Laundry Room Lockout - polluting the seas

[77Network]

I believe that Princess has no choice in the matter. It's state law that governs if their laundries will be open while the ship is in Alaskan or Washington waters.

 

 

Of course they have a choice in the matter. They can hold the water on board.

[Loonbeam]

The ships aren't designed with the long term capacity to store volumes of untreated water. For a day perhaps they could do it, if there was a reservoir, but I am pretty sure I recall that laundry drainage feeds right into the wastewater treatment system.

 

The average washer uses 43 gallons of water per load, so assuming 100 loads a day (easy to do on a larger ship) for a 7 day cruise they would need storage of around 30 thousand gallons. That's about the amount of water used in the ships pools (a 20' by 40' pool 5 feet deep is 30,000 gallons)

 

 

Of course they have a choice in the matter. They can hold the water on board.

[77Network]

The ships aren't designed with the long term capacity to store volumes of untreated water. For a day perhaps they could do it, if there was a reservoir, but I am pretty sure I recall that laundry drainage feeds right into the wastewater treatment system.

 

The average washer uses 43 gallons of water per load, so assuming 100 loads a day (easy to do on a larger ship) for a 7 day cruise they would need storage of around 30 thousand gallons. That's about the amount of water used in the ships pools (a 20' by 40' pool 5 feet deep is 30,000 gallons)

 

 

What happens to all the toilet, shower, sink and other water then? Are they dumping the poop overboard, but not the water to wash clothes?

[Loonbeam]

Toilets are on a separate system and go through a much more thorough and expensive processing before wastewater is discharged, including a lovely process known as enzymatic solids degredation and separation which I will leave to your imagination.

 

Sink and shower water are processed via a similar method to laundry water. The problem is that laundry detergents contain compounds not found in personal hygeine products and these are the ones that push certain substances over the legal limit (most notably trace metals and certain surfactants). And the biggest culprits are bleach and bleach alternatives and fabric softeners, compounds not seen in the sinks and showers normally (the crew uses non-bleach based cleansers and disenfectants in most cases). So those waters can be processed via normal methods and discharged with minimal risk of exceeding standards (it still can happen if someone pours something down a sink drain they shouldn't)

 

 

What happens to all the toilet, shower, sink and other water then? Are they dumping the poop overboard, but not the water to wash clothes?

[Artrina]

I'm reading this thread as I sit on the coast of WA enjoying a week before sailing THIS Sat on the Golden. I sighed thinking about our suitcases and how we packed for the trip thinking we could do laundry mid-cruise. We checked 2 suitcases and brought 2 carry-ons + another bag knowing 1 of them could be checked if needed. Guess we WILL be checking the extra bag going home. We'll plan on buying more t-shirts here and on the cruise; we'll do underwear in our sink and we'll send more home between leaving the WA coast and boarding the ship. BIG, annoying sigh!

[treasure4two]

I did not read all the entires on this thread, so please don't shoot me but do they let you in the laundry room to iron your clothes that have gotten wrinkled packed in our luggage? Thank you.

[somethingdifferent]

So if we are leaving Vancouver bound for Whittier along the inside passage, I am reading the only day to use the laundry is the first day of the cruise. That won't be very useful. Am I understanding this correctly that self-laundry onthe Diamond is limited to Canadian waters only?

[billyg3]

So if we are leaving Vancouver bound for Whittier along the inside passage, I am reading the only day to use the laundry is the first day of the cruise. That won't be very useful. Am I understanding this correctly that self-laundry onthe Diamond is limited to Canadian waters only?

 

We were on the Diamond last summer in Alaska (Vancouver-Whittier) and did laundry about half way through. I didn't notice the laundry room being closed during the trip.

[Astro Flyer]

I was also on the Sapphire with the OP & in the May 13th Patter for Victoria BC (received the evening of May 12th while in Seattle) on the front page it clearly warned us about the laundrettes being closed for the remainder of the cruise which ended on the 14th in Vancouver.

 

Important Information

Due to local restricted environmental regulations concerning the dumping of water, the Passenger Laundrettes will be closed for the remainder of the cruise.

 

I don't have a clue on the reasons but since we received the notice before departing Seattle on the evening of May 12th, it may be due to Canadian restrictions since we were sailing to Victoria then Vancouver. But whoever is the source of the regulation, we were informed on the front page of the Patter. It would have eliminated any confusion if they had promentently put it in the Patter on the 1st day or anytime before the cutoff. I double checked the Patters but the 1st & only mention about the closing of the passenger laundrettes wasn't until the evening before closing them for the remainder of the cruise. :(

 

We didn't use them so cannot confirm if they were closed without warning but this was my experience on the Sapphire.

[New York Nana]

I asked our TA to check on this and she called Princess. They said the self serve AND valet laundry would not be available until our final day at sea. We are going SB Whittier to Vancouver on the Island. We leave in 2.5 weeks, so it's back to the luggage to repack!!

[Happy ks]

We were on this cruise as well and I have to say, a warning several days in advance would have been nice. We did read the patter, only we got it after we returned to our cabin after dinner. They closed the laundry rooms the last 2 days of the cruise, just when we needed to wash a few things for our last cruise days and 2 additional days in Vancouver.

 

We just had to wear dirty clothes for a few days and wash undies in the sink, we survived.

[2010_cruisers]

ah, the life of us cruisers.......................imaging hae packed 9 pairs of undies instead of something else.......It is hard to always know the ins and outs of the darn ships...........(that why I always try ad make TIP sheets) for myself and others....

 

btw - I was had to wash my travel socks, I used some of the shampoo from the SPA (as it was a bit nicer than the cabin items)..........anywaysz - took 2 days to dry......it was close........

[Rysam]

Thank you for the information - I had called Princess directly earlier in the month to inquire about the Self Service Laundry as I was planning our packing list for our Alaskan Cruise in June. The assured me the self service would be open throughout the entire cruise. Then I read this thread...

[San10s]

We were on this cruise as well and I have to say, a warning several days in advance would have been nice. We did read the patter, only we got it after we returned to our cabin after dinner. They closed the laundry rooms the last 2 days of the cruise, just when we needed to wash a few things for our last cruise days and 2 additional days in Vancouver.

 

We just had to wear dirty clothes for a few days and wash undies in the sink, we survived.

 

Wow....am I confused with all this. :confused: So there were some days when the laundromat and / or the valet service were available? I've read that they are closed the last 2 days but yet on another post someone is wiriting they weren't open until the last day. I understand that there are different ships doing different routes.

 

I am trying to figure out if and when I will have access to the laundromat on my Saturday-to-Saturday cruise on the Golden Princess out of Seattle next week. Will this be available at all....and if so....what days.

 

* Will it be available when we board on Saturday....or once out of Puget Sound?

 

*Cruising up the coast on our first full day...while in the Pacific....will I be able to do laundry?

 

I'm reading many of these posts as that once we are further up the inside passage that there's no options for laundry.

 

This is only an issue as we are on a 11 day trip and I didn't want to pack too much so was planning on just doing laundry once on board on that first sea day. (I also hate traveling with too many dirty clothes. :rolleyes: )

 

I have been chuckling a little while reading all the posts on this thread. As my luck would have it....this is my first cruise after earning my Elite status....earning the perk of some free laundry. :D Now it is looking like it's something that I won't have as an option on this cruise....when I could use it! LOL!

 

I don't care if I do a load of wash or I can send it out....I just want to be able to get some laundry done so I don't have to bring more than the 2 checked bags that I have as of now. :eek:

Edited May 22, 2011 by San10s

[starsjohn]

We have often put our wilderness tested 'Sierra Maytag' into operation in our stateroom shower. Take a plastic trash bag, fill with some water and environment friendly soap, add items, seal bag and shake. Then rinse and hang up items to dry:).

[Happy ks]

It was also my understanding that we could not even send things out to be laundered on those last 2 days. I don't keep newsletters, so perhaps someone else did and can verify.

 

Oh well, I was in good company with my well worn pants. At home I wash after every wearing unless I have them on less than 3 hours. At least we had our worn clothing hung up instead of in a heap on the floor or in a laundry hamper. We pack in a garment bag so our stuff is on hangers to repack. We were slightly less wrinkled and hopefully didn't smell too bad ;)

 

I only wish they would have given us more of a warning, I should have added in my post the warning was on the newsletter came the night before the closure. I read it at 11pm in my jammies...I think the laundry room is closed by then anyway.

[Loonbeam]

The ship's laundry should not be affected. They control the detergent usage there.

 

Wow....am I confused with all this. :confused: So there were some days when the laundromat and / or the valet service were available? I've read that they are closed the last 2 days but yet on another post someone is wiriting they weren't open until the last day. I understand that there are different ships doing different routes.

 

I am trying to figure out if and when I will have access to the laundromat on my Saturday-to-Saturday cruise on the Golden Princess out of Seattle next week. Will this be available at all....and if so....what days.

 

* Will it be available when we board on Saturday....or once out of Puget Sound?

 

*Cruising up the coast on our first full day...while in the Pacific....will I be able to do laundry?

 

I'm reading many of these posts as that once we are further up the inside passage that there's no options for laundry.

 

This is only an issue as we are on a 11 day trip and I didn't want to pack too much so was planning on just doing laundry once on board on that first sea day. (I also hate traveling with too many dirty clothes. :rolleyes: )

 

I have been chuckling a little while reading all the posts on this thread. As my luck would have it....this is my first cruise after earning my Elite status....earning the perk of some free laundry. :D Now it is looking like it's something that I won't have as an option on this cruise....when I could use it! LOL!

 

I don't care if I do a load of wash or I can send it out....I just want to be able to get some laundry done so I don't have to bring more than the 2 checked bags that I have as of now. :eek:

[In_Steerage]

We're back from our dual cruises, and here's the actual operating days of the self serve laundry, and how the communication went down:

 

Cruise#1 Sapphire Princess, embark from Los Angeles on 5/7/2011

Laundry room open...

Los Angeles (0), Santa Barbara (1), San Fran (2), Day at sea (3), Astoria (4)

 

On or before the evening of departing Astoria, the laundry rooms were closed for the duration of this cruise. The doors were locked, so even the self-serve ironing boards were inaccessible.

 

The first communication of this was in the Princess Patter for day 5, Seattle, distributed the evening of day 4. So the closure announcement was made for the first time after the doors were locked. On subsequent days they also published that the self-serve laundry would be closed for the duration of this cruise.

 

Laundry room remained closed...

Seattle (5), Victoria (6), Vancouver (7).

 

On day 6 we packed our dirty clothes in a suitcase and carried it off the boat. When we went through the checkpoint at the dock, we were questioned by the Canadian authorities and taken to another room where our dirty stack of clothes was searched. We then boarded the $7 shuttle bus into town, and walked about 1 mile to the nearest self-serve laundry on Cook & Yates St.

 

The laundry facilities were very nice - staffed for changing money to Canadian, and had a nice waiting area with books.

 

On the morning of Saturday May 14 we arrived in Vancouver. The self-serve laundry was still locked down. That morning we transferred to the Golden Princess.

 

The self-serve laundry rooms were open when we got on the Golden Princess at 11:30 am. I asked at the front desk what days they would be open, and was told they would stay open for the entire cruise. They did in fact stay open through the following agenda:

Vancouver (0), At sea (1), Juneau(2), Skagway(3), Glacier Bay(4) where we washed clothes, Ketchikan (5), Victoria (6), Seattle (7).

 

:confused:

[willysgrandma]

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

[Astro Flyer]

Some have asked about the paid ship's laundry & it was available after the passenger laundrettes were closed on the Sapphire's LA to Vancouver cruise.

[San10s]

The self-serve laundry rooms were open when we got on the Golden Princess at 11:30 am. I asked at the front desk what days they would be open, and was told they would stay open for the entire cruise. They did in fact stay open through the following agenda:

Vancouver (0), At sea (1), Juneau(2), Skagway(3), Glacier Bay(4) where we washed clothes, Ketchikan (5), Victoria (6), Seattle (7).

 

:confused:

 

Thank you for your response and clearing this up for me.....and many others I'm sure. :D

 

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

Thank you for your information too. :D

 

 

I am happy to have a clear answer on this now. I will be able to pack much lighter. You've made my day!

 

My husband thanks you too! ;) :D

Edited May 22, 2011 by San10s

[somethingdifferent]

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. My undies will wash and dry easily but DH's "Fruit of the Looms" are another matter. Wish I knew for sure. Hate to fill a suitcase with briefs and t-shirts.

Edited May 22, 2011 by somethingdifferent

[Astro Flyer]

So now there is NO valet laundry???? I thought it was just self-serve that was closed.

The ship's laundry was open for us on that Sapphire cruise & we received our last laundry on Friday while in Victoria for the day before disembarking in Vancouver the next day.

[MT_DreamChaser]

Thanks to those who have recently returned from a cruise for sharing your experiences. I've been working on this particular trip since the AK bookings came open well over a year ago. Just one more reason I'm glad we chose the Golden :D

[scanner55]

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.