Questions about a 20 day cruise

[CBJ]

Hi all,

 

I'm a cruise newbie and also new to the forum. I'll be sailing on the 20 day Westerdam Panama Canal cruise in September.

 

How do I pack for a 20 day cruise? How many formal nights should I expect? All of the information I've seen is for 7 day cruises, and say 'don't overpack'... but I don't know how much is reasonable to bring for 20 days (actually 22 including our stay in the embarkation port). The Westerdam doesn't have self-serve laundry, and I imagine that the laundry service is $$$.

 

Any tips?

[RedmondCruiser]

We have a group forming in the roll call section of the Cruise Critic Boards. We also will be planning a get together cocktail party as we sail out of LA. Hope you can join us.

 

Formal nights - there will be four formal nights and two to three informal nights. All the rest are casual. Laundry cost $12 for a bag - all you can stuff into it.

 

The only limit to luggage is the requirements of your airline, other than that you could bring a steamer trunk. Thank God for the airlines restrictions other wise my wife would take everything she owns - and guess who would have to lug it around ? See you on board.

 

Ron

[Juanita462]

We did a 22 day Panama in April - think we had 5 or 6 formal nights. Dh brings a suit and one pair of dress pants for the informal (semi-formal) nights with 3 dress shirts and ties. I bring one long black skirt with several tops and a dressy pant suit for the informal. I bring enough clothes for 10 days so I won't have to worry about laundry too often. They have a deal where you can stuff their laundry bag and have it done for $12 - a good deal as you can get a lot in the bag if you roll things. I found that we would get about $80 worth of laundry for the $12. They bring everything back on hangers or neatly folded - couldn't believe they even ironed things. I wouldn't put anything in that needs special care - they did snag a pair of slacks and put a double crease line in another, but I thought these were fairly minor things that I could fix. there is a clothesline over the bathtub for anything hand washed - I take plastic clothespins - the kind with a little hook on the top - so I can get a lot more things on the line.

 

Too bad they don't have the laundry rooms in the larger ships - we did a 50 day cruise on the Statendam and it would have been difficult if we hadn't been able to do laundry - or very expensive.

 

You will have a fabulous cruise! The Panama is so interesting. Before we went the first time I got books from the library and read up on the construction and history of the canal - you will need to find a place to view the locks in action very early - people go to the crowsnest and hold the seats until entering the locks. It will be very hot out on deck so inside is more comfortable. Look for crocodiles along the way.

[Cruisergal1208]

What kind of cabin are you in? Certain suites have free laundry. I agree that the $12 per bag is a great deal. We sailed for 28days and had laundry done on ship and was very satisfied.

[sail7seas]

A rule of thumb is two formal nights per seven days. When we sailed Ryndam for 14 days, we had 4 formal nights. For a 20 days cruise, I would expect 5 or 6 formal nights.

 

[RedmondCruiser]

I found my ticket for the 21 day Panama Canal cruise that we took on the Westerdam in April and it lists 4 formal, 4 informal and 13 casual nights. You will have one less casual night since you are boarding in Vancouver and embarkation days are always causal. We have been on cruises that listed two informal or semi formal nights and they had non. So these things can change. Normally they do not change the number of formal nights so expect 4. Hope this helps.

[CBJ]

Thanks for the info, everyone... I was a bit worried that the laundry would be "hotel prices" but $12 per bag seems reasonable. I guess the key is to pack separates that can be mixed and matched.

 

I did find the thread under "roll call" and I'm sure I'll be seeing you over there quite a bit over the next 58 days.. :D

[cands]

Thanks for the info, everyone... I was a bit worried that the laundry would be "hotel prices" but $12 per bag seems reasonable. I guess the key is to pack separates that can be mixed and matched.

 

I did find the thread under "roll call" and I'm sure I'll be seeing you over there quite a bit over the next 58 days.. :D

 

HAL also has a fixed price laundry service. We used this on our 15 day transatlantic last year. As we were changing ships in Ft Lauderdale for another 14 day cruise, we needed all of our clothes cleaned and ready.

This was a great deal, I think it was $95 per cabin for a 15 day cruise. The charge varied according to cruise length. We calculated if we had paid by piece, the charges would have been over $250.

 

Steve.