Question about laundry on a transatlantic cruise

[poeticlicensed]

We are planning a TA for fall 2024. Will be traveling around Southern Europe prior to sailing so the goal is to pack light. Will do all our laundry prior to sailing. We've never taken a cruise longer than 7 days. I know there's a laundry service for a fee and I've read that on long sailings there is a laundry by the bag offer. How much does that cost and how much laundry can a bag fit? I'm also concerned about having enough clothing to dress for dinner for 2 weeks. We discovered on our last trip to Europe that less is better in terms of dragging luggage around Europe, on trains and such. I literally started looking at Princess because they have self service washers, until hubby said i was nuts to base a decision about a cruise on a washing machine. Seriously how do you all do it for long cruises? 

[xamsx]

We did a TA last October on Connie. The bag was $49.99. Look for a prepaid bag offer under manage your cruise as one may be offered for less. We too do carry on in Europe, and on our 16 TA did several bags.
 

As far as how much you can fit? My husband makes an Olympic sport out of it, so I am not a good judge. He gets around 40 pieces in at a time. 

 

You might also consider taking laundry sachets on your trip to do some laundry by hand. 

[mauimary]

We just did a Transatlantic on the Beyond (14 day cruise)B2B with a 8 day cruise.   We followed those two cruises with a two week land trip to Portugal.  We each had a free bag of laundry on ea cruise for a total of four bags. We found it was plenty for us.  We found that we took too many clothes for dinner for the 22 nights onboard. The Beyond has 4 main dining rooms and you can move between them or stay in just one of them.  If you can do a good job of mix and match you will be just fine.  No one else cares or pays much attention. If I happen to notice a woman wearing the same outfit twice I view her as a smart traveler!   During the day on the Transatlantic it was very casual. 
What you do not want is to have to schlep heavy luggage around.  That is a burden. 

We did take two large bags and a smaller rollable. We were able to leave the heavier larger bag at the hotel in Lisbon as we were returning there. We did fly from Rome to Lisbon and TAP Air Portugal would not let us carry the rollable on with us. 

 

Last summer we did a two week land trip and a 10 night Med cruise in two rollaboards. It worked out just fine but you do have to plan smartly 

Edited June 20, 2023 by mauimary

[mrgabriel]

Last month we did a TA followed by a few days in London, so 18 nights. I packed (carry on only) for 7 nights and sent out two bags of laundry plus had a few pieces dry cleaned. We do get 2 free bags of laundry as part of our loyalty program but I did spend about another $25 for extra dry cleaning. 
 

I’ll be honest - I wore the same outfits 3 or 4 times, even to dinner. No one commented that I didn’t have something different for each evening. And if had, I don’t care - lol

[horseymike]

Sometimes they run flash sales where you can purchase a laundry package pre cruise at significant savings. These packages are found in the cruise planner online in the gifts section.

Worth looking into. 
Hope you have a great cruise 🚢.

Edited June 20, 2023 by horseymike
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[wanderlust58]

You also could do wash at a laundromat immediately prior to embarkation. You could check the Rick Steves guidebook for the country of your last stop.  He always lists both laundromats and drop-i- off -and-pick-it-up services if they are available.  

[SPacificbound]

On a TA we will send laundry out at least three times. You can send more than one bag at a time. There is also a loyalty discount with Celebrity.

 

On our first trip to Europe I had a laundromat staked out, it was on the street behind our hotel. After that experience we have the hotel send it for us.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2023 by SPacificbound

[jelayne]

The wash and fold laundry bag is good for things like pj’s, DHs under garments, workout clothes, jeans, t-shirts and socks.  Things are washed in hot water and put in a hot dryer, so not good for items that could shrink, wrinkle  or delicate items. 
 

[mahdnc]

2 hours ago, horseymike said:

Sometimes they run flash sales where you can purchase a laundry package pre cruise at significant savings. These packages are found in the cruise planner online in the gifts section.

Worth looking into. 
Hope you have a great cruise 🚢.

 

Wow.  A basic and premium laundry package cannot be too far behind.

[mauimary]

In addition to our two free loyalty bags I also hand wash the delicates and things I do not want in a hot dryer.  I also wore pieces multiple times to dinner either adding a scarf or jewelry.  DH also brought his sport coat.  I had to laugh in the room next to us we noticed a lady that had a door hanger full of shoes!  I just looked up the photo and she had 13pr!  She must have had a lot of outfits to go with all those shoes. 
I know some lines have laundermats but who really wants to sit and babysit the laundry??

[tigervixxxen]

Was on the Equinox over New Years and room steward said they didn’t do the laundry bag special anymore so I had to send few things sent out a la carte. Glad to hear that apparently was incorrect but I’m not exactly sure how to even do the $50 bag because there was zero mention anywhere of any sort of bag pricing and option. Was this something Celebrity tried to get rid of and brought back? Because I too would likely need one bag of laundry service over my transpacific cruise.

Edited June 21, 2023 by tigervixxxen

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

5 hours ago, poeticlicensed said:

We are planning a TA for fall 2024. Will be traveling around Southern Europe prior to sailing so the goal is to pack light. Will do all our laundry prior to sailing. We've never taken a cruise longer than 7 days. I know there's a laundry service for a fee and I've read that on long sailings there is a laundry by the bag offer. How much does that cost and how much laundry can a bag fit? I'm also concerned about having enough clothing to dress for dinner for 2 weeks. We discovered on our last trip to Europe that less is better in terms of dragging luggage around Europe, on trains and such. I literally started looking at Princess because they have self service washers, until hubby said i was nuts to base a decision about a cruise on a washing machine. Seriously how do you all do it for long cruises? 

Do your laundry at your pre-cruise hotel the night before the cruise.

If you pack 7 days worth of clothes for a 14 day TA, that will be plenty and you shouldn’t “need” to do laundry again on the ship!

 

Remember…many of those days are at sea and you will likely just have a bathing suit or lounging outfit on every day.

2-3 alternating outfits for dinner is all you need!

 

Many folks bring a small pack of detergent and wash some underwear in the sink and hang it to dry if needed!

Enjoy your cruise and save the laundry chores for when you get back home!  😃👍

Edited June 21, 2023 by NEW 2 CRUISIN
Posted before I finished typing! 😳

[upwarduk]

I have stuffed 44 items into the cloth laundry bag. It used to be paper, but now it’s cloth it’s much easier.

Fortunately we are Elite, so get one free bag each.

 

[Sussex Cruiser]

I did see a travel tip a while back about doing washing on a ship.  You can get a 'dry bag' off of somewhere like amazon, such as one you'd go camping with.  Basically a thicker plastic bag that won't leak water.  Pop the clothes inside with a leaf of detergent or something.  Close it up.  Shake it about a bit.  Empty, rinse a couple of times, hang up in the room, and you're done (you can also get magnetic washing lines with pegs already on it - most walls are metal in the cabin).  Works really well and a bit less bother than handwashing everything one by one.  Also helps with the really dry cabin air.

 

I do agree about what you should send to the laundry on the ship though.  I've had many items badly damaged because they have to very hot wash everything, and then really hot tumble dry it (as it's all mixed in with other peoples clothes too - bug control etc). So it really isn't suitable for delicates.  Even dark blue jeans have come back almost white before now.

[Silkroad]

4 hours ago, Sussex Cruiser said:

I did see a travel tip a while back about doing washing on a ship.  You can get a 'dry bag' off of somewhere like amazon, such as one you'd go camping with.  Basically a thicker plastic bag that won't leak water.  Pop the clothes inside with a leaf of detergent or something.  Close it up.  Shake it about a bit.  Empty, rinse a couple of times, hang up in the room, and you're done (you can also get magnetic washing lines with pegs already on it - most walls are metal in the cabin).  Works really well and a bit less bother than handwashing everything one by one.  

Great idea. Hadn’t seen this one. Thanks! I always travel with a small bottle of concentrated all purpose liquid soap. I use Campsuds, but there are several other good brands. I’d used it on camping and backpacking trips, and later used it on our three week rucksack/train pass honeymoon in England, Scotland and France. I use it to hand wash clothes I dare not send to the ship laundry. We use magnetic hooks to hang a clothes line in the shower overnight. Our line has Velcro loops on each end that can sometimes be attached to the shower frame. Otherwise, we use the magnetic hooks.

Edited June 21, 2023 by Silkroad

[JintyGirl]

Attached is the list for our laundry bag for a recent cruise (we had a 1 week land tour before and after the cruise so tried to fill the bag as full as possible!). We pre-purchased a “wash and fold” bag before the cruise. No complaints about shrinkage, colour fading etc. 

[Maggie North]

We pack mostly lightweight tech-type fabrics that can be washed in our sink and hung in the bathroom (using magnetic hooks); everything dries quickly. We bring detergent sheets (little squares that melt in water) and foldable hangers.When we send laundry out, it is usually pjs, undies, socks and jeans (in colder weather cruises) or things that might take a while to dry. There is a Downy wrinkle-release product that we have used on occasion. We just make a point to not pack garments that need a lot of care...and no one has complained that we aren't "chic" enough!  Ha ha!

Just returned from a 45 day 4x B2Bs cruise and only had one medium sized case and backpack each. We have found that the key is to pack as few shoes as possible, as they take a lot of room. When I stick to one color scheme, it is easier to pack lighter (ie; all black/gray or navy/khaki). Flesh toned shoes/sandals go with just about anything.

PS: I realize the original question was about laundry; but these are ways to pack lighter and maybe avoid much laundry. 

Enjoy your TA...we LOVE them!

[odysee]

On 6/21/2023 at 4:39 AM, NEW 2 CRUISIN said:

Do your laundry at your pre-cruise hotel the night before your cruise.

European hotels usually do not have self-laundries.  

[poeticlicensed]

Thanks for all the great ideas. We did 13 days in Italy and booked an Airbnb with a washer for part of the trip. Will probably do laundry before leaving and bring some laundry detergent sheets. I may pay for a bag of laundry if it goes on sale. 

[snichols23]

go to camping dept in big box stores. they sell detergent sheets. small about half the size of your palm. about 50 sheets per package. hand wash socks, underwear, etc. in sink. easy.  let ship was other things. we mix items up, wearing about 3 times each depending on stink rating.  take basic color dress or 2 for dinner that can be given a different look by using costume jewelry, scarves, etc.

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

1 hour ago, odysee said:

European hotels usually do not have self-laundries.  

That’s where pre-planning comes into play.

Every one we book has laundry facilities for this very reason!  

[the penguins]

16 hours ago, Maggie North said:

We pack mostly lightweight tech-type fabrics that can be washed in our sink and hung in the bathroom (using magnetic hooks); everything dries quickly. We bring detergent sheets (little squares that melt in water) and foldable hangers.When we send laundry out, it is usually pjs, undies, socks and jeans (in colder weather cruises) or things that might take a while to dry. There is a Downy wrinkle-release product that we have used on occasion. We just make a point to not pack garments that need a lot of care...and no one has complained that we aren't "chic" enough!  Ha ha!

Just returned from a 45 day 4x B2Bs cruise and only had one medium sized case and backpack each. We have found that the key is to pack as few shoes as possible, as they take a lot of room. When I stick to one color scheme, it is easier to pack lighter (ie; all black/gray or navy/khaki). Flesh toned shoes/sandals go with just about anything.

PS: I realize the original question was about laundry; but these are ways to pack lighter and maybe avoid much laundry. 

Enjoy your TA...we LOVE them!

No need for detergent X's shampoo works just great.

[Maggie North]

51 minutes ago, the penguins said:

No need for detergent X's shampoo works just great.

Ha ha....never thought of that! Will have to give it a try! 

[TeeRick]

I always look at it in the following way.  Laundry costs are just part of the many other costs of a cruise.  Especially a longer one.  It seems there is no issue paying for expensive excursions, drinks, specialty restaurants.  But laundry?  Oh no, not that!😀

[SbbquilterUT]

We are part of the pack light group - just finished TA, land travel, river cruise for a total of 35 days.  Packed in 21" roller bag plus personal bag.  I do bring low suds powder detergent (sold for hand washing lingerie) to sink wash personal items and blouses - easier to rinse out that high suds products.