Self Laundry on Princess

[Daniel A]

Last month on Emerald Princess, we had to go from deck to deck to find a free washer.  Once we found one, the token machine was out of tokens (this happened about four times in different laundry rooms)  when the token machine was out, you had to go all the way to the Passenger Services Desk to purchase tokens.  By the time you returned, someone else was using the machine.  Lesson learned: pre purchase however many tokens you will need so when you find a free machine, you can use it right away.

[Goofyisme]

I am a bit confused.  Are the machines free or do they require tokens?  Specifically looking at the Island Princess.

All the hints and information included here are great.

Thanks from someone sailing Princess for the first time.

[memoak]

Just now, Goofyisme said:

I am a bit confused.  Are the machines free or do they require tokens?  Specifically looking at the Island Princess.

All the hints and information included here are great.

Thanks from someone sailing Princess for the first time.

Different things on different ships. Las 2 on the crown no tokens needed to wash dry just for product. Now on the Ruby and tokens needed for everything 

[Goofyisme]

2 minutes ago, memoak said:

Different things on different ships. Las 2 on the crown no tokens needed to wash dry just for product. Now on the Ruby and tokens needed for everything 

LOL isn't that the way of cruising these days.

Any clues about the Island.

[memoak]

Just now, Goofyisme said:

LOL isn't that the way of cruising these days.

Any clues about the Island.

No that is the one and only ship I avoid if at all possible 

[Aggie83]

The machines on the Island take tokens. Token machines are in the laundry room.

 

You use your Medallion to purchase the tokens. As of January on the Island, the cost is $3/token. Both the washer and dryer cost 1 token.

Edited April 24 by Aggie83

[voljeep]

53 minutes ago, Goofyisme said:

I am a bit confused.  Are the machines free or do they require tokens?  Specifically looking at the Island Princess.

All the hints and information included here are great.

Thanks from someone sailing Princess for the first time.

Plan to obtain tokens that cost $3 per wash and $3 per dry.

Plan to take your own pods/detergent sheets or plan to pay for the detergent - I think it may be about $1.50 per package - could be more, could be less

[doghog]

We'd like to see Princess add a Wash n Fold CC (Palatium) perk like Celebrity CC (Elite and above) and RC CAS (Diamond Plus and above) does. Neither of us wants to do laundry while on a cruise. I guess we'll have to make Elite with the Princess CC. 

[Daniel A]

I took my first Holland America cruise last year.  I was surprised to learn that HAL does not have self-service laundry.  You can either do your laundry while in port 😝 or you could either pay by the bag or get a laundry package.  On a 35-day cruise, the package worked out very nicely for us.  You can send your laundry out on Princess, but it gets very pricey.   I've also seen complaints from elite CC members that the complimentary laundry can take days to come back.

[doghog]

5 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I was surprised to learn that HAL does not have self-service laundry.

No self service laundry on Celebrity and RC either. Not complaining. 

Edited April 24 by doghog

[artvlay]

Is one token sufficient for an average load to either wash or dry?

[Thunderbird19]

I really like that Princess allows guests to do their own laundry rather than having to send it out to be done at quite high prices like NCL does.  Husband and I have worked on really streamlining what we bring to avoid bringing excess clothes and huge pieces of luggage. We tend to take longer cruises so doing laundry as needed is great.  It makes the trip more enjoyable to travel lighter, have a smart mix & match wardrobe and have less clothes to sort through in the cabin!  While I know some people enjoy the dress up aspect and formal nights, i'm amazed to see so many ladies cruising with several different purses and numerous pairs of shoes.

[Aggie83]

4 hours ago, artvlay said:

Is one token sufficient for an average load to either wash or dry?

From personal experience, yes.

 

My experience is that the dryers tend to run quite hot. Therefore, keep an eye it.

[MacMadame]

21 hours ago, Thunderbird19 said:

i'm amazed to see so many ladies cruising with several different purses and numerous pairs of shoes.

I know! I don't even change shoes or purses as much as some of them do when I'm on land. 

 

We don't plan to do carry-on only for our upcoming cruise though. It's a bit too restrictive for us. But we will use the self-laundry option about halfway through the cruise. We're going to be gone from home for 20 days! I don't think I even own that many changes of clothes and Mr Mac most certainly doesn't.

[coopco]

On 4/13/2024 at 8:07 PM, illinigal77 said:

I use detergent sheets and dryer sheets when I travel. The detergent sheets are lighter, take up less room, and there is no chance anything will leak when travelling. They work great! Has anyone done laundry the first full day at sea? We are doing a land/sea tour of Alaska this coming Septemeber and our first full day on the ship would be a good day to wash the clothes we wore on the land portion of our trip. That day we sail to Hubbard Glacier but are only there from 3:00-8 pm so it would be a good day for me to do our clothes.

Not sure if this is still the case but when we were on our cruise to Alaska, you couldn’t do laundry when in Alaskan waters. It was a long time ago but you might want to research current policies if planning your laundry on an Alaskan cruise. It took me off guard and I had to delay laundry for a couple days.

 

Love the detergent sheets too! I normally do laundry when the laundromat first opens officially (OK probably 10 minutes prior if I’m being honest) because usually the machines are available. I have done it on sea days and port days (Ensenada because often we don’t get off the ship). Sometimes I have to walk down a floor to find an open washer.

[Thrak]

For self laundry we pick a time to do it and then select a movie to watch in the cabin. We queue up the movie and then go put in the wash. We set a timer, go back to the cabin, and watch the movie. (We set the timer a few minutes short of the time the wash will run.) When the timer goes off we pause the movie, go move the laundry to the dryer, set a timer, then go back to the cabin and continue the movie. When the timer goes off we pause the movie and deal with the laundry. It's pretty easy and stress free and setting the timer just short of the actual time needed assures that our laundry never sits unattended in a machine that has shut off. Heck, order some drinks and snacks to the cabin while watching the movie. Make it something other than a "chore" when doing the laundry.

[DallasGuy75219]

On 4/24/2024 at 5:30 PM, artvlay said:

Is one token sufficient for an average load to either wash or dry?

The dryers are hit and miss.  Some of them don't get quite hot enough so you either have to run a second cycle or air dry damp clothes in your cabin. 

[BamaVol]

14 hours ago, coopco said:

Not sure if this is still the case but when we were on our cruise to Alaska, you couldn’t do laundry when in Alaskan waters. It was a long time ago but you might want to research current policies if planning your laundry on an Alaskan cruise. It took me off guard and I had to delay laundry for a couple days.

 

Love the detergent sheets too! I normally do laundry when the laundromat first opens officially (OK probably 10 minutes prior if I’m being honest) because usually the machines are available. I have done it on sea days and port days (Ensenada because often we don’t get off the ship). Sometimes I have to walk down a floor to find an open washer.

I did some last year on an Alaskan cruise.  But I don’t think I could tell you if we were in US, Canadian or international waters. I met one poor lady there whose luggage didn’t make it to the ship.  She was doing a wash every other day, and probably wearing her underwear inside out between laundry days.

Edited April 26 by BamaVol

[Teechur]

On 4/26/2024 at 8:47 AM, BamaVol said:

I did some last year on an Alaskan cruise.  But I don’t think I could tell you if we were in US, Canadian or international waters. I met one poor lady there whose luggage didn’t make it to the ship.  She was doing a wash every other day, and probably wearing her underwear inside out between laundry days.

Now, there's a picture. 😵‍💫

[skynight]

On 4/24/2024 at 3:32 PM, Daniel A said:

I took my first Holland America cruise last year.  I was surprised to learn that HAL does not have self-service laundry.  You can either do your laundry while in port 😝 or you could either pay by the bag or get a laundry package.  On a 35-day cruise, the package worked out very nicely for us.  You can send your laundry out on Princess, but it gets very pricey.   I've also seen complaints from elite CC members that the complimentary laundry can take days to come back.

Just off the Ruby, 24 days b2b. As elite I receive free laundry. The total cost for one person was $163. Princess charges your account and then credits you back so you can see the charges. I also sent in a bunch of laundry late in the cruise, about $50 worth, so that I would have clean clothing when I returned home. That's something I would not do if I was actually paying. I think the cost may be something that can be budgeted. Three plus weeks around $150/pp does not seem like a super large amount if you really don't wish to do your own.

Elite laundry turn around time varies by the number of elites on board. On this cruise turn around time was 48 hours. I have seen it up to 72 hours. 

[davy jones]

On 4/26/2024 at 12:25 AM, coopco said:

Not sure if this is still the case but when we were on our cruise to Alaska, you couldn’t do laundry when in Alaskan waters. It was a long time ago but you might want to research current policies if planning your laundry on an Alaskan cruise. It took me off guard and I had to delay laundry for a couple days.

 

I would like to find out about the Alaska laundry restriction.  We are on a 14 day with a day in Whittier to debark and embark land tour passengers.  Our plan is to do laundry early on that day.

[memoak]

4 minutes ago, davy jones said:

I would like to find out about the Alaska laundry restriction.  We are on a 14 day with a day in Whittier to debark and embark land tour passengers.  Our plan is to do laundry early on that day.

I have not seen any restrictions for laundry and Alaskan cruises