elite laundry

[Wehwalt]

Some people make more of this stuff than it is and they tend to be really petty. You're in the same cabin, send the laundry out.

 

He can get priority tender access, go to the events with you, etc. You can even shop in the shops and get your discount and him pay with his credit card.

 

My last Elite cruise I was sailing SOLO and they told to invite a guest from the ship, if I liked, for the lounge and cocktail party.

 

I think some people try and make these things much more exclusive than they really are, as some sort of status symbol.

 

I agree with Jason entirely. If the crew has any objection, they can make it known to the cabin occupants. Given that an Elite passenger is one who has shown a willingness to spend substantial sums over time, and so is a good customer, I really doubt it's going to be an issue. I've mentioned in the second sentence of this paragraph the only persons whose business this would be.

 

As for laundry of items you've worn before boarding the ship, again, this is a rule that does not exist. No one buys a cruise for free laundry (at least I hope not). I do not think it pushes the limits of what Princess is prepared to tolerate from paying customers to send out a few days' dirty laundry soon after embarkation.

Edited June 11, 2015 by Wehwalt

[likeadisguise]

A crewmember is not going to risk a negative comment or decreased tips by saying anything.

[Pierlesscruisers]

While I agree with you, I must (kinda) side with the steward. If he refused the laundry or reported it, the repercussions from the greedy, thieving guest could mean he loses his job.

 

So you believe that a company (Princess) would fire an employee (Steward) for reporting a customer (Elite passenger) who was (apparently) cheating the company? Besides, how would the passenger know that it wasn't someone working in the laundry or someone else who reported the suspicious amount/type of laundry from one room? And in the event the customer did complain about the steward, I would think that it would be easy to realize that it would be in retaliation for the steward's report.

 

Tom

[fathercop]

This has been the case for years but like so much on Princess, it's managed inconsistently. I've heard Captain's Circle Host's assure passengers that everyone in the cabin can send out their laundry even if only one was Elite many times.

 

I'm sure it's not unique but on the Royal's T/A last October, several people were sending out 5-7 bags a day for days on end. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was happening. Apparently, quite a few people were sending out 3-4 bags a day. Princess did nothing to control it and the result was it taking 7-8 days to get your laundry back. By the end of the cruise, people were hounding the PSD for their laundry, clean, wet or whatever because they had to pack. Granted, no laundry could be done while docked in Venice but I think that people would have been fine with an allowance of a bag a day per cabin. It was totally out of control and Princess knew well in advance that there would be a LOT of Elites on board yet they did nothing.

 

The bottom line is that it's inconsistent. You can take your chances.

 

Pam,

 

I couldn't agree with you more. We were on the Royal Princess for a B2B and there was a very large number of Elite members on the first leg. It took longer to get our laundry back. DW and I usually only have one bag, but I see people doing 4 or 5 bags of laundry daily. That isn't right.

 

Princess needs to be more consistent with the way they enforce their policies. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why the policy on one ship is enforced with greater laxity and on another ship, the policy is more strictly enforced.

 

Just my opinion.

[SenorBruce]

Thumbs up Mike. Absolutely serious about the laundry issue. I would think the folks who run the laundry---not the steward---could advise ship's management of the folks abusing the perk and act accordingly. Throwing off the ship would solve the problem really quickly. Tough that some folks don't like it but I sure don't want the perk to go away.

[caribill]

Thumbs up Mike. Absolutely serious about the laundry issue. I would think the folks who run the laundry---not the steward---could advise ship's management of the folks abusing the perk and act accordingly. Throwing off the ship would solve the problem really quickly.

 

No needs to toss the offender(s) off of the ship.

 

Just do not return the laundry until 10 PM on the last evening.

[JasonTehGreat]

I agree with Jason entirely. If the crew has any objection, they can make it known to the cabin occupants. Given that an Elite passenger is one who has shown a willingness to spend substantial sums over time, and so is a good customer, I really doubt it's going to be an issue. I've mentioned in the second sentence of this paragraph the only persons whose business this would be.

 

As for laundry of items you've worn before boarding the ship, again, this is a rule that does not exist. No one buys a cruise for free laundry (at least I hope not). I do not think it pushes the limits of what Princess is prepared to tolerate from paying customers to send out a few days' dirty laundry soon after embarkation.

My laundry onboard consists of: having suit and tuxedo shirt pressed once I board then clean anything that gets dirty (like last cruise where I sat against something sticky). I sent out a total of 2 bags of laundry on that cruise, neither completely full.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

[antsp]

We spent $180 on laundry on our last 7day cruise, we are elite and obviously the total was credited back to the folio, there was the 3 of us in the cabin, is the excessive.

If you think of the work load of the laundry dept, the amount of towels, pool towels table clothes napkins etc, the amount of passenger laundry they do must be a tiny percentage

[Wehwalt]

Pam,

 

I couldn't agree with you more. We were on the Royal Princess for a B2B and there was a very large number of Elite members on the first leg. It took longer to get our laundry back. DW and I usually only have one bag, but I see people doing 4 or 5 bags of laundry daily. That isn't right.

 

Princess needs to be more consistent with the way they enforce their policies. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why the policy on one ship is enforced with greater laxity and on another ship, the policy is more strictly enforced.

 

Just my opinion.

 

Sure. But if there are problems like this, I blame Princess, not the passengers, for not devoting (or having) adequate laundry facilities for a demand they could foresee based on past patterns. I'm aware there are limited people and facilities on the ship, but I'm not the one offering the perk. Likely Princess would not want it thought that if there are large numbers of their best customers on a voyage that they should expect to have laundry issues. It's possible, of course, that the demand on the infamous Royal T/A was something so beyond the curve that Princess could not have anticipated it. OK. Now they are on notice that this can happen. And making sure you have adequate facilities on the supply side is probably far more effective (and good for business) then trying to bring demand down by discouraging use by passengers who are often touchy and who could be gone to Celebrity or Holland-America for the sake of a dirty shirt.

Edited June 12, 2015 by Wehwalt

[PescadoAmarillo]

If the issue is really people sending 4 or 5 bags of laundry a day, all Princess has to do it limit it to one bag a day. It's really that simple. We do send out laundry vs cleaning in separate bags, but would not be ill affected at all to rotate laundry this time, cleaning the next. If we board a ship having done a lot of travel beforehand, we invariably use the passenger laundries to catch up. Combine that with a sending a bag of Cleaning items the first couple of of days to get everything clean and the system should work fairly for everyone.

 

This is another of those many cases where, if Princess would just enforce their own rules, life would be better for most.

[USN59-79]

We will be on the Ocean for 71 days starting in September. Since on a longer cruise we can expect a much higher percentage of elites aboard, should I expect much longer wait times (3-4 days)? The reason I ask is that it will determine how many sets of underwear, socks, etc. to pack.

[Pia1913]

We will be on the Ocean for 71 days starting in September. Since on a longer cruise we can expect a much higher percentage of elites aboard, should I expect much longer wait times (3-4 days)? The reason I ask is that it will determine how many sets of underwear, socks, etc. to pack.

 

Or, you can travel like we do. Travelsmith and/or Magellan underwear, especially for men. We take three pair each and hand wash each night. Underwear never goes to the laundry on any ship. The majority of our cruising have been many days/weeks. Underwear needn't take up precious space.

[PescadoAmarillo]

My opinion on packing for long cruises is exactly opposite Pia's ;), so I'll confuse the issue. I bring two pair of undies for every day for the length of a single cruise (if we're doing B2Bs) or until we hit a couple of sea days in a row, and then I launder them myself in the passenger laundry on a sea day or turnaround day. That means that I might take as many as 20 pairs of underwear (really!). They do not take up much space at all (I pack them in hats).

 

My approach to this is based on the fact that underwear does not hold up well to the ship's commercial laundry and I won't send it out. I also don't want to wash out undies every night, and if there's one on sea day in a slew of port days, the passenger laundries are usually packed, but on the second sea day, especially in the evening, they're wide open and I can do laundry then. And while I'll happily wear socks two days in a row, underwear is a different story.

 

We're all different. But unless you're wearing men's cotton boxers, be forewarned. The free Elite laundry service is rough on underwear and thin cotton t-shirts.

[Pia1913]

LOL

 

We carry little clothespin hangers so we can decorate our cabin with underwear. And we hardly ever wear sox, so that takes care of that. Even at home I don't dry my undies in a dryer.

[USN59-79]

My opinion on packing for long cruises is exactly opposite Pia's ;), so I'll confuse the issue. I bring two pair of undies for every day for the length of a single cruise (if we're doing B2Bs) or until we hit a couple of sea days in a row, and then I launder them myself in the passenger laundry on a sea day or turnaround day. That means that I might take as many as 20 pairs of underwear (really!). They do not take up much space at all (I pack them in hats).

 

My approach to this is based on the fact that underwear does not hold up well to the ship's commercial laundry and I won't send it out. I also don't want to wash out undies every night, and if there's one on sea day in a slew of port days, the passenger laundries are usually packed, but on the second sea day, especially in the evening, they're wide open and I can do laundry then. And while I'll happily wear socks two days in a row, underwear is a different story.

 

We're all different. But unless you're wearing men's cotton boxers, be forewarned. The free Elite laundry service is rough on underwear and thin cotton t-shirts.

Well, that is confusing. First, I am not going to wash my undies every night (altho the DW does as she doesn't trust the laundry) and if I bring 2 pairs per day that would be 172 pairs. I just want to know if I can expect 3 or 4 day turnaround on longer, exotic trips on a small ship with a high percentage of elite members.

[beg3yrs]

We will be on the Ocean for 71 days starting in September. Since on a longer cruise we can expect a much higher percentage of elites aboard, should I expect much longer wait times (3-4 days)? The reason I ask is that it will determine how many sets of underwear, socks, etc. to pack.

 

We were on the Ocean Princess last year for 61 days. Yes, the majority of passengers were Elite. Our laundry ALWAYS came back on time and nicely done.

[pablo222]

Well, that is confusing. First, I am not going to wash my undies every night (altho the DW does as she doesn't trust the laundry) and if I bring 2 pairs per day that would be 172 pairs.

 

If this gets out, before long, there will be a thread about how unfair it is that

princess limits the amount of underwear brought on board,

complete with 'secret' tips about how to smuggle, and beat

the underwear police.

Edited June 12, 2015 by pablo222

[PescadoAmarillo]

Well, that is confusing. First, I am not going to wash my undies every night (altho the DW does as she doesn't trust the laundry) and if I bring 2 pairs per day that would be 172 pairs. I just want to know if I can expect 3 or 4 day turnaround on longer, exotic trips on a small ship with a high percentage of elite members.

Bring 20 pairs. ;) Two a day for 3 or 4 days and then the rest to replace those that get ruined or lost.

[USN59-79]

We were on the Ocean Princess last year for 61 days. Yes, the majority of passengers were Elite. Our laundry ALWAYS came back on time and nicely done.

Thanks, that is what I wanted to know. A little levity was welcome also.

[Chunder Worthy]

Wow, now I don't feel like such a criminal for asking about obtaining an iron to press my own clothes. [shhh... post only meant for us commoners. ;)]

[mellon1]

Interesting question. We are both elite so no problem for us.

 

Just wondering because I heard a woman remind her friends to get their laundry to her so she (elite) could send it out to be done for free.

A SO in the cabin with you, I can somewhat understand.

Doing this for several others in totally different cabins seems to be going way over the line. :rolleyes:

 

LuLu

~~~

 

I feel Princess should implement that anyone sending other's clothes that are not elite will lose their elite benefits FOREVER. These people ruin it for everyone else.

[Pierlesscruisers]

Wow, now I don't feel like such a criminal for asking about obtaining an iron to press my own clothes. [shhh... post only meant for us commoners. ;)]

 

No need to ask for one, there's one in every laundry room. At least on the Princess ships that I've been on. ;)

 

Tom

(another commoner)

[Pierlesscruisers]

I feel Princess should implement that anyone sending other's clothes that are not elite will lose their elite benefits FOREVER. These people ruin it for everyone else.

 

What? Suffering a consequence for not following the rules? What a radical thought! :eek:

 

Tom

[JasonTehGreat]

What? Suffering a consequence for not following the rules? What a radical thought! :eek:

 

Tom

Quite a difference in enforcing the actual rules vs the CC made up speculative rules based on a person's opinion on someone else's experience or not knowing the context for their own experiences.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

[Wehwalt]

What? Suffering a consequence for not following the rules? What a radical thought! :eek:

 

Tom

 

Even if this was an actual rule rather than people's guessing based on rumors, Princess is not a parent. It is not their purpose to punish people, especially not at the behest of others. It's like the people who really, really hope the maitre d will go after someone for wearing white shoes after Labor Day, or whatever the formal night regs are.

 

Because that way lies financial ruin. People who are paying thousands of dollars for a trip don't take kindly to punishment, and with good reason.

 

From what I have seen, Princess mostly tries not to offend anyone, not to get in the middle between passengers, and sticks, quite rightly, to insisting on matters of safety. The Bounty is third pier on the right for those seeking other styles of management.