How do you handle laundry on a long, hot cruise without spending a fortune?

[Kdanemjm]

Celebrity usually offers a laundry special. Where you fill up a bag with your laundry and they will wash, dry adn return it for a set price, about 50 bucks.

[TeeRick]

Tip for wrinkles. No need to take the heavy liquid bottles of Downy Wrinkle release in your luggage.  Take a few fabric softener dryer sheets and an empty spray bottle.  Once on board mix one dryer sheet with water in the bottle.  Instant wrinkle release.  Try it at home- it really works!  We have been doing this for years.

[Suskies]

Thank you all for these great suggestions! You've all given us a lot of ideas to mull over.

[cangelmd]

Anyone who has bought "travel fabric" type clothes and sent them to the Celebrity laundry - how did they hold up? Did they come back clean and not smelly? Did they look more worn or, heaven forbid, lose some of their super fabric qualities in the industrial wash? How did the black hold up?

 

I've had good luck with sink washing clothes after wearing the item once, rather than twice - my philosophy is best way to prevent smells is to pre-empt the smells. DH does the wear once, let it air out and wear again thing and it seems to work for him, I monitor.

I have trouble finding the super fabric clothes that fit me well - just don't make them in my size. And I'm concerned about sending clothes, especially black clothes which I favor for travel, to the commercial ship laundry.

Yeah, I'm a bit picky about laundry. We have used the Celeb laundry for socks, underwear and t-shirts, not "good" clothes.

[GlennaRoseGoes]

2 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Anyone who has bought "travel fabric" type clothes and sent them to the Celebrity laundry - how did they hold up? Did they come back clean and not smelly? Did they look more worn or, heaven forbid, lose some of their super fabric qualities in the industrial wash? How did the black hold up?

 

Yeah, I'm a bit picky about laundry. We have used the Celeb laundry for socks, underwear and t-shirts, not "good" clothes.

I would not (and have not) send these modern fabrics out for laundry. At home, I wash on cold (sometimes delicate, but often normal cycle) and always hang to dry. This is the exact opposite of what commercial laundry will do. 

 

I am also picky; my husband washed a silk shirt of mine once thinking he was doing me a favor......he has since been banned from my laundry and only does his own. He even went so far as to use the label maker to make a notice on the washer “no women’s clothing. Inspect each item.” HAHAHA

[Baron Barracuda]

17 hours ago, NCHPcruiser said:

Just search Amazon for "strong magnets with hooks" and several options will come up.     The ones I have are 40lb heavy duty.  In additional to hanging clothes to dry from them, we use them on the walls to keep track of papers (Celebrity Todays, tour confirmations, etc.).  

 

DW always brings a bag of magnets.  One goes on the outside of our door so she can find her way home.  Some have clips for  organizing papers.  Others have hooks for hanging hats, etc.  She has a set of 40lb ones that she's used to run a clothesline when necessary.  Came in real handy on Expedition.

[bethtex]

we will be on the Eclipse for 16 days.  These hints are great

But am surprised to hear you need your own clothes line.  We usually cruise Carnival and there is a clothes line in every bathroom.

But the hooks sound like a good idea for many reasons.

[Iamthesea]

On 2/17/2019 at 8:26 PM, Buckeye94 said:

I got mine at a local luggage store in the section where they sell toiletry bags/containers, RFID sleeves for credit cards and passports, etc. The brand is Travelon. It's an orange plastic case.

Thank you!

 

Also love the idea of the empty spray bottle and dryer sheets.  Great tip!

 

And, I am adding string to my cruise box.  We carry magnets for other uses, but lately have cruised without a clothesline.  I will now have a closeline of undies hanging over the bed while we sleep.  LOL

[bebe08]

On 2/18/2019 at 6:44 AM, jkgourmet said:

I thought somebody on CC reported that X changed its policy.  Now allows only 30 items in their stuff the bag days.  Can anybody confirm that?  

We are currently on the silhouette on a 12 night cruise and are select.  We benefited from a discounted bag of laundry  at a cost of $20. No limit to number of items just fill the bag.  They did offer a special earlier in the cruise for 50 for a bag of laundry.   I dont believe there was a limit. 

 

I wouldn't send anything to the laundry that requires special handling .

 

 

[GottaKnowWhen]

On 2/17/2019 at 7:38 AM, Suskies said:

We are on the March 2 Millennium Southeast Asia cruise, which lasts about 15 days. Add in getting there and back from the US East Coast and some extra time in Singapore and Hong Kong, and we'll be gone about 3 1/2 weeks. Much of the cruise will be in hot and humid locations, which means we'll be generating a lot of laundry. We are not elite members so will have to pay by the piece for any items Celebrity launders or irons.

 

Do any of you have any tips on how we can minimize what could easily be an enormous laundry bill? Thanks!

1. Use the sink. Our recent trip was 40 days, our upcoming is 42 days including shore time before/after. Small suitcases. Minimal use of the laundry (even though we are Elite - did not use all available free laundry). Take some soap packets along, use Celebrity’s shampoo as a substitute if needed.

2. Wash stuff, hang it to dry. Carry some foldable plastic hangers, carry a clothes line, ask your steward for more hangers as needed.

3. Irons? You mean like for wrinkles? Why bother! Everyone is in the same boat, nobody cares if you or they have wrinkled clothes. 

4. Relax. Don’t worry about how you look and what others might think of you. You are on a cruise vacation. Enjoy.

Stan

[Airrace]

We use the sink and it works great, just hang out to dry

[waterbug123]

On 2/17/2019 at 6:59 PM, Ken the cruiser said:

A few suggestions. First, go to Walmart and buy enough underwear to last 16 days. That takes care of having to wash those garments.

 

The OP said their trip would be 3 1/2 weeks total, so they'd need more like 25 pairs of underwear each, which is an awful lot to pack.  Plus who wants 25 pairs of dirty underwear in their bag by the end of the trip?  Yuck.

 

OP:  For a trip like that I'd do a combo of technical fabrics that can be easily hand washed in the sink with Tide or Woolite packets, and hung to dry, and also just budget to have the ship do laundry once or twice for things that aren't as easily hand washed.   When you consider the costs of a trip of that length, I can't imagine that sending out a load or two of laundry will break the bank, especially if it means you can pack less luggage overall (which in turn means easier transport as well as possible savings on luggage fees)

[Suskies]

Thanks again for everyone's feedback! We've invested in Downy Wrinkle Release, Shout wipes for stains, and Woolite should we decide to wash out anything small ourselves. The rest we'll have the ship launder (hoping they offer one of those stuff-a-bag deals). As several of you have noted, with the thousands we're spending on this trip, an extra $100 or so won't break the bank.

 

I'm also bringing an extra carry-on bag so we can bring as many clothes as possible.

 

We like the idea of high-tech fabrics, but we're leaving in a week, so it's a little late to invest in them for this cruise. But we'll park that idea for next time. 

 

Again, thanks so much. Cruise Critic people are the best!!!

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

The OP said their trip would be 3 1/2 weeks total, so they'd need more like 25 pairs of underwear each, which is an awful lot to pack.  Plus who wants 25 pairs of dirty underwear in their bag by the end of the trip?  Yuck.

We just finished with a 21 day X cruise and took 2 35-gallon trash bags to put our undergarments in. Before that we took a 45 day O cruise and took 26 days worth of underwear. For us since we go on 3-5 cruises a year, it's cheaper to go to Walmart one time every few years, buy a bunch of cheap undergarments which cost less than having them washed 1 time on any cruise, then put them in a bag and wash them when we get home. By the way on both trips we only took 2 suitcases along with one overnight bag. But, hey, everyone has their own strategy, you included. This just happens to be ours.

[Jim_Iain]

Before hitting Zenith (Unlimited free laundry) we would use the 2x free bags (30 items each).  You get the CC free bags on each cruise of a B2B.   We were never able to use all of the bags on a 15 day cruise even sending out every 4-5 days.  

 

Our strategy has always been to pack for 1/2 the number of days of the cruise and send out free wash and fold.    For other things like dress shirts we send those out and pay the laundry fees. 

 

[ginnynj]

Several years ago, bought a Scrubba (Scrubba Portable Clothes Washing Bag (Black) 2018/19 Model for Travel, Camping, Hiking and Cleaning Laundry Anywhere) at Amazon and some foldable light hangers for a 21 day B2B and several days pre-cruise, some detergent packets, and it worked fine. Did send out DH shirts and slacks for laundry, but overall, kept the packing down to a minimum and found it helpful. Just take the deterg packets for a quick sink wash for shorter cruises. Hadnt thought of the wrinkle release trick, will be doing that on our next X cruise soon. Overall, I would say, find what works for you, and thanks to everyone with great tips, even for 'old salts'.  🙂

[Jim_Iain]

Attached is the current laundry list 

[critterchick]

8 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We just finished with a 21 day X cruise and took 2 35-gallon trash bags to put our undergarments in. Before that we took a 45 day O cruise and took 26 days worth of underwear. For us since we go on 3-5 cruises a year, it's cheaper to go to Walmart one time every few years, buy a bunch of cheap undergarments which cost less than having them washed 1 time on any cruise, then put them in a bag and wash them when we get home. By the way on both trips we only took 2 suitcases along with one overnight bag. But, hey, everyone has their own strategy, you included. This just happens to be ours.

 

I thought you meant to toss the inexpensive undies after each wearing!  We bring the vaporwear collection along (socks and undies that are on their last legs and not suitable for donating to charity) and dispose of it at the end of the trip. On a recent Royal Caribbean cruise, we asked our stateroom attendant if they had any kind of donation program for worn out clothing and he said yes. He gave us a bag for clothing items that we wouldn’t wear any more but still had life in them and said that somebody onboard would decide what was wearable and what wasn’t, and donate the good items to charity.

We have travelled up to 28 days with two carryon bags and a knapsack each. We’ve used the Scrubba bag but I decided that it was easier to put my laundry items in the sink, let them soak for a bit while I nap or do something else, then toss them in the shower and rinse them out after I’ve finished doing my thing. I use the provided shampoo. Roll them in a towel and hang them to dry. We have a travel clothesline that I think was made for camping - you can tuck corners of the items into the twists on the line (we don’t do that since it creates a bunch wrinkle and there’s no wind inside to blow the stuff away). If we can’t find a good place to string it up, then we improvise. It can get a little cluttered in the bathroom, but overall has workout out just fine.

 

WIth such a limited wardrobe, I bring along a bunch of scarves and shawls to vary the color scheme. If I had more fashion sense I’d be bored silly with my choice, but I don’t, so it’s all good!

[jkgourmet]

23 hours ago, GottaKnowWhen said:

1. Use the sink. Our recent trip was 40 days, our upcoming is 42 days including shore time before/after. Small suitcases. Minimal use of the laundry (even though we are Elite - did not use all available free laundry). Take some soap packets along, use Celebrity’s shampoo as a substitute if needed.

2. Wash stuff, hang it to dry. Carry some foldable plastic hangers, carry a clothes line, ask your steward for more hangers as needed.

3. Irons? You mean like for wrinkles? Why bother! Everyone is in the same boat, nobody cares if you or they have wrinkled clothes. 

4. Relax. Don’t worry about how you look and what others might think of you. You are on a cruise vacation. Enjoy.

Stan

 

GottaKnowWhen, I think we were separated at birth!  🙂 🙂 🙂

Edited February 21, 2019 by jkgourmet

[Nymich]

On ‎2‎/‎18‎/‎2019 at 1:46 PM, GlennaRoseGoes said:

I would not (and have not) send these modern fabrics out for laundry. At home, I wash on cold (sometimes delicate, but often normal cycle) and always hang to dry. This is the exact opposite of what commercial laundry will do. 

 

I am also picky; my husband washed a silk shirt of mine once thinking he was doing me a favor......he has since been banned from my laundry and only does his own. He even went so far as to use the label maker to make a notice on the washer “no women’s clothing. Inspect each item.” HAHAHA

I wish I could get banned from laundry.

[denisey]

On ‎2‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 5:26 PM, Buckeye94 said:

I got mine at a local luggage store in the section where they sell toiletry bags/containers, RFID sleeves for credit cards and passports, etc. The brand is Travelon. It's an orange plastic case.

Just remember to have dry hands when you are opening the plastic case.  Wet  hands = activating the whole package of soap!  Eeeck!