How well does HAL do with laundry?

[knippsel]

To those of you who have used the laundry service: Do they handle with care?

 

Most of my "cruise clothes" are knit or t-shirt type fabric. At home I wash lukewarm, rinse cold and tumble dry low and carefully. Have enough trouble with "shrinking wardrobe" on a cruise without an assist from the laundry crew!

 

Without self-service on all the ships, will we now be at their mercy - and even (horrors!) wrinkled...

[cruz chic]

I send some of my stuff out to the laundry such as shorts, tanks and some of my blouses. I've written on the slip to do them in cold water and cool dry. I doubt if they do. I never send good pants out as I air dry at home. I hand wash my stuff that I really care about.

[provencedelsol]

DH and I have enjoyed the HAL laundry service many, many times. We have never had a problem with loss, shrinkage, broken buttons or anything else. Perhaps we are simply lucky but even delicates (mine) have come back just fine, folded in paper in a basket, but fine!

 

If your cabin or Mariner stars don't come with complementary laundry you can purchase for the cabin at $7 a day for unlimited.

[cruz chic]

DH and I have enjoyed the HAL laundry service many, many times. We have never had a problem with loss, shrinkage, broken buttons or anything else. Perhaps we are simply lucky but even delicates (mine) have come back just fine, folded in paper in a basket, but fine!

 

If your cabin or Mariner stars don't come with complementary laundry you can purchase for the cabin at $7 a day for unlimited.

 

Just curious if you dry things in the dryer at home. I think that "may" make a difference in how you feel about the service.

[durangoscots]

I use the laundry regularly as I hate to waste vacation watching clothes spin, and I have a good number of cruise days and some long cruises in the past. No problems. I think maybe one pair of panties went missing and that is it. Everything returned in good shape.

 

Susan

[Dave in NJ]

Many experiences over long years on many HAL ships; I find the laundry service to be excellent, never ever a problem.

[PathfinderEss]

Excellent, we've been using it for many years.

[trophy_23]

We have never had an issue. Always nicely folded or hung.

[erewhon]

We use the laundry service several times each cruise, DH's wool socks always return in good condition, only problem we have had was a broken button on one of my cotton shirts.

[dillpickle48]

Having experienced whites returning not so white on our first cruise, we took to requesting COLD WASH on the laundry docket. Never had a problem since.

[ellieanne]

I have no problems with the service I've had with HAL's laundry. I really only send socks, undies, and jeans, though. I wash most of my clothes in cold water and hang to dry, and I worry about shrinkage, so I don't send them. But my parents do send their outwear and have never had any problems. Neither my mother nor I are brave enough to send delicate bras, we hand wash those in the bathroom sink.

 

I can also relate that on my last cruise, I thought the laundry had lost a sock, but it appeared a day later in its own laundry basket. I'm not sure what happened, but I was very happy the laundry was thorough enough to get the lone sock back to me.

[Krazy Kruizers]

In 2013 two of DH's shirts came back ruined -- they were about a year old. He wears polyester Polo (brand name) and golf shirts. Before we left on our next -- Nieuw Amsterdam -- fall 2013, he bought several new shirts. Saved them for the cruise. Sent about 6 shirts out to the laundry -- 2 came back totally ruined -- had been worn only once. The concierges said they had never seen anything that badly ruined. DH was compensated for them.

From that time on I wash all his shirts and delicate items.

[George C]

WE did it a few times and really liked it, had no problems, really handy on longer cruises, ( favorite suite perk after breakfast in Pinnacle)

[Ky Colonel]

... have used the HAL laundry service several times on various HAL ships and have never had even the slightest problem. The normal price is $7 per day and occasionally there will be a special price of $18 for "all-you-can-fit-in a -bag" service, so IMO the price is definitely "right" ... besides we can pack much lighter (leaving more room in our luggage for trip souvenirs) when we use the on board laundry service ... it's a win-win-win situation for us!!!

 

Rod

[Fe504]

We were fortunate to have unlimited washing , everything came back perfectly clean,folded and hung

[regnig]

Another very satisfied customer here! We always do the unlimited laundry and never have had any damage or shrinkage. Items come back clean, either folded and wrapped in tissue or on hangers, and pressed. Love, just love the service.

[goodroe]

I've used both the laundry and dry cleaning services and have found it seems to vary somewhat depending on the ship. Usually it has been very good, though I won't send anything that may shrink like cotton shirts. Recent experience on the Veendam with dry cleaning was not good. Clothes came back barely ironed and still not clean even after re-sending them.

[DaveOKC]

The only problem I had was once the whites came back very grey. Since then, we send out whites one day and colors the next. It may not be necessary, but it seems to work for us this way.

[provencedelsol]

Just curious if you dry things in the dryer at home. I think that "may" make a difference in how you feel about the service.

 

I do put most things in the dryer except for those very high in lycra.

[Scrapnana]

I am on the Westerdam right now and my second $20 "stuffed bag" came back yesterday. Everything looked wonderful. I included anything that was machine washable/dryable. At home I wash all my clothes in cold water but I can't really see any difference between that and what I have had washed onboard.

 

There can always be an accident (even at home) so I don't really worry when I send out my clothes onboard.

[POA1]

We never had a problem until last spring. It seemed to be an isolated incident. We had no problem on two cruises last fall.

 

DW hand washes her knits & delicates using the little Woolite packets you can get on Amazon or elsewhere. (Take some clothes pins.) We only send out things that we can comfortably machine wash & dry at home.

 

If you are in a Neptune Suite (or 4 star plus) just segregate your washables and send out "cold" loads. You can do this without being in a suite, but it might increase your costs.

[janmcn]

No problems in 6 years of cruises. Clothes are "Lands End," "LL Bean," and Chicos kinds of clothes. I've even begun sending out nightgowns and undies that are more fragile with no problems. Ever. They do a beautiful job..spoil us for what happens at home! :)

[lazey1]

To those of you who have used the laundry service: Do they handle with care?

 

Most of my "cruise clothes" are knit or t-shirt type fabric. At home I wash lukewarm, rinse cold and tumble dry low and carefully. Have enough trouble with "shrinking wardrobe" on a cruise without an assist from the laundry crew!

 

Without self-service on all the ships, will we now be at their mercy - and even (horrors!) wrinkled...

 

For several cruises we have used the unlimited laundry service and sent everything washable to the laundry. We have never had anything shrink or come back wrinkled. Everything including t-shirts comes back pressed and on hangers. Underwear comes back neatly folded.

[Typhoon1]

HAL does very well. We always use the unlimited laundry package.

 

Have never had anything lost or ruined in the laundry. It is always promptly retuned in excellent condition.

[galensgrl]

We've only cruised with NCL so far, HAL will be new to us. I have never used the laundry service in general because it seemed expensive on NCL, but $7 a day doesn't sound bad at all. I'm glad I am reading this before I pack, knowing I can send things out to be washed for a nominal fee will make a difference in how I pack this time.

 

Lorie

Edited April 23, 2015 by galensgrl