Amsterdam laundry room question

[PSR]

I was wondering if anyone who has sailed on the Amsterdam 14-day to Alaska this year noticed if the public laundry rooms were closed any days for environmental reasons? Such as certain ports or glacier viewing days? I don't want to do laundry if possible (I do know about the ship's laundry services), but I don't want to plan for a certain day, then have the room be locked....or maybe that would be OK!

 

Thanks for any information,

Penny:)

[Modern_Viking]

I don't have a specific answer to your question, but the only time I have heard for sure that HAL closes the self-serve laundry is for ships sailing in the Amazon. In that case, the reason is the lack of opportunity to load or "make" fresh water for a period of several days, and thus water conservation activities are put into place to reduce the use of fresh water until the ship is able to acquire more.

 

I have not (yet) heard of any water restrictions on HAL ships due to an inability to treat or store gray or black (waste) water on board. But, there is always the possibility of a first time, I must admit.

[ceegarden]

I was on the Amsterdam 14 day to Alaska on June 10th. I did laundry twice, ironed twice and never noticed the laundry rooms closed. I used the machines on the Veranda deck. However, there was first one and then two washers out of service. Hopefully, they are repaired. I did laundry after the first evening show and did not have to wait for a machine.

 

Have a great cruise - it is a fantastic trip.

[Cruzman]

Sailed on the Amsterdam last month (6/10 sailing) and the laundramat directly across from our cabin was open for business during the entire cruise. Washed clothes on two separate occasions without a hitch.

[CaveDiving]

The self service laundry on the Amsterdam appears to be open every day, port or sea days.

 

Scott & Karen

[vbmom87]

I was on the Amsterdam 14 day to Alaska on June 10th. I did laundry twice, ironed twice and never noticed the laundry rooms closed. I used the machines on the Veranda deck. However, there was first one and then two washers out of service. Hopefully, they are repaired. I did laundry after the first evening show and did not have to wait for a machine.

 

Have a great cruise - it is a fantastic trip.

 

YOU were lucky not to have to wait for a machine. On our 2008 HAL cruise on the Volendam, there were many machines out of order and long awaits. Because of that experience, we decided to splurge this trip and have the ship do our laundry.

[Himself]

There are currently two machines out of order on the Veranda Deck of the m.s. AMSTERDAM so I think I will have to get up real early to do my laundry.

 

FYI: I am currently on the 14 Day Amsterdam cruise and enjoying every minute of this cruise.

[PSR]

Thanks to everyone who replied! Looks like the only problem might be "out of order". That's disappointing for HAL; never have had a problem with that situation on their ships. Appreciate the information.

 

Penny:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

This can happen any time.

 

Only "closures" we had on our Amsterdam cruise - no smoking anywhere when we were approaching and in Tracy Arm and Hubbard Glacier.

[ldog]

the best time to get a machine is around 5 pm on formal nights! Works for us since we eat dinner late.

[PSR]

the best time to get a machine is around 5 pm on formal nights! Works for us since we eat dinner late.

Thanks again, all! Good tip Idog...we do eat late.

 

Penny

[Watson's aunt]

I was on the Amsterday june 10 also My cabin was on main deck we had a laundry room about 4 doors down from my room all machines were working. I did laundry twice and I never do laundry on vacation. It was very handy and machines were always full but the wait was short.

 

 

Mary

[want2retire]

Just off the Amsterdam. Never noticed the laundry room to be closed on Main deck. One machine was out of order the entire trip.

[fleckle]

YOU were lucky not to have to wait for a machine. On our 2008 HAL cruise on the Volendam, there were many machines out of order and long awaits. Because of that experience, we decided to splurge this trip and have the ship do our laundry.

Wise decision. I think you will be very happy with their laundry service. No concerns about broken machines, wasting any of your vacation time waiting for a machine, sorting, ironing, folding, or running back and forth. The ship's laundry does an excellent job. You can pack a lot of laundry into one of their $20 bags.

 

We just left our bag of laundry on the bed each time, and the next day everything would be returned, all pants and shirts ironed, on hangers, with socks and underwear nicely folded, wrapped in tissue paper in a basket. We thought it was one of the best values on the ship.

[vbmom87]

Wise decision. I think you will be very happy with their laundry service. No concerns about broken machines, wasting any of your vacation time waiting for a machine, sorting, ironing, folding, or running back and forth. The ship's laundry does an excellent job. You can pack a lot of laundry into one of their $20 bags.

 

We just left our bag of laundry on the bed each time, and the next day everything would be returned, all pants and shirts ironed, on hangers, with socks and underwear nicely folded, wrapped in tissue paper in a basket. We thought it was one of the best values on the ship.

 

 

I am a little confused about the ironing. I saw somewhere that with the unlimited laundry you paid one price for the unlimited laundry bags but had to pay additional for unlimited ironing.

 

From what you said, perhaps the $20 a bag includes ironing. Does anyone know for sure?

[RuthC]

From what you said, perhaps the $20 a bag includes ironing. Does anyone know for sure?

If you send things out to be washed, they come back pressed. You don't need to pay extra to have laundry pressed.

You can also purchase an unlimited pressing package (or pay by the piece). That would be for clothes that do not need washing, but do need to be pressed to be presentable.

[fleckle]

I am a little confused about the ironing. I saw somewhere that with the unlimited laundry you paid one price for the unlimited laundry bags but had to pay additional for unlimited ironing.

 

From what you said, perhaps the $20 a bag includes ironing. Does anyone know for sure?

Still cannot answer this for sure because we were also under the impression that the $20 bag did not include ironing. Yet each time our clothes came back, they certainly looked good to us and required no further ironing (granted that we bring along primarily travel clothing that needs very little ironing).

 

Like so many other things, it may vary depending on who happens to be doing the work on any particular day. Maybe we have just been lucky, but we were very pleased, as were the other people with whom we spoke who used the ship's laundry service.

[maxout]

Still cannot answer this for sure because we were also under the impression that the $20 bag did not include ironing. Yet each time our clothes came back, they certainly looked good to us and required no further ironing (granted that we bring along primarily travel clothing that needs very little ironing).

 

Like so many other things, it may vary depending on who happens to be doing the work on any particular day. Maybe we have just been lucky, but we were very pleased, as were the other people with whom we spoke who used the ship's laundry service.

 

See Ruth's post above yours.

[fleckle]

P.S. Vbmom, if you use it, I hope you will report back after your cruise and let us know what you think of it, in particular whether or not your laundered clothes come back ironed to your satisfaction.

[vbmom87]

I found the post that mentioned ironing as an extra fee. It is post #24 on this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1443228&highlight=ironing&page=2

[maxout]

I found the post that mentioned ironing as an extra fee. It is post #24 on this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1443228&highlight=ironing&page=2

 

You could pay for both unlimited laundry and unlimited pressing but you would have to have a lot of items that only require pressing to make it worthwhile.

 

Your items sent out for laundry will come back nicely pressed or neatly folded in a little basket for items such as undergarments, socks.

[mtebor]

how much is the self service laundry/dryer?

[RuthC]

how much is the self service laundry/dryer?

$2.00 to wash; $1.00 to dry. Detergent is furnished. Bring dryer sheets, if you use them. Quarters can be obtained at the Front Desk.

[vbmom87]

P.S. Vbmom, if you use it, I hope you will report back after your cruise and let us know what you think of it, in particular whether or not your laundered clothes come back ironed to your satisfaction.

 

We are back from our cruise and we decided to use our onboard credit for the unlimited laundry. We were on a 14 day cruise, so the cost was $98 and yes, this included ironing. We loved the unlimited laundry package and definitely got our money's worth. We laughed because they ironed virtually everything, even my husband's undershirts. I do iron back at home, but not jeans and definitely not undershirts!!! We were VERY SATISFIED with this service and would take advantage of it again. It allowed us to pack much lighter, but still have nice clean clothes to wear.

 

I did not notice any clothes shrinking. In fact my jeans actually felt a little looser than normal. :D Everything came back looking great!!!

[fleckle]

We are back from our cruise and we decided to use our onboard credit for the unlimited laundry. We were on a 14 day cruise, so the cost was $98 and yes, this included ironing. We loved the unlimited laundry package and definitely got our money's worth. We laughed because they ironed virtually everything, even my husband's undershirts. I do iron back at home, but not jeans and definitely not undershirts!!! We were VERY SATISFIED with this service and would take advantage of it again. It allowed us to pack much lighter, but still have nice clean clothes to wear.

 

I did not notice any clothes shrinking. In fact my jeans actually felt a little looser than normal. :D Everything came back looking great!!!

Thanks for coming back and posting the follow-up. We did not recall seeing anything in HA's description of the laundry service stating that the clothes would come back ironed. That is why we were so delighted when they did.

 

I agree. It is worth every penny and we will definitely use it again on future cruises. What a pleasure it is not needing to waste any of our precious, limited vacation time in the laundry room waiting for machines, ironing, folding, or carrying laundry back and forth.

 

Glad that you had such a wonderful cruise.

It is a big disappointment seeing that they have changed the route for next year, going around the west side of Vancouver Island in both directions.

This would be an ideal Alaska cruise itinerary if they would travel east of Vancouver island both northbound and southbound, giving passengers the two days of scenic viewing instead of spending those two days out in open ocean.

 

Well, as long as I am doing wishful thinking, I may as well wish for them to add on a visit to Glacier Bay also, since they already go right past the entrance.