Suite/Elite Laundry Advice

[seagunthera]

Sailing in a suite with my two teens next week and am curious to learn tips and tricks for sending laundry out. Any warnings about what not to send, etc.? Also, if I send a large order out two days before disembarkation, can I expect it to come back in time to pack the night before cruise ends?  

[chrysalis]

our experience has been that the cut-off time is 3 days before the end of the cruise, but your cabin steward will be able to update you based on the number of Elites on board given that Suites get  priority laundry service.

Edited December 23, 2023 by chrysalis

[ggprincess2004]

In a suite you should have 24 hour turn around on clothes you send out. I never trust them with my delicates - things i would wash on the delicate or hand wash cycles and dry on the lowest setting or air dry. Those I do in the passenger laundry. 

Everything is washed and dried together in the ship's laundry, so you have hot water and high dryer settings, so it can be hard on clothes.

I take detergent pods and dryer sheets, some stain/spot treatment and plan on doing a few loads of delicates over the space of a 14 day or longer cruise.

Enjoy your cruise and suite, don't miss the suite breakfast in the specialty dining room, go the first morning and you will likely go every morning.

 

[LACruiser88]

We only send out items that a hot dryer will not harm. So, only about 50% of our items are sent out. The remainder we wash in the laundry room and hang dry in our cabin.

 

[cr8tiv1]

Out by 9 AM, usually returned by 9 PM.  On occasions, steward did not pick up by 9 AM or placed in ordinary laundry.

I prefer to leave my bag of laundry on the bed the night before. S/he will take it at turn down.  
 

I will do a large batch 2 - 3 days before packing and then, maybe a smaller bag the day before packing (and cross my fingers that it is returned that night).

 

Don’t forget to check Express Box in upper right hand corner.  No harm in writing Express in big letters in the instruction space.  

 

[shirazcruiser]

On our last suite cruise on Sky, we sent brand new crew socks that looked like they were 6 months old by the end of the cruise and nice womens Eddie Bauer t-shirts come back tie dyed looking. I've always handwashed my delicates, but on our next cruise I'll be doing all of our laundry in the laundry room even though we're Elite and sail in a suite. I've read on several threads that suites receive some complimentary laundry tokens.  

[trvlwrld]

If it is something you don’t particularly care about then send it out…we have had way too many things shrunk beyond recognition or come back looking so worn that I literally throw it away.  We now go to guest services and ask for laundry tokens instead of elite laundry - some ships will give you tokens for the laundromat and others won’t.

[c-boy]

1 hour ago, seagunthera said:

Sailing in a suite with my two teens next week and am curious to learn tips and tricks for sending laundry out. Any warnings about what not to send, etc.? Also, if I send a large order out two days before disembarkation, can I expect it to come back in time to pack the night before cruise ends?  

durable cottons, cotton blends & polyester blends good to go. Delicate's such as silks, cashmere or wool ,wool blends are a no no. Anything with embroidery , a coin toss.  As far as turn around, 48 hours should be fine.  Take a photo of  items being sent out  before their departure.( include a thank you with a smiley face on the laundry slip)

Edited December 23, 2023 by c-boy

[LACruiser88]

46 minutes ago, c-boy said:

Take a photo of  items being sent out 

We also take a photo of the laundry slip...

[nymshowdown]

Even be careful sending out dry cleaning or pressing. They once took great care of my suit jacket but sent the suit pants through the regular wash. They were shrunk and destroyed when returned to my cabin. Thankfully I had the receipt from the laundry "order" that clearly said they were for dry cleaning only and passenger services reimbursed me for the cost of the pants without a fight. 

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Underwear, socks, undershirts and t-shirts. That’s it. And I sure as heck am not doing laundry on vacation. We wear dinner clothes more than once since we are lonely wearing for 3-4 hours. Especially since I’m also wearing an undershirt. I am not hanging clothes on my cabin!  I pack enough that I need. 

[SCX22]

I don't trust the laundry service on the ship.  Even if it's free for Elites, I still do my own.  Free, but in the handful of times I've used the service in the past, I've not been happy with the condition my clothes have been returned.  I've had success in asking for free laundry tokens from Guest Services and bring my own laundry pods and fabric softener sheets (either from home, if space allows, or I buy in port).  If you choose this route, try and go early in the morning, late at night, or on a port day.  Also, set a timer for the approximate time your cycle will be finished and come back to move it to the dryer to retrieve it on time as a courtesy to your fellow passengers.  Good clothes are expensive and I like to care of them.

[SCX22]

1 hour ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Underwear, socks, undershirts and t-shirts. That’s it. And I sure as heck am not doing laundry on vacation. We wear dinner clothes more than once since we are lonely wearing for 3-4 hours. Especially since I’m also wearing an undershirt. I am not hanging clothes on my cabin!  I pack enough that I need. 

 

How about on a longer cruise?  The laundromat is one of the reasons I will only sail Princess on a longer cruise over 14 nights.  It's impossible to pack more than 2 weeks worth of clothes within the confines of the airline imposed 50 lbs.  (I'm a proletariat and don't fly anything other than economy.)

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Does economy allow 2 checked bags?  We bring a third bag for longer cruises. Sorry, but I would rather pay for additional luggage than do laundry on vacation. I am a severe over packer but could scale it back to not do laundry. Granted, we are two men so we have more mix and match options to not pack so much. 
 

My clothes are expensive and I don't put them in the laundry at home so I definitely wouldn’t send them out on a ship. I agree, only limited items would I send out. 

[c-boy]

8 hours ago, LACruiser88 said:

We only send out items that a hot dryer will not harm. So, only about 50% of our items are sent out. The remainder we wash in the laundry room and hang dry in our cabin.

 

you'll be joining Jo and I for evening cocktails in our suite. I'm not dodging trousers and tee shirts while holding a martini.😁

[SCX22]

5 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Does economy allow 2 checked bags?  We bring a third bag for longer cruises. Sorry, but I would rather pay for additional luggage than do laundry on vacation. I am a severe over packer but could scale it back to not do laundry. Granted, we are two men so we have more mix and match options to not pack so much. 

 

My other problem is I don't own that much underwear and socks.  The longest cruise I've every been on is 42 days.  I don't have 42 pairs of underwear and 42 pairs of socks.  If I'm supposed to own months worth of each, call me weird, but I don't.  I probably only own 3 weeks worth of both items, so even on a 28 or 30 day cruise, I'd have to do laundry.  

 

TBH, the ships have SpeedQueen or Maytag machines which are industrial grade.  You can control the detergent/fabric softener by bringing your own and choosing what to nuke in the dryer or hang dry in your cabin. 

 

You have to weigh your options in economy.  Sometimes an extra bag is $200 on an international flight, so laundry it is.  It's more economical.  Free tokens and you're only out the detergent and fabric softener, and even then, Guest Services will give free tokens to Elites if you want to use the dispensed All and Snuggle.  You don't even have to pay for the water and electricity.  Not that bad.  Again, speaking only for longer cruises.

Edited December 24, 2023 by SCX22

[SargassoPirate]

11 hours ago, SCX22 said:

 

How about on a longer cruise?  The laundromat is one of the reasons I will only sail Princess on a longer cruise over 14 nights.  It's impossible to pack more than 2 weeks worth of clothes within the confines of the airline imposed 50 lbs.  (I'm a proletariat and don't fly anything other than economy.)

We often combine land travel on one end of the cruise, usually prior to the cruise.  Quick dry clothing works well for land portions, but rather than drag "cruise only" clothes/shoes around on land, we ship that bag to the ship or home via Luggage Forward.

 

For a cruise-only trip, other than more toiletries, I pack about the same amount for a two week as a two month cruise. If it's a Princess cruise, we use the guest laundry.  On other lines, it's quick dry clothing and the cabin sometimes approaches LAcruiser88's.

 

We prefer to do our own laundry.  Nobody takes care of my stuff as well as I do.