Laundry on a River Boat

[Shmoo here]

4 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

clotheslines in the shower seems to be a staple on river cruises. 

It wasn't on our last river cruise (Vantage River Voyager).  Happily, I have 2 travel clotheslines that I was able to rig up in the shower for our hand wash.

[USCAdventurer]

i have to agree with coral.  please take a crystal river cruise.  their self serve laundry is free.  even the detergent is free.  i never had to wait to use the washer and the dryer and i know they are quality equipment.  and if you ask nicely, your butler will take your clothes out of the dryer and leave them neatly folded on your bed!!!!!

i loved everything about my crystal river cruise experience.  i did use some of my on board credit to get some shirts washed the second to last day for their express service and they did a really great job.  then i used the rest of my on board credit to give some additional tips to my favourite crew members.

[VT Hokie Cruiser]

On the topic of laundry.... I used the laundry service on Avalon last spring and it was reasonable in price and efficient. My dress shirts were returned on hangers. Does anyone know if you can have shirts laundered on board to be returned folded and ready for packing, rather than on hangers? Thanks.

[sharkster77]

@VT Hokie Cruiser, Viking laundry service gave us a choice, on hangers or folded laundry.

[herbanrenewal]

On 12/23/2019 at 1:28 AM, Borkney said:

We have no laundry. Anybody have any ideas on how to do laundry in your room?

Assuming you want an answer to how to do laundry and not why you should send it out I'm going to share some laundry tips from someone who has been traveling for about 30 years, often for 3-5 weeks since I retired. Since we usually have pre- and post cruise weeks that involves public transportation, its not just airline restrictions that have caused me to learn what works for me - in our 70s we no longer want to be lugging several suitcases on and off trains. There are tons of posts and websites about packing light. These tips are more about doing laundry while traveling.

• try it out at home before traveling - really every item i pack has been laundered at home in my sink to be sure it launders easily, dries in less than 24 hours, and doesn't wrinkle
• shirts/blouses, underwear and socks are easily laundered. Personally I send jeans and heavier items to laundry service if needed. As a retired nurse I found that black or khaki scrub pants can work really well for travel and i can launder them using same technique - there are really nice synthetic fiber scrub pants that have great pockets and wear like iron. 
• get a box of extra large (jumbo) ziplock bags, not only good to squeeze air out for compact packing, but excellent washing machines.
• pack a small bottle (100 ml will work for weeks) of energy efficient, environmental friendly, low suds laundry detergent. You only need a small amount to wash a days worth of clothing. I have a friend who uses the provided shampoo but I prefer my regular detergent.
• put single or small items in bag, add some water (don't overfill - its easier to swish around if half empty) and small amount of detergent. zip closed, swish around, leave soaking in sink while you shower, dump water and roll bag to remove excess water, rinse again, squeeze water out again, then place a towel on flat surface, lay garment out smoothing as if you were packing it to reduce wrinkles, then roll towel and item. You can either twist this roll or sit on it to remove as much water as possible. Shake out items and hang on a (preferably) plastic hanger.

Really only takes about 5 minutes to wash a days clothes, so doesn't greatly inhibit my ability to enjoy my trip.

 

[Borkney]

Thank you. Great ideas. I’ll try it at home first. I really can’t change the river cruise based on the fact they don’t have a laundromat so I value your input tremendously 

[rebeccainlv]

I suggest ExOfficio underwear that easily wash out in the sink, roll in a towel to dry and hang to dry the rest of the way. They will be dry by the morning. I have 3 pair and that is all I need for an 18 day trip. The only thing I send to the laundry is jeans. Royal Robbins pants also can be washed in the sink and hung in the shower to dry.  

[4774Papa]

On 12/24/2019 at 8:44 AM, philw1776 said:

Strongly recommend having the ship do your laundry.  You're likely spending $10,000 for a vacation, so spending a couple tens of $ to save precious vacation time and relax completely is worth it.  Only thing I used the "zipline" in my Viking shower for was drying my wet jacket that got rained on.

We have done 4 river cruises and 2 were with a very long land tour (Russia and China).  On all 4 cruises we had the ability to have laundry done by the boat's staff for a reasonable cost.  3 of those cruises were with Vantage World Travel and 1 with AMA.

[rtdiva]

We too, are closer to 80 than 70. While I’ve not taken a river cruise,  I’ve sailed for months at a time on ocean ships. We travel light. Unless you need formal clothing,  this post is about NOT doing laundry, I find a person can bring enough underclothes, socks, for two weeks. Longer than than two weeks fresh clothing is necessary for cleanliness and mental health! 

I always bring: an unstructured backpack to keep a lightweight windbreaker to wear over a shirt or a sweater, a large scarf to use as ; a wrap, a towel, beach cover, something to sit on, a blanket for the plane, bus or tuk tuk.
 

I pack one set of night wear alternating with a tshirt and pants, three pairs of different lengths of pants, a half dozen shirts/ tops, hat, gloves, sunglasses, camera, 2 pair of walking shoes, 1 pair of sandals, which should be fine for a couple of weeks of travel.

After touring a city before boarding, do your laundry or have it done. Buying a new garment makes more sense to me than paying for laundry. 
 

Im exploring river cruising, thanks for such good information on CC. 

[mj_holiday]

On board laundries provide the soap for environmental reasons since some/most ships treat waste water and release it.

 

It took a couple of cruises before I would use the by piece laundry service and always use it now.  Clothes are nice, clean and folded.  All done while we are out enjoying ourselves.

[cruiselvr04]

If you don’t want the expense of sending your laundry out, I use a 10 liter or 20 liter dry bag.  They’re not expensive, fold flat and take no room in your suitcase.  Put the clothes in the bag, use sink laundry soap found on Amazon, roll down the top, shake away or soak. Rinse and repeat.  I roll the clean, wet clothes in a towel and step them with clean feet to get the water out.  Hang to dry.  I use foldable plastic hangers that also come with clips for things like under ware.  I tried ziploc bags once and got soaking wet as they just didn’t stay shut.
 

I do send out laundry when it’s free but even then send only things I don’t care about drying in a hot dryer.  At home I use the dryer for DH’s t shirts, shorts, etc but I hang dry the majority of mine. Dress clothes I send out.  If you go prepared washing clothes in a dry bag takes very little time every 3 days or so.  

[Canal archive]

I suspect most cruise lines are not discharging into the rivers, they will have Grey water holding tanks.

On Scenic each cabin has at least a bag (supposed to be a kilo) full of free laundry, you can ask your butler for it to be folded or on a hanger it’s completely your choice. Every bathroom has a washing line, personally I’m on holiday, if you think I’m washing you have another think coming. Enjoy your cruises. CA

[1of4]

If we are traveling across an ocean then it will be longer for 7 days.  I personally have done it all.  I have carried a small salad spinner in my husband’s backpack and he didn’t even know it because it is the best for getting wet out of clothes. I have a Scrubba bag.  But honestly, one of the reasons we chose Scenic for our first river cruise was their included laundry bag.  If you roll your clothes (even your socks and underwear) you can fit so much more than stuffing clothes in.

 

And after another boat rafted beside ours one afternoon on the Seine and walking into our cabin to see all their underwear spread over every surface in their cabin I vowed that would never be us.  I remembered some women on the cruise boards saying they would never send their underwear out in the laundry and I thought I would rather do that than see it hanging everywhere.

 

But it is a very personal topic.  We traveled for years as a family of 4 do laundry was a necessity.  

[Shmoo here]

3 hours ago, 1of4 said:

If we are traveling across an ocean then it will be longer for 7 days.  I personally have done it all.  I have carried a small salad spinner in my husband’s backpack and he didn’t even know it because it is the best for getting wet out of clothes. I have a Scrubba bag.  But honestly, one of the reasons we chose Scenic for our first river cruise was their included laundry bag.  If you roll your clothes (even your socks and underwear) you can fit so much more than stuffing clothes in.

 

And after another boat rafted beside ours one afternoon on the Seine and walking into our cabin to see all their underwear spread over every surface in their cabin I vowed that would never be us.  I remembered some women on the cruise boards saying they would never send their underwear out in the laundry and I thought I would rather do that than see it hanging everywhere.

 

But it is a very personal topic.  We traveled for years as a family of 4 do laundry was a necessity.  

I've never hung my underwear all over the room when doing laundry in my room.  There's usually a clothesline in the shower and I have a travel clothesline that I also use in the shower.  Really pretty much out of the way.  That said I only hand wash underwear, and quick dry shirts.  Trousers and other items that are too heavy to dry in a couple of hours in the room go to the onboard laundry.  

[spikemom]

Just curious, what boat are you sailing on that does not do laundry?   I have never been on a boat that did not provide the service and have sailed only on quite small boats.

[Daisi]

@spikemom, OP has laundry service, but they have to pay for it.  They are looking for ideas to do laundry without paying.