Viking laundry service

[Crestawave]

Hi Everyone 

Me again with probably another daft question. Me and the missus have booked our first ever cruise. We're going with Viking on the Panama Canal and Pacific coast trip in January. 

After over 40 years of marriage and many holidays together I know we'll be using every permitted ounce of of luggage allowance. Is it the done thing to get all your laundry,  and by laundry I mean a service wash type as I don't think either of us want to spend time in the laundrette or at the ironing board, before we come home. We're in a DV cabin if that makes any difference. 

Any thoughts? Is it expensive ? Is it only available for the more expensive cabins etc ?

Hope you're all having a great day wherever you are in the world. 

[CDR2001]

Viking laundry facilities are available to all guests, no charge including free soap. Read the discussion here, including the other links included. We are DV, and use the launderette so we can pack lighter! ( I usually do not check a bag.

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by CDR2001
Link

[millybess]

Here is a laundry price list from June 2023. Passengers in PS, ES, OS can opt to have their laundry done for free. 

 

[molymoo]

We generally book PV cabins ... no free laundry but pressing is free.  We generally use the laundry rooms for "personal" items and PJ's and anything we don't want to wait for, but do make use of the paid laundry on every trip.   They do a wonderful job and we generally feel it is reasonably priced.  It can get crowded in the laundry rooms but if you time it right it's a nice little "perk"!                

[Mackdogmolly]

Are there ever any “specials”, like a bag of laundry for $$, instead of by the item? The OP doesn’t want to spend time in the laundry room.

[millybess]

6 minutes ago, Mackdogmolly said:

Are there ever any “specials”, like a bag of laundry for $$, instead of by the item? The OP doesn’t want to spend time in the laundry room.

I've never seen a "Laundry Special" and I've never heard of it on Viking.  I have only seen the above itemized pricing.

[Mackdogmolly]

58 minutes ago, millybess said:

I've never seen a "Laundry Special" and I've never heard of it on Viking.  I have only seen the above itemized pricing.

Thanks. I only asked because sometimes Azamara offers $40 per laundry bag specials, so I thought Viking might too.

[LindaS272]

Doing laundry on your own takes almost no time. You can fit it in to and from a meal or lecture presentation, etc. Gives you exercise, too, coming and going. Six VO cruises and we have always easily done our own.

[Peregrina651]

Your question opens a can of worms, in a good way. It is not a yes-no and in mymind it comes down to travel-style, which is personal. 

 

What kind of traveler are you? Are you 'pack to the max'? Are you carry-on only? Are you somewhere in between? Do you like to dress for dinner (your vacation, your choice)? Are you one outfit a day is plenty for me? So much to think about, right?

 

Laundry service vs DIY is another one of those travel style questions.  We all have access to the laundry service.  It is an include perk for the suites and a paid service for the rest of the cabins.  

 

For example, DH and I prefer to travel light and we depend  on laundry service to do it.  I'm on vacation, too! No cooking, cleaning or laundry!  Laundry is part of the travel budget. We do a combination of service, launderette and hand wash. 

 

Is it expensive? That is one of those subjective questions that you have to decide for yourself.  A laundry price list can be found on the Viking website, probably buried in the FAQ.  

 

Finally, there are a number of threads about laundry that you might want to check out.  

 

[KBs mum]

The laundry service is about equivilent to a hotel. We wash underwear and socks in the bathroom as they are pricey to send but only a few minutes to do. Everything else goes to the ships laundry. 

We take holiday clothes that are smart enough for evening but practical for the day, and resilient enough to survive industrial washers. We change when we get back after a day out, but what we wear for a few hours in the evening is worn for outings next day. Unless hot sweaty weather trousers go a few wears between washes. 

I have never used a communal washer/dryer and am not going to when on holiday. We include the cost of laundry as part of the cost in the same way as taxis etc

[JER/MPR]

When we went on our first Viking cruise I was sure I'd just send DH's laundry.  That lasted one day.  His came back so perfect that mine went too.  I never looked back and it is one thing I really look forward to make my vacation.  Beautifully boxed folded items and hangers of the pressed shirts etc.  

Edited October 2, 2023 by JER/MPR

[millybess]

5 minutes ago, JER/MPR said:

When we went on our first Viking cruise I was sure I'd just send DH's laundry.  That lasted one day.  His came back so perfect that mine went too.  I never looked back and it is one thing I really look forward to make my vacation.  Beautifully boxed folded items and hangers of the pressed shirts etc.  

Viking laundry staff do a really good job.  And then after you get home you sometimes come across those little laundry stickers which bring back fun memories of your cruise.   🙂

[Peregrina651]

5 hours ago, KBs mum said:

We take holiday clothes that are smart enough for evening but practical for the day, and resilient enough to survive industrial washers. We change when we get back after a day out, but what we wear for a few hours in the evening is worn for outings next day. Unless hot sweaty weather trousers go a few wears between washes. 

 

That's how we handle it as well. We take 5 days worth of outfits, unless we have a longer pre/post cruise adventure planned.

[RMMcC]

We recently returned from a 15 day New York to Iceland cruise.  In the past we used Luggage forward to ship a large suitcase of clothes so we could get a majority of the cruise done with minimal washing.  This time we looked at the cost of the laundry done by Viking and went carry on only ... for 15 days ... in a nutshell, our Viking laundry bill was about $250 at the end of the cruise even including the 50% surcharge for next day turnaround.  Luggage forward would have been 3x that amount ... we are big fans of Viking laundry service.  They do an outstanding job, save money in shipping additional clothes and give us the ease of travel with only carry on luggage ...

  

[Crestawave]

Thank you for all the replies 

After over 40 years together I've learnt not interfering with the holiday packing is the best way to a harmonious relationship,

ie we'll be taking a lot of clothes.

From what I've read above I think we'll get items like shirts, blouses, dresses etc in fact things that need ironing done with the Viking laundry service before we come home. I'm thinking this will make packing easier and save a lot of work on our return to the UK.

Time to start think of another "daft" first timers question 

Have a great day everyone 

 

 

 

 

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, Crestawave said:

 

Time to start think of another "daft" first timers question 

Have a great day everyone 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, please.  More daft questions sounds like a plan and a challenge.  We're ready, so bring it on!

 

But please, new area of investigation  in a new thread.  No burying hot new topics in an old thread.    

[Mike07]

On 10/2/2023 at 3:03 AM, Crestawave said:

Hi Everyone 

Me again with probably another daft question. Me and the missus have booked our first ever cruise. We're going with Viking on the Panama Canal and Pacific coast trip in January. 

After over 40 years of marriage and many holidays together I know we'll be using every permitted ounce of of luggage allowance.

 

 

First off, I think you chose extremely well for a "first" cruise after "forty years" of marriage! I have only been on Viking river cruises, and it was a great experience.

 

Second, I'm slightly concerned about your desires to bring all the luggage you can --- especially if you're considering having Viking launder your stuff. Really, most newbies find that they overpack for cruises. In terms of luggage, I am unaware of there being an upper-limit to how much luggage you bring... but keep in mind, you have to haul all of it back home.

[Redtravel]

If your suite includes complimentary laundry, what is the turn around time?  Can you get same day free?  

[duquephart]

1. On the bed when you leave for breakfast/the day - back tomorrow afternoon.

2. No.

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, Redtravel said:

Can you get same day free?  

Same day for a small fee.

[LindaS272]

2 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

In other words: No. Like I said.

That’s not what I was referring to. The OP may not know that you can pay a small amount to get your laundry back faster as needed.

[FetaCheese]

Took the Laundry Tour on Star last month.  Very interesting.  They really strive to launder clothing as if their own.  

[Steerpike58]

May sound like an obscure question - I find most local cleaners will press a long-sleeve shirt with the neck 'closed', while they will press a short sleeve shirt with the neck 'open'. By this, I mean, the top button is pressed folded open.  Snagging an image from the web at random to illustrate: 

 

 

(I don't care about shirts being buttoned or not, it's just the treatment of the top button area that I'm interested in). 

 

Anyway - I hate it when my short sleeved shirts are pressed 'open', and I always have to tell my local laundry service to press them 'closed'.   Do you know how they handle this on board, and, is there a clear way to express this preference? At my local place, I just show them when I turn in my shirts. 

 

[Peregrina651]

There is space on the laundry slip for special requests.

 

If you are concerned that written instructions might not be enough or that they might not be understood, you could also explain it to your cabin steward and ask that the explanation be passed along to the laundry room.  You could even put the above picture on your phone/tablet to aid in the description.