Why do people do laundry on board??

[Steve13]

I don't mean this post to be critical of other people's habits, but I really am curious. I often read posts where cruisers have questions about the onboard laundry self-service laundy facilities on ships.

 

Why in the world would anybody even consider doing laundry while on a ship? I could certainly understand it if it was a long cruise (2+weeks), but most of the questions seem to be for 7-10 day cruises through the carribean.

 

I've been on 5 cruises (all 7-10 days) and can pack everything I need in one rolling suitcase (the kind that fits in an airplane overhead) and one hanging garment bag (for tux, sportcoats, etc). I can see sending a tux or gown to the on board dry cleaner for a pressing, but not actually doing laundry.

 

Just what are people packing that they've got to launder stuff halfway through a cruise?? Shorts, t-shirts, underwear, bathing suits, and even dinner clothes just don't take up that much room.

 

Again, I'm not trying to criticize those that do launder, but for the life of me I just can't see why it's necessary!

[CaptData]

Some people have had bad experiences with ship's laundry, others like their's done a certain way. As for packing, some people have a medical condition which means they may change clothes a few times in the day due to over sweating/accidents if they have a bad day. This could entail too much packing so the only solution is to use a lundry, even on a 7 to 10 day cruise. Also many people do B2B cruises on 7 day cruise which makes it 14 days but they only ask on a cruise that is 7 days long to see what is available.

 

I myself am doing a B2B on the Monarch which is a 4 day cruise than immediately after doing 15 Haweaii trip on Radiance. I flew in and because of medical things can not pack a lot of clothes so I need info on laundry all the time.

[cavkc]

It's only on our last cruise earlier this month that I had some laundry done. It was a 12 night cruise, but we were actually away from home for 14 nights.

 

With 2 teenage boys, who wear clean t-shirts & shorts every day, I figured it was cheaper to have their things laundered that having to buy and pack 14 t-shirt each & 14 shorts etc. etc.

 

I actually had a couple of bits done myself, but mainly because I was sending the laundry out anyway. DH spilt something on a silk shirt though one evening and we sent it to be laundered - it came back with the same stain but when I washed it at home it came out on the first wash - me thinks they don't do such a good job, but it's handy if you have kids etc.

 

I have used their pressing service on a few occasions for jackets & trousers which are quite reasonable.

[macdays1]

I, for one, would never do laundry while on vacation. It's just not in my blood...lol. However, most people will do it just so they can pack less clothes. It works out especially with big families. I use a cruise as an excuse to buy all new clothes. I start buying months before and usually end up with two weeks worth of clothes in my suitcase. I pack way too much, but at least I know that if I spill something on myself, I have plenty of choices to change into. And believe me, it has happened. I can understand how they would prefer to pack lightly though.

[Spikesgirl]

land or sea. This is not to say that I do it, but it's always done. We prefer to pack lighter and not have to haul around huge suitcases. Makes unpacking very easy. We also like to have room for souvenirs. On our last cruise, which extended over a month due to an attached land tour, we had laundry done four times. I couldn't imagine hauling around dirty clothes, nor do I want to think about having to do a ton of laundry as soon as I return from a trip.

 

As you've said, neither right nor wrong, it's just what we do.

 

Charlie

[Mekamax]

Pack less. Also it is nice and a lot easier to pack clean clothes. So alot of times we do laundry so that when we pack to come home most is clean. NCL doesn't have it though - miss that about Carnival ships - they have self serve laundry. It took about 10 cruises until I started doing laundry on board though - actually hubby started it!! :eek: I guess you get comfortable and the ship feels like home so why not?? :p Debbie

[gtcruzer]

we send the stuff to be cleaned so our luggage does not smell like a locker room when we get home.

we dont do it ourselves.

[PelicanBill]

With formal wear and dressy casual each other night and beach casual other days, it's more clothes than we would take on any trip. Plus we take more other stuff: snorkel gear, sun lotions, first aid, lots of medicines.... because there is no 7-11 to run to if you run out or need something you did not bring. And if you get sick you want all the medicines you might need, instead of a $300 ship's doctor bill.

 

So we like to do a load or 2 to take a little less... but on RCI no self-laundry so we carry a lot more luggage.

[2Cruise4Ever]

We took the train to NYC to board NCL's Dawn last summer. And, because we had to tote our own luggage, we could only pack what we could carry: DH with 2 suitcases, DS with one (7 yo at the time), and me with one because I had to also stroll the baby and the diaper bag, and the beach bag, etc. etc. Therefore, we only packed enough for about 2/3 of the week knowing we could do laundry on board; which I did Friday morning (early, I mean EARLY in order to get to the machines before they were claimed by someone else). I agree that I should never have to do something on vacation that I am expected to do at home (like laundry, cooking, dishes, etc), but sometimes it's necessary!

[coolcat12]

ummm...'cause I didn't want to go commando......

[barbarah33]

I get to pack less and bring home clean clothes. I don’t know about the rest of you but when my vacation is over and I have to go home and back to reality it's nice to not open a suitcase full of dirty, stinky clothes. And then I have less to do at home. I find if I'm on Princess where they have a laundry room I will run a load or two on the second to last night. There usually is no problem getting machines and I don’t stay in there with my laundry - I am back in my cabin on the verandah having a drink with my friends. For me it's easier and makes sense.

[barbarah33]

I get to pack less and bring home clean clothes. I don’t know about the rest of you but when my vacation is over and I have to go home and back to reality it's nice to not open a suitcase full of dirty, stinky clothes. And then I have less to do at home. I find if I'm on Princess where they have a laundry room I will run a load or two on the second to last night. There usually is no problem getting machines and I don’t stay in there with my laundry - I am back in my cabin on the verandah having a drink with my friends. For me it's easier and makes sense.

[gtcruzer]

ummm...'cause I didn't want to go commando......

best reason

[momofmeg]

I don't mean this post to be critical of other people's habits, but I really am curious. I often read posts where cruisers have questions about the onboard laundry self-service laundy facilities on ships.

 

Why in the world would anybody even consider doing laundry while on a ship? I could certainly understand it if it was a long cruise (2+weeks), but most of the questions seem to be for 7-10 day cruises through the carribean.

 

I've been on 5 cruises (all 7-10 days) and can pack everything I need in one rolling suitcase (the kind that fits in an airplane overhead) and one hanging garment bag (for tux, sportcoats, etc). I can see sending a tux or gown to the on board dry cleaner for a pressing, but not actually doing laundry.

 

Just what are people packing that they've got to launder stuff halfway through a cruise?? Shorts, t-shirts, underwear, bathing suits, and even dinner clothes just don't take up that much room.

 

Again, I'm not trying to criticize those that do launder, but for the life of me I just can't see why it's necessary!

 

 

I like to because I hate coming home and having to do laundry first thing. It is bad enough having to unpack!

 

Ofcourse that does not work for Celebrity or Royal Caribbean but I do take advantage when ships have the laundry. I also do it on a port day-as then I have the laundryroom to myself. To me, spending 5 minutes loading the washing machines and then 5 minutes to put the stuff in the dryers and then 5 minutes to grab everything is not that terrible when I am being waited on and and foot for everything else.

 

Now next year I am taking my first 12 day cruise and unfortuantely it is on Celebrity-so I guess I wll budget for having things cleaned.

[05mak05]

My question is "why don't all ships have laundromats?" like the Princess ships and also some of the other cruise lines. I don't want to drag around a hanging clothes bag plus a rollaboard when changing planes, etc. Like others than have posted, I also prefer coming home with clean clothes and being to wash our pj's, etc. onboard rather than having to pack several pair. To each his own but having a self-service laundry plus irons and ironing board is sure a nice option. (Plus, I've met the nicest people while waiting for clothes to dry or pressing a wrinkled shirt!)

[momofmeg]

I get to pack less and bring home clean clothes. I don’t know about the rest of you but when my vacation is over and I have to go home and back to reality it's nice to not open a suitcase full of dirty, stinky clothes. And then I have less to do at home. I find if I'm on Princess where they have a laundry room I will run a load or two on the second to last night. There usually is no problem getting machines and I don’t stay in there with my laundry - I am back in my cabin on the verandah having a drink with my friends. For me it's easier and makes sense.

 

Amen!

 

You notice too the OP is a man so chances are it is his wife-SO who does the dirty work.

[DonLou]

... we usually use the gym everyday. Nice to not have stinky gym clothes the next morning. Of course, that brings up another topic, "Why would anyone use the gym when they're on a relaxing cruise?" --- answer: all-you-can-eat food.

[GRMonLI]

I don't mean this post to be critical of other people's habits, but I really am curious. I often read posts where cruisers have questions about the onboard laundry self-service laundy facilities on ships.

 

Why in the world would anybody even consider doing laundry while on a ship? I could certainly understand it if it was a long cruise (2+weeks), but most of the questions seem to be for 7-10 day cruises through the carribean.

 

I've been on 5 cruises (all 7-10 days) and can pack everything I need in one rolling suitcase (the kind that fits in an airplane overhead) and one hanging garment bag (for tux, sportcoats, etc). I can see sending a tux or gown to the on board dry cleaner for a pressing, but not actually doing laundry.

 

Just what are people packing that they've got to launder stuff halfway through a cruise?? Shorts, t-shirts, underwear, bathing suits, and even dinner clothes just don't take up that much room.

 

Again, I'm not trying to criticize those that do launder, but for the life of me I just can't see why it's necessary!

 

 

My question to you, also not meant to be offensive, is how often do you change clothes?

 

I for one cannot stand wearing certain items of clothing more than once without washing them.

 

Jeans yes, I can wear them two or three times but shirts no way! I can put on a shirt, take it off after an hour or two and then maybe put it back on for a few more hours but wearing the same shirt on two days or wearing a shirt to get onboard (or outfit) then wearing that same shirt to get off (which I have read onlne several times is a thing that a lot of people do) really grosses me out.

 

Socks and underwear must be changed daily, if not twice if I am going somewhere fancy at night. And "washing" underwear and socks in the sink does not cut it for me. Its like dipping them in soapy water!!!!

 

Do not get me wrong I hate luggqage. I am packing much less on my next cruise in October than for my last but a weeks worth of clothes in a roll on will never work for me.

 

I wish my next ship had a laundry room so I could pack less!!!!! :eek:

[GORDONCHICK]

Then there are some of us that are having some land-based vacation time after disembarking. Plus, if you get home the night before you have to be at work the next day, how does all that dirty laundry mysteriously get clean? I'm certainly not going to want to do it after my first day back at work!!! A day at sea is a great time to do a load or two of laundry.

[Leo Jay]

I don't wear shirts and underwear more than once without laundering. Doing laundry is not a big deal to me -- I assume it's less expensive than sending it out, and it's preferable to hoping you get it back when you need it. I doubt the turnaround of the ship's laundry service would satisfy me -- I want my stuff when I want it. :)

[Happy ks]

I'll send some things out to be washed or dry cleaned, I just don't want to be overburdened with luggage.

 

I think it also makes a huge difference for those of us who travel with kids, there is just no way to cart all you need for even just a week. It also depends on where you are cruising to. Our kids are adult sized teens, my son is 6'5", my daughter is 5'7".

 

When we cruised Alaska 2 years ago, we did laundry twice on land and sent a few things out during the cruise. We were in Vancouver 2 days prior, that meant clothing for 3 days X 4 people = 12 outfits (2 days plus travel day), underwear, pajamas. We threw in a couple of loads early in the am before departure for the ship. Onboard, we each had a pair of jeans laundered and 2 shirts apiece, that's 4 pair of jeans (each worn twice) and 8 shirts. We also had socks, boxers and dress shirts laundered.

 

Returning to the hotel after the cruise, we washed a couple more loads late that night, so we had clean clothes for the trip home the next day. If we hadn't done laundry, we would have had to pack an extra 22 pair of jeans and pants, 22 shirts, 12 pair of underwear (for the guys, ladies wash up in the sink!), underthings were changed twice per day.

 

Cut in half for a couple, that's still a heap of clothes. For us, it was a whole lot cheaper to pay the onboard laundry cost than to buy that many more pair of pants and jeans

 

As it was, we had 4 large suitcases, 2 garment bags, two carry ons, backpacks for the kids and a large purse for me, plus the camera bag. It was a mountain of luggage.

[NMCruzzin]

Coming from a very dry area where things dry quickly, we noticed that on our cruise 2 weeks ago that our clothes or swimwear was not drying out by the time we needed it the next day! So to speed up the process for our beach stuff - we tossed it into the dryer - for us - it worked out great! I'm really glad that they have good laundry facilities on the Valor!

Jean

[bplazo]

I would never think of doing laundry on vacation. I am pretty lucky at home because my husband does it 90% of the time. On vacation some of my clothes for excursions I bring old tshirts and shorts and then just toss them out at the end of the cruise just to make room for things I shopped for.

 

Good thing about coming back from a cruise with dirty laundry is that I have to work the next day and dh doesnt so he as laundry all done by the time I get home. I have a good trick I pretend that I cant cook or do laundry so he does it.

[nybumpkin]

Two adults, three kids, eight days - you'd better believe we're doing laundry! No, I don't like doing laundry on vacation, but I don't like packing suitcases either.

[dodukes]

You know this thread really amazes me cuz i for sur thought that most answer where going to be we dont do laundry, but good grief I am amzed at teh number of people who do laundry on vacation. I have NEVER done laundry on vacation. and i probably never will, for me and dbf the stuff i we wear on vacation is not what we wear to work so even when we come home the next day of work doesnt matter i will do laundry starting that night or during the week, it can wait, no rush! we also do have ALOT of underwear, seriously i think i could go a month with all the underwaer we each own, in any case i dotn care about packing dirty clothes i stick them in a garbage bag and pack them in with clean stuff, altho most time everything gets washed cuz im germy and if it touche dthe suticase, when we return its going in the landry. Anyway this is just us, we are going on our first cruise this october and do not plan to do laundry, even with a complete change of clothes twice a day i would still have enough room in my luggage, (i pack REALLY good), in any case the first time i can see doing laundry on vacation is when i visit family in spain this xmas cuz it wil be over 2 weeks and its their house, not a public laundry place (again the germ kill me i knwo its mental but anyway) and even then i can probably get enough stuff in there to try not ot have to..lol...

anyway those are my $.02 looooong cents on the subject, thats ust how we have alwasy done things even as a kid.