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Self-laundry on Amsterdam

Lady Chew

By Lady Chew,
in Holland America Line

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Hawaiidan

Hawaiidan

Posted
Posted

That you spend doing laundry, which detracts from your vacation time and enjoyment, consider getting the $8 a day unlimited laundry. When you factor the hours it takes you of waiting around, the cost of the machine time, and what you paid for the cruise, it becomes pennywise but pound foolish to do your own laundry.

 

If the cruise is costing you $160 a day (Thats fare, tips, taxes) and your awake 16 hours a day, your spending$ 20 to $30 of paid for ship time doing laundry....$10 per hour spent to save $8

 

For the $8 we were sending out 2 to 3 bags a day...every day, for the same charge ! They were returned the next day, on hangers, or folded, ..

 

On a recent 30 day cruise we went for the unlimited laundry. were able to pack ultra light and enjoy ports, sea and friends, rather than washing, drying, folding ironing, for several hours a day.

First you have to get a free machine...not that easy, Then a free dryer. Then comes ironing, folding lugging back and forth... Lots of waiting

From past experience it takes about 2 to 3 hours per load of your time

Trying to structure your day around laundry.

I

 

Think long and hard

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Cruising Carol

Cruising Carol

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So don't stay there. Start a washer, go out on the promenade and read for a while, come back and move stuff to the dryer, go back outside again ...

 

That's what I did! The machines count down the time, so you know how long it is going to be. I also did only one load for a 14 night cruise. Time actually spent in the laundry was about 30 minutes.

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NMLady

NMLady

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Save your quarters. Buy the unlimited laundry package. Who wants to spend their cruise in a hot laundry room?

 

When I was on the Amsterdam, even though we used ship laundry for most items, there were a few that I wanted to take care of myself, to make sure they were done in cold water, delicate. Not everything can go to the ship's laundry. The self-serve washer saves washing delicates by hand in cabin's bathroom sink.

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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What about the soap? Do they have choices? DH is so allergic that if I washed his clothes in fragrance soap he would be sneezing all day and he would not be enjoying his cruise. As it is we have to bring our own shampoo and bath soap.

 

 

There are no choices in the ships soaps for the laundry or in your cabin.

When I have to do delicates on a long cruise that does have the self service laundry rooms -- I take Tide -- DH is not allergic to that. I also take our own Downy or Snuggle fabric softer sheets for the dryer.

As for the soaps and shampoos in the cabin -- DH because of his medications is allergic to the Elemis products and can not use them. So we have to take our own soaps and shampoos.

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fleckle

fleckle

Posted
Posted
That you spend doing laundry, which detracts from your vacation time and enjoyment, consider getting the $8 a day unlimited laundry. When you factor the hours it takes you of waiting around, the cost of the machine time, and what you paid for the cruise, it becomes pennywise but pound foolish to do your own laundry.

 

If the cruise is costing you $160 a day (Thats fare, tips, taxes) and your awake 16 hours a day, your spending$ 20 to $30 of paid for ship time doing laundry....$10 per hour spent to save $8

 

For the $8 we were sending out 2 to 3 bags a day...every day, for the same charge ! They were returned the next day, on hangers, or folded, ..

 

On a recent 30 day cruise we went for the unlimited laundry. were able to pack ultra light and enjoy ports, sea and friends, rather than washing, drying, folding ironing, for several hours a day.

First you have to get a free machine...not that easy, Then a free dryer. Then comes ironing, folding lugging back and forth... Lots of waiting

From past experience it takes about 2 to 3 hours per load of your time

Trying to structure your day around laundry.

I

 

Think long and hard

All excellent points!

 

Our first day on the Amsterdam, I took one look inside the dreary laundry room and immediately realized that I did not want to waste even a minute of my precious vacation time in there.

 

I had absolutely no desire to carry laundry back and forth, wait for available machines, keep track of what time I needed to get back there to transfer laundry from washer to dryer, or spend any of my time folding or ironing.

The advantages of cruising include escaping from humdrum chores like cleaning and cooking and laundry.

 

The HAL laundry and dry cleaning services do a great job.

Any item of clothing that I am not willing to send out to be laundered or dry cleaned gets left behind at home.

 

If I really had any wish to do housework on a cruise, I would rather cook or vacuum than do laundry. ;)

 

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Hawaiidan

Hawaiidan

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That's what I did! The machines count down the time, so you know how long it is going to be. I also did only one load for a 14 night cruise. Time actually spent in the laundry was about 30 minutes.

 

About 30 min? Lets see allow about 15 min to carry all your stuff to the washer after a 15 to 20 min trip to the laundry to see what time the machines might be free...( and hope someone else has not done the same)

Allow 3 min to load and soap, then walk to some deck chair, another 15 min... spend a whoping 10 min relaxing, then 15 min back to the washer. and pray for a free dryer. Lets say you lucky, ok

Allow 5 min to unload check and load the dryer... set for 45 min, then walk back to the deck chair another 15 read the book 10 to 15 min, then back 15 min to the dryer to un load. Spend 15 min carrying stuff back to the cabin and another 10 folding... and putting away....And thats without Ironing....

So your 45 min wash and 45 min dry, Thats well over 1.5 hours, not

counting the 1.5 hours of actual wash and dry time.

 

AND that assumes a machine will be available exactly when you want it... if not add the all the times you have to back and forth and it can really add up ( which is rare-rare-rare)

.

Under ideal conditions...perfect it is a 3 hour min period of time... with maybe 30 min in 10 to 15 min segments subtractsd

 

Actual time is closer to 2.5 hours ..... I it might take you 30 min to just load and un load the machines but ignores all the other time that the operation demands.

 

I will bet anone big$$$$$$ that you cant do laundry in 30 min or even an hour..are you on?

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Wakepatrol

Wakepatrol

Posted
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All excellent points!

 

Our first day on the Amsterdam, I took one look inside the dreary laundry room and immediately realized that I did not want to waste even a minute of my precious vacation time in there.

 

I had absolutely no desire to carry laundry back and forth, wait for available machines, keep track of what time I needed to get back there to transfer laundry from washer to dryer, or spend any of my time folding or ironing.

The advantages of cruising include escaping from humdrum chores like cleaning and cooking and laundry.

 

The HAL laundry and dry cleaning services do a great job.

Any item of clothing that I am not willing to send out to be laundered or dry cleaned gets left behind at home.

 

If I really had any wish to do housework on a cruise, I would rather cook or vacuum than do laundry. ;)

 

 

This is the same way I feel. Laundry on a cruise:eek:

 

"Hey, Want To Go Up To The Crows Nest And Have A Drink And Watch The Sunset?

 

No thanks- I've got to do a load of whites tonight snore zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

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serendipity1499

serendipity1499

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I tend to agree with HawaiiDan about the time it takes to do laundry, as we have used the self service laundries on many HAL ships until we wised up & sent laundry out by the bag..

The cost for unlimited laundry is now $9.00 a day..And laundry by the bag is anywhere from $26 to $30 depending on the ship...IMO sending out laundry by the bag is much less expensive..

On our longer 28 day cruises, we would send a bag out about every 5 days for $20..Now under the new pricing system for a 28 day cruise, laundry would cost us about $168.00 as opposed to sending it out at $9 a day for $252.00..

You can stuff lots into one bag..We rolled all DH's shirts & my tops together & stuffed the bags with all our under ware, socks long slacks & shorts...I rolled & DH stuffed with his long arms..You would be amazed what you can get in those bags..Socks go into corners..The bags were so heavy that we could not put them on the hooks without fear of the hook breaking off..Everything comes back beautifully laundered & pressed on hangars..However, one time the laundry put a crease into the arm of one of my silk jackets which did not belong there..I sent it back to have them redo it..So be sure to ask you Steward to tell the laundry how to press your delicate silk jackets if you send them out..

Now we get free unlimited laundry, we'll plan to send out bags on our 68 day cruise...I've decided that for a 68 day cruise I probably will need enough dinner outfits for approx 14 days, so will have to either send some delicates out or do them myself..

Cheers...:)Betty

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Lady Chew

Lady Chew

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We will be on a very long cruise so there will be plenty of time to do laundry! It's not that big a deal to spend an hour here or there to do a load or two of laundry!

The unlimited laundry pkg is expensive, it's cheaper to use the laundry-by-the-bag, and that is what we will be doing most of the time. We can do 2 bags a week for less than the unlimited pkg.

However, I have some delicate laundry that I would prefer to do myself, will use the washer but not the dryer. I'll probably have to do 5 or 6 loads during the 11 weeks of the cruise. I think I can manage!!

Of course, we'll become 4 stars during the cruise, and my understanding is that we'll start our benefits immediately, including free laundry.

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Typhoon1

Typhoon1

Posted
Posted
That you spend doing laundry, which detracts from your vacation time and enjoyment, consider getting the $8 a day unlimited laundry. When you factor the hours it takes you of waiting around, the cost of the machine time, and what you paid for the cruise, it becomes pennywise but pound foolish to do your own laundry.

 

Think long and hard

 

I think there was a recent post indicating it had risen to $9.00 per day. Still a bargain.

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Hawaiidan

Hawaiidan

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Posted

we packed enough stuff for 5 days. one suit one Blazer 2 pr slacks.. we used to pack for( 7 but wound up not needing it). and used the laundry to cycle it. our suitcases were only 1/2 full... 35 lbs each.

 

The joy of traveling lite outweighs the sartorial splender route... If we need something... well then we can buy it. ( we discovered that there are stores all over the world)

 

On our next 43 day... we will pack again for 5 days. same with the 54 day ones as well:D...

 

5 days seems about right from experience since it only takes 24 hours to wash and refresh, why take more, but taking14 days? ...

On the other hand, I know a lady who changes clothes 2 to 3 times a day! Takes 3 large suitcases for a weekend.

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serendipity1499

serendipity1499

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we packed enough stuff for 5 days. one suit one Blazer 2 pr slacks.. we used to pack for( 7 but wound up not needing it). and used the laundry to cycle it. our suitcases were only 1/2 full... 35 lbs each.

 

The joy of traveling lite outweighs the sartorial splender route... If we need something... well then we can buy it. ( we discovered that there are stores all over the world)

 

On our next 43 day... we will pack again for 5 days. same with the 54 day ones as well:D...

 

5 days seems about right from experience since it only takes 24 hours to wash and refresh, why take more, but taking14 days? ...

On the other hand, I know a lady who changes clothes 2 to 3 times a day! Takes 3 large suitcases for a weekend.

 

I normally change twice a day..I know you think 14 days is too much however we drive to the ship..On our 68 day cruise we will each take 2 large suitcases & 2 carry-on's..We are shipping our 4 large suitcases by FedEx to & from the ship, the cost of which is paid by HAL since we paid in full early..

Living in Florida, I miss the fact that we don't dress as we used to when we worked in New York.. ;) Most of our dress clothes are only worn on cruises & I have lots of them...DH will probably take his Tux, a Navy suit & his Blazer with several pairs of slacks, & dress & casual shirts..We are counting on having at least 9-10 Formal nights & perhaps more..

This way each evening outfit will still have to be worn about 5 times..I don't see taking enough for only 5 days, as then each outfit will have to be worn almost 14 times, which can become very boring to me..:eek: I also take lots of shoes! Even when we flew to Alaska, I took & paid for one extra bag from our home to Anchorage..Did not have to pay on the way back as we boarded in YVR.. After all we are paying a fortune for our cruise, what's wrong with paying for a few extra clothes?

Cheers....:)Betty

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Hawaiidan

Hawaiidan

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To me I would not care if I wore the same stuff 40 times on a 50 day cruise.. I dress with quality stuff, ( ie Gives Hawks stuff) but to me less is more... 3 pair of shoes. 3 ties,3 dress shirts 3 golf shirts 2 pr slacks. pair of swim trunks 5 tshirts that double as unserware, 2 pair of micro fibre zip off leg pants that convert to shorts. a rain, wind parka, poly pro/caprelene pullover. travel hat. and 6 pair of assorted sox... and a shaving kit., first aid kit...

 

We spend about 50 to 70% eating in the Lido for more creative dining...and sort of avoid the formal evenings

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

Posted
Posted
To me I would not care if I wore the same stuff 40 times on a 50 day cruise.. I dress with quality stuff, ( ie Gives Hawks stuff) but to me less is more... 3 pair of shoes. 3 ties,3 dress shirts 3 golf shirts 2 pr slacks. pair of swim trunks 5 tshirts that double as unserware, 2 pair of micro fibre zip off leg pants that convert to shorts. a rain, wind parka, poly pro/caprelene pullover. travel hat. and 6 pair of assorted sox... and a shaving kit., first aid kit...

 

We spend about 50 to 70% eating in the Lido for more creative dining...and sort of avoid the formal evenings

 

(bolding is mine) - I suspect most of us dress with quality stuff:D:p;)

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