Surviving the Ship’s Laundry?

[lenquixote66]

We have yet to use a ships laundry.We have been cruising since 1973

 

[lovesthebeach2]

5 hours ago, SbbquilterUT said:

We always travel carry on and use the ship laundry - I send underclothes (hand wash those I care for that way at home), pajamas, casual shirts, casual shorts with instructions warm wash.  So far nothing has been ruined.  We also wear fabrics which can be washed in cabin and dried on hangers (use metal hooks so they can be hung from the ceiling to dry).  Dress clothes sent for dry cleaning if needed though they really get that dirty. This has worked on trips as long as 30 days including cold and warm weather destinations.  Good luck.

We also bring just carryons and backpack. And this is what we do too with the laundry. 

The important part is to bring clothing that can easily be washed in the room that you don’t want to put in the laundry. we both have plenty of shirts that I always wash in the room and hang on hangers from the ceiling with the magnetic hooks I bring.

[lovesthebeach2]

2 hours ago, nimbex1970 said:

I bought a bunch of day dresses that could be washed in the sink and hung dry.  We send my husbands pants and shirts out for the press after we do this, it's safer.  I only use laundry for socks, jammies and unspecial shirts... Just expect hot water, no fabric softener and hot dry.  If you wouldn't do this at home, don't do it on the ship

 

I’m curious where you get day dresses that you can wash in the sink! Can you share where you get them?

[ONECRUISER]

58 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Don’t ever send any clothes out for dry cleaning when you are at home then….

Nope. But did my Army Dress Greens and Blues after. Even going up I was one to wash and Iron own shirts and even jeans. Some Cruises I'll just bring Clean Shirts and have Royal press them 1st nite

[teddie]

We have found the ship’s laundry is fine for cotton undies, socks, tees and pjs. We bring enough of everything else so we don’t send anything beyond those items. 
 

teddie

[Ret MP]

We don't pack with the ship's laundry in mind.  We wear and get cleaned without thought.  We don't take any "formal wear".  So, it's cotton, synthetics, and so on.  No lace or silk.  So, we have never had a problem with the ship's laundry service.  Yes, it is hot, very hot.  

 

Funny thing though.  My son-in-law brought one of his favorite recreational use shirts.  It had a stain on it that had been there for a long long time.  He sent it into the ship's laundry and it came back with the stain GONE!  So, now I take a shirt or two with stains and get them cleaned by the ship's laundry and have had good luck with it.  

[cruisegirl1]

8 hours ago, time4u2go said:

Not sure if you care but your clothes will be washed with other people's clothes, each in their own mesh bag. That bothers some people.

I always thought they were washed in a mesh bag, but they have to be dried outside of the bag and I guess that is why name tags are  on my items.  

 

M

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, island lady said:

Wash and fold:  AKA "boil and fry".    Don't send anything out you can't bear to part with.  😉 

Have you ever used the ship's laundry?????? We use it on every cruise and have never had any problems.  😉 

[time4u2go]

6 hours ago, island lady said:

 

So then sleeping in sheets and washing/drying with towels others have used is OK though?  😉 😄 

Apparently! 

[time4u2go]

5 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We have yet to use a ships laundry.We have been cruising since 1973

 

OK? 

[Ret MP]

9 hours ago, time4u2go said:

Not sure if you care but your clothes will be washed with other people's clothes, each in their own mesh bag. That bothers some people.

I'm sure it does.  But, I bet those same people use towels, washcloths, napkins, sheets, et al, while cruising and never give it a thought.  Not unique to cruising either.  Hotel towels and washcloths. And items, like clothing, you send out to your local laundry & dry cleaners.  

 

Nope, at least on a cruise ship I know that they are poaching/deep frying/scorching/boiling my laundry.  I'd be a happy camper if someone else's mesh bag opened up and a hundred-dollar bill found its way into mine, though. LOL

[DeputyDawg46]

5 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

We have yet to use a ships laundry. We have been cruising since 1973

 

Nonstop??  🤗  Hummmm!! 🙄

[njkruzer]

56 minutes ago, cruisegirl1 said:

I always thought they were washed in a mesh bag, but they have to be dried outside of the bag and I guess that is why name tags are  on my items.  

 

M

Cabin numbers. 

[KansasK]

I rinse out my swimsuit in the sink and hang it to dry on a hook on the ceiling, but beyond that, I send things to the laundry or take them home dirty to be washed. I bring enough clothes so I only need to wash a few.  I tend to send clothes to the laundry that come back ironed and on hangers.  I don't like clothes hanging in the bathroom and in the cabin drying. 

 

I was on a 10 day cruise on Princess and used their laundry that had washers and dryers and even an ironing board and iron. It is a shame Royal Caribbean does not do this on every deck, or every other deck. 

 

For the many posters who wash out clothes in the sink and shower - to each his own! 

[Cruise a holic]

We use laundry and dry cleaning service on a cruise- at least two loads a week- we also do not pack light.  Use hooks for hand washables.  We have good roller luggage and each take a large piece and a carry on- also a backpack purse for me.  Sometimes an additional suit roller piece.  This depends on the lenght of the cruise.

 

As soon as we get to the airport we check luggage outside- and we immediately get a porter to assist  when we arrive at our destination to bring us to our cab.  Same leaving terminal.  IMO worth it to pay for extra luggage if necessary and luggage assistance. Bring what you want on the cruise.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Cruise a holic

[island lady]

10 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Have you ever used the ship's laundry?????? We use it on every cruise and have never had any problems.  😉 

 

I have used the dry cleaning and the "boil and fry".  The hand washables I do myself (gives me something to do on a sea day 😉 ).  

[island lady]

14 hours ago, teddie said:

We have found the ship’s laundry is fine for cotton undies, socks, tees and pjs. We bring enough of everything else so we don’t send anything beyond those items. 
 

teddie

 

What was your longest cruise?  

[artvlay]

We have had clothes come back with stains from their process a few times. As others have said, don't send any decent things to them.

[teddie]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

What was your longest cruise?  

We used the laundry service for a 7-day when our son was a preteen, and for just my husband and I, on 9 and 10-day cruises--but it depends on if we are needing to fly to the port.  Our home port is Bayonne/Cape Liberty, and since we live less than 30 minutes from there, we are able to pack as much stuff as we want. We just returned from an 8-day and did not need to use the laundry. 

[Ret MP]

38 minutes ago, teddie said:

We used the laundry service for a 7-day when our son was a preteen, and for just my husband and I, on 9 and 10-day cruises--but it depends on if we are needing to fly to the port.  Our home port is Bayonne/Cape Liberty, and since we live less than 30 minutes from there, we are able to pack as much stuff as we want. We just returned from an 8-day and did not need to use the laundry. 

We tend to want to do as little as possible when we get home.  Kinda like want a vacation from our vacation. So, we get as much laundry done on the last possible day of the cruise as possible.  That way we (My wife) don't have any NEEDED laundry that has to be done, right away.  

 

That's just us.  Not trying to change how anybody else does it.  To each their own.

Edited April 3, 2023 by Ret MP

[hancock]

Years ago, my BIL sent a new suit to be cleaned.  (This wasn't on Royal.)  They washed it!  It was ruined.  The crew cobbled together the cost of the suit to reimburse my BIL.  If it had been reported to the higher ups, they would have lost their jobs.

[loman]

I only take one week cruises , so we bring enough to see us through and dont use the laundry services. One 26 " piece of luggage each , about 30 lbs each . Used to be heavier when we brought formal clothes, but we dont anymore.🙂

[gail-s]

Thanks for asking this question.  It didn't even occur to me to think that they'd wash everything in super hot.  We wash just about everything here in tap cold.  Our trip this summer is going to end up being 2 weeks long and I figured I'd send things to be washed near the end of the cruise.  I'll have to rethink that and / or pack accordingly.  

For those that use the hooks, I've seen links to them on Amazon, how much do they actually weigh?  Trying to avoid the 50lb checked bag 😜

[njkruzer]

3 minutes ago, gail-s said:

Thanks for asking this question.  It didn't even occur to me to think that they'd wash everything in super hot.  We wash just about everything here in tap cold.  Our trip this summer is going to end up being 2 weeks long and I figured I'd send things to be washed near the end of the cruise.  I'll have to rethink that and / or pack accordingly.  

For those that use the hooks, I've seen links to them on Amazon, how much do they actually weigh?  Trying to avoid the 50lb checked bag 😜

The hooks weigh very little, my guess is under 1 lb for pkg I have but each holds 25 lbs each.

[Ret MP]

2 minutes ago, gail-s said:

We wash just about everything here in tap cold.  

We do the same thing, for decades, and it has nothing to do with energy usage.  We went to cold water, I don't think our washer is even hooked up to the hot water because we read articles about how hot water sets stains.  However, the ship manages to remove stains using hot water.  I can't explain it and don't want to, I'm a happy camper with the system.