One complimentary bag of laundry (Elite benefit)

[Jimbo and Katy]

Can anyone tell me if they have restrictions as to what items you can send? I understand socks, t-shirts, underwear, but can you send jeans and men's golf shirts? Husband says no, but I would think that would be o.k.

Thanks for your input,

Katy

[Wine-O]

Can anyone tell me if they have restrictions as to what items you can send? I understand socks, t-shirts, underwear, but can you send jeans and men's golf shirts? Husband says no, but I would think that would be o.k.

Thanks for your input,

Katy

 

I've sent jeans, cotton shorts, sweat shirts, and trousers. Just be aware it's wash, dry, fold only.

 

I wouldn't send my golf shirts out, though.

[4774Papa]

I've sent jeans, cotton shorts, sweat shirts, and trousers. Just be aware it's wash, dry, fold only.

 

I wouldn't send my golf shirts out, though.

 

I send out my golf shirts, dress shirts, everything. No problem. Of course, the dress shirts do need ironing.

[TMLAalum]

Those tiny teeny tags they put on each garment laundered are very scratchy but not very consistently or prominently placed. Sometimes it takes several washings back at home before they start to come loose and begin to itch! And then it's a reminder of our cruise, so not all that unpleasant!

 

However, we've not had any major issues, other than wrinkles, with the clothes we send out- jeans, tops, shirts & DH's briefs and socks. We do specify cold-water wash FWIW.

 

As others here do, we are usually traveling the week before we cruise, so put out a bag(s) of laundry the first night and then again near the end of the cruise.

Edited July 14, 2016 by TMLAalum

[DrivesLikeMario]

Last time I used this benefit . . . . my 2 items that were red were ruined. They were tank tops and I didn't bother complaining . . but I don't think I'll use again.

 

Me too!! But it was an issue with black bleeding into our brand new white items! They came back BLUE! I was so disappointed! I've since bleached them at home and still can't get out all the blue color. Really frustrating! :mad:

[DrivesLikeMario]

Can anyone tell me if they have restrictions as to what items you can send? I understand socks, t-shirts, underwear, but can you send jeans and men's golf shirts? Husband says no, but I would think that would be o.k.

Thanks for your input,

Katy

 

You can pretty much send out anything you have that isn't "dry clean only" but beware - it may not come back to you in the same condition. If you don't mind dingy clothes, then you're good to go.

[jb008]

Also a YMMV - I didn't inquire, but I never saw laundry bags advertised on Equinox (7/2 Med sailing). Just the laundry hang tag in our closet.

[DrKoob]

We're going into Seattle 3 days before our cruise and plan to use our coupons as soon as we get on board. Just because its a 7 day cruise doesn't mean its a 7 day vacation. JMO

 

Totally agree. We will be in Amsterdam for almost a full week before our 14-day British Isles cruise early next month. I am sure that as we unpack on disembarkation day we will be putting almost as many items of clothing in a laundry bag as we will into drawers.:)

 

One perk I loved when we still had formal night was the free dry cleaning of one item. My tux went out the minute we boarded so I had it back for the first formal night. I have owned the tux for 11 years of cruising and I don't think I have ever had it dry cleaned more than once off a ship since we got to Elite. :D

[smtcan]

I wouldn't send anything delicate, but we send jeans, t shirts, golf shirts as well as underwear, socks and pyjamas. As elite+ we get four bags, so I try to put similar colours together. We also use the pressing coupons at the same time, so dress shirts etc come back ready to wear. We haven't had any bad experiences, except when a pair of DH's pants came back pressed along the side seams. This was quickly remedied.

 

We rarely take seven day cruises so consider it to be a great benefit, right behind happy hour and free lattes!

 

Sheila

[A Sixth?]

Those tiny teeny tags they put on each garment laundered are very scratchy but not very consistently or prominently placed. Sometimes it takes several washings back at home before they start to come loose and begin to itch! And then it's a reminder of our cruise, so not all that unpleasant!

 

Always love finding those little buggers scratching me when I'm home especially when it's a few weeks after the cruise is over.:)

 

Forget waiting for them to die after several washings, just yank them off.... I've never had a problem.

[varoo]

Forget waiting for them to die after several washings, just yank them off.... I've never had a problem.

Same here.

Just pinch it between thumb and forefinger and pull it up.

They peel right off.

 

For the most part, we have been happy with Celebrity's laundry, pressing and dry cleaning services.

 

Occasionally something comes back from the laundry wrinkled though, or we get something that is not ours, so we send it back.

 

Their laundry seems to do a particularly nice job with men's polo shirts, which come back neatly folded.

 

But we have also encountered the problem with trousers that smtcan described, of having the crease pressed in the wrong place.

When that happened, we just sent it back and had it re-done correctly.

 

The assistant head of housekeeping will take care of anything from the laundry that is not right. They aim to please.

 

 

[donaldsc]

The Elite benefit is 20 items to wash, dry, fold for shorter cruises, and 30 items for longer cruises.

 

The Elite+ benefit is basically double the wash coupons.

 

The cutoff is 3 days before the cruise ends, but I would double check that with the Captain's Club rep or your stateroom attendant.

 

Only 20 or even 30 items. Big deal!! The few times that I have sent out a bag of laundry, the bag was packed so tightly that you could probably kill someone with it if you hit them.

 

DON

[varoo]

Only 20 or even 30 items. Big deal!! The few times that I have sent out a bag of laundry, the bag was packed so tightly that you could probably kill someone with it if you hit them.

 

The limit when using the free laundry coupons is 20 or 30 items per coupon.

There is no limit on the number of bags to use for those 20 or 30 items, so no need to pack the bags tightly.

If you need more laundry bags, ask your stateroom attendant for them.

 

We just write our stateroom number on each bag and mark them "Bag 1 of 2" and "Bag 2 of 2"

since two bags are usually all we need for 20 or 30 items when sending out a batch of laundry that includes some bulky items, like jeans or sweatshirts.

 

 

 

Your remark about packing the bag so tightly reminded me of how passengers would pack their laundry bags as tightly as possible when cruise ships offered the "stuff a bag" specials, where the charge was per bag and there was no limit on how many items you could stuff into a bag, as long as you didn't tear the bag.

 

Sometimes passengers in neighboring cabins would compete to see who could cram the most items into a laundry bag. :)

 

 

[2theship]

On our last cruise, I split our items between two bags and marked one of them "Cold Water Only". Seemed to work fine.

[ghstudio]

Since our old standby, woolite powder, seems to have disappeared, we're now using "Forever New Granular" which we buy in a 32 oz bottle from Amazon and rebottle in something much smaller (old pill bottle) for the trip. A capful in the sink and it's easy to wash out anything you don't want to go to the laundry...golf shirt, etc. We send most pants, casual shirts, underwear to the laundry in the free bag(s), but do some things we care about ourselves. It's really easy and yes, things do dry on a ship.

 

Yes...hate the scratchy tags the ship uses, but they are obviously easy to find because they are scratching you, and easy to remove. While pants don't come back with a crease, they don't come back wrinkled either...similar with casual shirts. You know, it's a relaxing cruise....everything doesn't have to look perfect.

[hurwitz5]

We have been Elite for our last 5 cruises and we have used the laundry coupons. Our sailings have been 10 - 14 days. When the coupon said ONE bag, we only submitted ONE bag. In order to do this, we rolled each piece of dirty laundry very tightly to fit into the ONE bag. We didn't count the number of items. Please confirm that Celebrity counts the items and that you can submit 2 or 3 bags for ONE coupon (as long as the number of items is correct).

Also, does a pair of socks count for 1 or 2 items?

I also question why Celebrity gives each Elite one laundry coupon per cruise - whether it is a 7 or 14 night cruise. If I took 2 cruises, back to back, instead of one 14 night cruise, I would receive 2 laundry coupons instead of one.

[DrKoob]

We have been Elite for our last 5 cruises and we have used the laundry coupons. Our sailings have been 10 - 14 days. When the coupon said ONE bag, we only submitted ONE bag. In order to do this, we rolled each piece of dirty laundry very tightly to fit into the ONE bag. We didn't count the number of items. Please confirm that Celebrity counts the items and that you can submit 2 or 3 bags for ONE coupon (as long as the number of items is correct).

Also, does a pair of socks count for 1 or 2 items?

I also question why Celebrity gives each Elite one laundry coupon per cruise - whether it is a 7 or 14 night cruise. If I took 2 cruises, back to back, instead of one 14 night cruise, I would receive 2 laundry coupons instead of one.

 

A couple of answers for you.

 

First, the coupon (I still have one from 2014) says "Bag of Laundry-30 items" so count your items. Use two bags if you want and yes, they do count. They will stil do the laundry but they will charge you for it.

 

Second, fill out the laundry slip and it will answer your question about socks. They list a "pair of socks" as an item so we always count it as one item.

 

Thanks to whomever started this thread. It reminded me that I need to take a Sharpie with me to write on the laundry bags. The ballpoint that's in the room is just not adequate to mark the laundry bags.

[Wine-O]

A couple of answers for you.

 

First, the coupon (I still have one from 2014) says "Bag of Laundry-30 items" so count your items. Use two bags if you want and yes, they do count. They will stil do the laundry but they will charge you for it.

 

Second, fill out the laundry slip and it will answer your question about socks. They list a "pair of socks" as an item so we always count it as one item.

 

 

We've never been charged extra for using 2 bags. Sometimes our 30 items will not fit into just one bag, especially if you have a lot of trousers/jeans/sweat shirts. One 30-item coupon, one laundry slip, two bags = no problem/no extra charge.

[donaldsc]

Items will not be pressed, just folded.

 

Pressing?? I am not sure that my wife owns an iron.

 

DON

[Ginger Pop]

We love it on longer cruises. 30 items or less- what can fit in the one bag.

[TMLAalum]

Ever since we became Elite and got the 30 item laundry perk, we've had to use more than one bag to hold our items. We label them 1 of 3, 2 of 3, etc. If there's only 1 bag in the cabin, we request more from the steward.

 

Prior to becoming Elite, we would do what hurwitz does and roll our clothes very tightly so as to take full advantage of the "one bag" limitation when it was offered as a special in the daily.

Edited July 16, 2016 by TMLAalum

[phoenix_dream]

I think people may be a bit confused about the one bag question because in addition to Elite perks, often there is a laundry special offered to anyone. It is a set amount for whatever clothes you can fit into one bag. That could be where the confusion lies. We have never had problems using two bags with our Elite coupon (which we needed to do for the sweatshirts and heavier clothes in Alaska).

 

For us it is very useful even on 7 day cruises. We always get into port at least a day ahead of time, and now that we are retired it could be as much as a week or so. We fill that bag to the brim the first day or two.

 

One thing I wish they would change is consider the length of the cruise for all benefits. Someone booking a 14 day or longer cruise should not get the same benefits as someone booking a 5 day cruise IMHO. Yes, I appreciate what I do receive. That said, why would I get 'double benefits' by booking a back-to-back for a total of 14 days, and then single benefits for a 14 day cruise. A little quirk I wish they would improve.

 

And while I am opining, I agree that it is not smart to send any fancy, expensive, etc.. clothes to the laundry. They use hot, hot water, a hot dryer, and fold rather than hang. Fine for t-shirts, not fine for a nice dress top.

[SusieV]

I had an item ruined in the laundry on a Celebrity cruise. Fortunately it was a relatively new item and I notified them onboard and then emailed in a receipt and they credited me back for the cost of the item.

 

So if something gets ruined, they will help you if you talk to them about it.

[A Sixth?]

All these questions make me think about becoming a nudist :p

[varoo]

Prior to becoming Elite, we would do what hurwitz does and roll our clothes very tightly so as to take full advantage of the "one bag" limitation when it was offered as a special in the daily.

Hmmm, I wonder if the laundry people actually unroll/unfold all those rolled and folded items before washing them, or if they just dump the contents of the bag directly into a washing machine.

 

It seems the items that are tightly rolled would not really get washed clean if they are dumped into the washer that way.