others board. They work ok.

[chocolate melting cake]

We've used them and agree that they're OK, not super. I remember reading that the 2 new ships will no longer have them.

[sailingships]

1 hour ago, Darterjim1 said:

Has anyone ever done self laundry on board?   If so, details and opinions please.  Thank you!

Been years but we use to use our S/S card to get tokens from a box on the wall $2 for the washing machine and $2 for about 40 minutes for the dryer. There was a laundry with 2 of each machine on every other deck.

[Drazil65]

We are very light packers and tend to do the 7 or 8 day cruises.  I typically do a load of underwear and shirts cuz that is what my family runs out of mostly.  On the bigger ships there is typically a laundry room on each deck floor (we do balcony cabins on decks 7, 8 , 9 mostly) you will be able to see it for each deck on the deck maps (look mid ship).  I get up very early no matter if on trip or home so I grab a coffee and head over to the laundry room around 600 or 630 am midway through trip or on the day before our last sea day (last sea day packed in laundry all day).  Never had any issues and we have clean clothes for rest of trip and when we get home (not so much to do).  Then I can go back to my cabin for a second cup of coffee on the balcony (room service at 600 am with a carafe of coffee).  I am always done with laundry by time rest of my family up and ready for breakfast so not a big deal.  

Edited June 27, 2021 by Drazil65

[ninjacat123]

I haven't tried it but maybe it would be good for gym clothes!

[Pearlie09180401]

We've used them on the next to last day to keep from taking stacks of dirty clothes home. The only issue we've had is timing. You may have to make a few trips to catch an open machine. They've all worked fine for us. 

[Cruise Related]

We’ve done self and their wash and fold service. Never again will we do wash and fold, they shrunk all cotton items. Was horrible. I’m platinum and get it for free, but I’ll be passing every time now. Not sure how the newer ships(horizon, Mardi Gras) do their laundry, but I’ll be sticking to self laundry or dirty clothes. 

[TNcruising02]

We've used the self service laundry on the majority of our Carnival cruises.  Most of the ships have them on several decks.   We used the sign and sail card machine in the laundry area to pay for it.  They also have laundry detergent available for purchase.  Sometimes a machine or two weren't working.  Sometimes all of the machines were being used, so it was a challenge finding an empty machine.  I never minded doing a load or two and would just use that time to relax in the cabin for an hour.

I met someone whose family had gone on an ATV excursion that their clothes were filthy (they had a blast).  She used the self service laundry for that.  We pack light, so always wash our clothes mid cruise with Carnival.  It's a great option.  I know there are people who would never do laundry on a cruise.  That's fine.  It's a nice option for those who don't mine.

 

Carnival also offers a $15 special mid cruise.  All of the clothes you can fit into a small bag.  If you roll the clothes, you can fit a lot.  When we would send out one bag, we would get all of the clothing washed and folded in two bags.  They would still only charge us the $15.  We only sent out casual clothing.

Edited June 27, 2021 by TNcruising02

[ober134]

We've used them a couple times. Most often just to use an iron. The washing machine is ok, but recall the dryer taking a long time and never really dried the load. Just hung them up in the cabin. It was a few dollars per load.... Cheaper than paying for luggage fees.

 

[Mary229]

I had one across the hall from me on a long cruise.  At first I thought it was a problem but it was great.   As I unpacked I ironed everything that needed pressing.   I did laundry 2 or 3 times during sea days very early in the morning.  There are hours but if you want to do them on sea days be sure to get there early. I think the hours were 8-8?  I also bring hand washing detergent sheets like this:   https://www.amazon.com/travel-laundry-detergent-sheets/s?k=travel+laundry+detergent+sheets     Be sure to get the ones intended for sink washing.  

[Vrybusy]

We typically do at least one load….have done as many as 3 loads ion cruises. As mentioned above, find out where they are on the deck map, and get there early. We take 2 or 3 small packs of detergent (liquid tide packets in a ziplock). That seems to work better for us than the granular detergents in their washers. A few dryer sheets and that’s all you need. I try to be courteous to others and remove our clothes promptly. I’ve seen people leave their clothes in there for hours. 

[BlerkOne]

5 hours ago, chocolate melting cake said:

We've used them and agree that they're OK, not super. I remember reading that the 2 new ships will no longer have them.

Yep. Don't expect to see them on Mardi Gras or newer.

[mpdog42]

10 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Yep. Don't expect to see them on Mardi Gras or newer.

Of course they want you to pay $$$$$$$$$$$$

[sanmarcosman]

Ironing isn't most people's idea of a cruise vacation but if you do want to touch up a shirt or blouse we have found Carnival uses Sunbeam's Simple Press Iron with the " burst of steam " feature. The irons are great but look at the bottom plate of the iron before using it. Sometimes people scorch their polyester leisure suits from the 70s and it leaves a messy residue that will ruin your clothes. I've been " sent " to other decks in search of an iron that hasn't been ruined by scorching. 

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by sanmarcosman

[crazyank]

9 hours ago, crzndeb said:

Since I do longer cruises, I have used them several times. I get free laundry, but I prefer to do my own. I believe most of the ships now use your Sail and Sign card, so you don’t need quarters. What specific questions do you have?

 

Carnival ships do have self serve laundry rooms. Maybe you didn’t notice them. They aren’t on every deck, but they are on several.

 

It's very possible we didn't notice them.

[Aplmac]

16 hours ago, crzndeb said:

Carnival ships do have self serve laundry rooms.

Maybe you didn’t notice them. They aren’t on every deck,

but they are on several.

 

We discovered them on Carnival Glory, about ten years ago.

Exciting pics below.. I think this was on Deck Two..

 

[KmomChicago]

I absolutely love the laundry rooms. Used them on Triumph (now Sunrise) and Sensation. Annoyed they won't be on Mardi Gras, but they say they will have free public ironing rooms, which is helpful. 

 

It was cash i.e. quarters on Sensation and Sign and Sail card on Triumph. They worked fine, ample enough size, didn't fry my clothes, got them clean.

[sparks1093]

I've always found the laundry bag specials to be affordable so that's how we get our laundry done. We never bring anything delicate so aren't worried about that. We do enough laundry during the year and it's nice to let someone else do it for a change. (And I don't want to spend time babysitting a washer and dryer either.)

[sparks1093]

13 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

 

 

Carnival also offers a $15 special mid cruise.  All of the clothes you can fit into a small bag.  If you roll the clothes, you can fit a lot.  When we would send out one bag, we would get all of the clothing washed and folded in two bags.  They would still only charge us the $15.  We only sent out casual clothing.

On our last couple of cruises this pricing was offered throughout the cruise, even though we only take advantage of it once. Sometimes the information isn't readily available in the cabin so you have to ask your steward about it (either the bag is missing or the ad sheet is missing or both).