Laundry Room Lockout - polluting the seas

[Putterdude]

We just got off the Sapphire on 5/22 & did laundry twice. The laundramat was closed when we first got on Sunday, but was open after that.

 

I would be interested if the laundromat was open once in Alaskan waters or just while the Sapphire was out in the open Pacific on the west side of Vancouver Island? The issue of the laundromats began to surface last year in Alaskan waters and it would seem that perhaps we in British Columbia have said if you can't wash your dirty socks in Alaskan waters you certainly aren't going to wash them in our waters.

[In_Steerage]

It appears the laundry lock out depends on the ship. Since the Sapphire's laundry was locked from Vancouver to Whittier, I am again worried that the Diamond will suffer the same fate...

 

Just to clarify - our Sapphire cruise (where the self-serve shutdown took place) was a repositioning cruise; LA to Vancouver. We did not go North to Whittier. As I mentioned in my post of 5/22, 8:51 am, we transferred to the Golden Princess in Vancouver after the first cruise and did a second week on that ship.

 

And the shutdown occurred while we were in US and Canadian waters / ports; not even close to Alaska.

 

I failed to summarize the obvious in my previous post; and that is, for two different ships (Sapphire, Golden) in the same ports (Vancouver, Seattle, Victoria), the Sapphire's self-serve laundry was shut down, while the Golden's self-serve remained open. In Vancouver, this actually occurred on the same day when the two ships were in port simultaneously. For the other two cities, this happened about a week apart.

 

And another clarification - yes, I was told by the front desk on the Sapphire that the ship's valet laundry services were available during the self-serve shutdown.

[Loonbeam]

Ah.

 

It's very possible the ships have different filtration systems with different capabilities. I did base my answers above on the Coral where they said on the UST they could not handle the wastewater from the washers at the time, and I assumed (stupid me) all ships used the same system. I don't know that.

 

Just to clarify - our Sapphire cruise (where the self-serve shutdown took place) was a repositioning cruise; LA to Vancouver. We did not go North to Whittier. As I mentioned in my post of 5/22, 8:51 am, we transferred to the Golden Princess in Vancouver after the first cruise and did a second week on that ship.

 

And the shutdown occurred while we were in US and Canadian waters / ports; not even close to Alaska.

 

I failed to summarize the obvious in my previous post; and that is, for two different ships (Sapphire, Golden) in the same ports (Vancouver, Seattle, Victoria), the Sapphire's self-serve laundry was shut down, while the Golden's self-serve remained open. In Vancouver, this actually occurred on the same day when the two ships were in port simultaneously. For the other two cities, this happened about a week apart.

 

And another clarification - yes, I was told by the front desk on the Sapphire that the ship's valet laundry services were available during the self-serve shutdown.

[kobecat]

True, but it certainly appears that Princess ships predominate by a considerable margin. Perhaps they operate more ships in Alaska than other lines but is it by enough to account for the extremely large number of reported violations?:confused:

 

Do you think perhaps this might be because Princess is one of the few companies that thoughtfully provide passenger laundries. I have yet to find one on a RCL or Carnival ship.

 

Beryl

[BillK400]

I would also like any info from recent (last few weeks) passengers on the laundry situtation as I will be on the Diamond SB from Whitter 6/18 and was planning to pack light and do some laundry on the ship. Any info appreciated.

Edited May 30, 2011 by BillK400

[jewopaho]

Just off the Golden and I did laundry twice during the cruise - I had no problem with any restrictions in the laundry room.

Same here ... open throughout the cruise. Now I'm definitely convinced that it's a ship-by-ship decision, depending upon whether it's been recently drydocked. The Sapphire has not (scheduled for January); the Diamond's makeover in '10 was only partially completed, and it's scheduled for the remainder of the refit sometime in 2012. The Golden was totally refurbished in '09. If you're scheduled to sail either the Sapphire or Diamond (they're sisters; the only two in the class) check with Princess ... hopefully, you'll get current information.

[tampafish]

Does anyone know what days the laundry might be closed sailing on the Island north from Van to Whittier? I was planning on washing clothes on our glacier days before we get to Whittier, but if I need to do it sooner then I'd rather know now while I'm packing and before I get on the ship. I really don't want to spend my day in Juneau trying to find some place to wash my clothes. :)

[77Network]

This seems to be random. I was on the Sapphire last week and the laundy room on our floor was open every time I walked past it.

[piroguecruiser]

Tampafish ... Let us know after your Island Princess Alaska cruise about the laundry closure issue. We'll be on her for the August northbound. Have a Great Voyage!!

[BillK400]

This is a post from another forum regarding the self serve laundry on the Diamond last week SB from Whitter AK:

 

"Just returned off the Diamond Princess SB last week. We did some touring before we boarded the ship and needed to do some laundry once on board. Our formal nights were Sunday (Hubbard Glacier day) and Wednesday (Juneau) and the self service laundry was available on both of these days. Not sure about other days but never saw anything posted about it being closed. Hope this helps."

 

I will be on the Diamond 6/18 and at this time am "assuming" that the self serve laundry will be open....I hope!

[Loonbeam]

Since there seems to be some lack of clarity I made some calls.

 

The long and short of it is that each ship measures water quality of ejecta versus local regulations. In the event they get close to limits one of the options they have is shutting down the self-service laundry facilities.

 

So basically, the goal is to keep them open, but if something is amiss they may close them on any given trip.

[emmtee]

Well, that's not an answer anyone wants to hear (because it means you can't really plan ahead) but at least it makes sense. It explains why different cruises would have had the laundry room closed on different days or not at all.

[In_Steerage]

Although I posted this thread several years ago, I was reminded of it today when I heard the news of a Princess ship being found to have dumped used oil at sea, and Carnival Inc possibly having its ships temporarily banned from US ports.

 

To all of the defenders of Princess in the above thread: In light of this recent development, how can one trust that such a company is truthful and responsible with regard to their grey water handling?

[DrivesLikeMario]

On 5/12/2011 at 11:26 PM, RickEk said:

 

And here's the rest of the list.... seems that every line that operates in Alaska is culpable... http://www.cruisejunkie.com/alaskafines.html

EXACTLY.  They ALL do it.  Just a matter of who gets caught.

OP - All of the ships, not just the Golden, will shut down the laundry room at certain times while doing AK cruises.

[donaldsc]

On 5/12/2011 at 11:26 PM, RickEk said:

 

And here's the rest of the list.... seems that every line that operates in Alaska is culpable... http://www.cruisejunkie.com/alaskafines.html

 

Based on the trivial fines levied for the non-pending violations, even if they are found guilty the penalties are so small as to be trivial.  Does anyone really think that a major cruise line really cares about a $50,000 or even a 1 million dollar fine.  To them, it is just a cost of doing business.  In fact, it is also probably tax deductable from their profits.

 

If the government really wants to get the cruise line's attention, they could take away their Glacier Bay permits, not allow them to visit certain ports or ban them completely from Alaska waters.   That would get their attention.

 

DON

[Diver2014]

I wondered why someone would dig up posts from 2011.   Why everyone is looking at cruise ship pollution when countries around the world are dumping tons of garbage and pollution into the oceans.  Go after the easy targets, I guess.

[bemis12]

Bumping their own eight-year-old post. Very strange.

Edited April 13, 2019 by bemis12

[4cats4me]

5 minutes ago, bemis12 said:

Bumping their own eight-year-old post. Very strange.

 

While it might be strange, sounds like it is true.  

[land lover]

On 5/12/2011 at 7:11 PM, In_Steerage said:

Help!

I'm held captive on the Sapphire Princess, with a load of dirty clothes and no way to wash them.

 

Apparently, the Sapphire spews it's laundry room waste water directly into the ocean, so the government forces them to shut down the self-serve laundry when they're in the Pacific Northwest. I'm told the ship's main laundry doesn't have this problem, so they can still wash sheets and towels. But I don't feel like paying $100 to have an itemized list of socks, underwear, shirts and slacks laundered by their people. :mad:

 

On Saturday when this cruise ends in Vancouver, we're transferring to the Golden Princess and heading up the inside passage to Alaska. And nobody on board here can tell me if the laundry on the Golden will be open at all, due to the same problems.

 

We packed 1/3 of the total clothes we needed for these back-to-back cruises, and now we're looking for a plan B.

 

Does anybody know if the Alaska inside passage itinerary allows this grey-water-spewing ship (Golden) to run it's self-serve laundry room?:confused:

 What if your luggage was lost, what would you do then?...buy some new clothes or pay for them to be laundered...don't waste valuable cruise time posting here.

 

Good luck.....

 

oops..should have read thru...lol.....

Edited April 14, 2019 by land lover

[land lover]

23 minutes ago, 4cats4me said:

 

While it might be strange, sounds like it is true.  

 welcome home enjoyed your add-ons to HBCs thread...

[4cats4me]

37 minutes ago, land lover said:

 welcome home enjoyed your add-ons to HBCs thread...

Thank you, Land Lover! Had a great time, albeit, without my sea legs, but we will be going again soon.  Haha 

[land lover]

40 minutes ago, 4cats4me said:

Thank you, Land Lover! Had a great time, albeit, without my sea legs, but we will be going again soon.  Haha 

I did see your sea legs sunning in one of your photos..  u in the mask was my favorite of the whole thread...it's dangerous when you have a memorable avatar, sign in and leave photos of your body parts on threads...posters now know who u r😷🐈x4..... Enjoy....

Edited April 14, 2019 by land lover

[4cats4me]

20 minutes ago, land lover said:

I did see your sea legs sunning in one of your photos..  u in the mask was my favorite of the whole thread...it's dangerous when you have a memorable avatar, sign in and leave photos of your body parts on threads...posters now know who u r😷🐈x4..... Enjoy....

 

Yeah, I’m not very good at hiding my identity.  I’m not a fugitive, so I don’t care. 😂 

[hobbyfarmer2]

On 5/12/2011 at 11:26 PM, cherylandtk said:

In_Steerage said:

Help!

I'm held captive on the Sapphire Princess, with a load of dirty clothes and no way to wash them.... and now we're looking for a plan B.

 

It might not be the answer you want, but you could always hand wash the dirty clothes in your bathroom. Wring out most of the water, roll them in towels and stomp on them to get them dry enough to hang in the closet. It's more time consuming than a machine, but if all your clothes are dirty you won't be doing much outside the cabin anyway.

That's what we do now.  We wash 2-3 items a day in the sink using dissolving soap sheets, place the items on a pool towel, roll the towel up and press on it with our knees.  Items come out quite dry and are totally dry by the next day.  Just on the Regal for 14 days and never used the laundromat.