Laundry on Vacation?

[pafam4]

I don't understand the people think this is a bad idea.

 

It's not like you are in a totally "relaxed" state and you cannot be doing anything productive whatsoever.

 

Nobody is really above doing laundry on a cruise. Especially on Carnival..

 

 

I don't think its a bad idea, just something that doesn't fit into my vacation plans....certainly I'm not above doing laundry (not sure what you meant about "especially on Carnival") on a cruise or anywhere, its just not how I choose to spend my cruise time. Nothing wrong with either way.

[Djford75]

I've usually do laundry as we'd rather pack light. Last summer it was $3 a load.

 

On the Dream:

 

Name: Launderettes / Ironing Rooms

Locations - Launderettes

Main Deck 2 - midship / across from 2375

Empress Deck 7 - midship / across from 7347

Lido Deck 10 - forward / across from 10262

Locations – Ironing Rooms

Riviera Deck 1 – aft / across from 1411

Upper Deck 6 – midship / across from 6382

Verandah Deck 8 – midship / across from 8395

Vista Deck 9 – midship / across from 9403

Hours: hours posted on the door to the Laundry

Function: Self-Service Launderette / Ironing Room

 

• 2 or 3 washers
  
• 2 or 3 dryers
  
• 1 iron and ironing board
  
• Vending machines dispense small boxes of detergent and water softener
  
• Ironing Room: 2 ironing boards/irons
  

Looks like my cabin is across the hall. How loud can the rooms get?

 

We did laundry on last cruise...loved it. Doesn't take much time at all.

[CruisinTeacher4]

With 2 adults and 2 kids, we have to do a couple loads every single cruise. The washers and dryers are fairly small and cost a few bucks each. The dryer usually takes 2 cycles. (So now we're up to about $10 for one load!) Bring Tide pods are something similar to save $$.

 

One thing we did the last cruise that was wonderful was to take advantage of the cruise laundry services. They usually run a special halfway through the cruise (maybe $15 for a bag??). I got a LOT of clothes in that bag:p

 

I will probably just budget for this in advance and skip the washer/dryer self-service. Cruise time is valuable and I'd rather pay a little bit more to just have someone else do my chores.

[calex1976]

Looks like my cabin is across the hall. How loud can the rooms get?

 

We did laundry on last cruise...loved it. Doesn't take much time at all.

 

We try to get a cabin near the laundry, never heard any noise from them. Other than formal night I have not seen all the machines being used at the same time yet. We normally stop by the room after lunch for a while never seems to be anyone using the laundry at that time. I find the little time spent washing clothes worth not having to pack so much. Also our bathing suits never seem to dry well hanging in the room, so we wash and dry them after a excursion.

[fun46]

I've enjoyed reading all the posts about the laundry. My DH and I always do

laundry on our cruises. Usually mid week and then again the day before we

leave. We can both get by with packing 1 large suitcase that way. We only

take a couple pairs of shorts, about 3 tshirts (we always buy new ones on the

islands), underwear, 2 swimsuits, a cover up, dress pants and shirt, and a dress for me.

No one knows us except our friends who cruise with us, so as long as we are

clean, who cares???? It does take $3 for each washer and dryer. We take

the purex sheets with us or I put dryer sheets in a ziploc and take a very

small bottle/box of detergent. We always book our room across from the

laundry room, so we can put the laundry in and hang out in our room or

balcony. At times, we have put our laundry in and gone to dinner. There

are timers on them. We watch our time and one of us goes back to switch

out the washers to the dryers, and then watch our time again and by the

time the dryers are done, we are done with dinner. We fold our laundry

and then are ready for the evening of entertainment and fun! Then on the

last day, we do up laundry all while relaxing on our last day. We then go home

with clean laundry! Love my Carnival Cruises!! :D:D:D

[Holders3]

Love packing up clean clothes into suitcase to go home. Then I don't have a stinking suitcase to deal with if I just don't want to unpack right away.

 

I found the machines good sized and efficient although one dryer did fail me and had to re do. I did laundry on a,port day when we didnt feel like getting off. No crowds though several ladies did have the same idea. I kept my eye on the clock and relaxed on my balcony with a nice cool drink while my clothes got clean.

 

It's a nice amenity. I have read that they are converting the machines so you can use your S&S card, that would be a plus over the quarters.

[Malibubaby]

I don't think I've been on a vacation since having my kids where I haven't done a load of laundry!! Even long weekends sometimes :) Really not a big deal, not like you are taking it down to a river and washing it with a rock. I get up earlier than most normal humans (even after being up late and drinking many adult beverages :) There is usually no one up but the crew. I just take it down to the laundry throw in a load or 2 then set my cell phone alarm for 35 minutes and go back put in dryer and repeat, then bring back in laundry bag and empty on the bed and everyone takes their own stuff and puts it back in the closet. Bring tide pods, dryer sheets and a roll or 2 of quarters. It's nice not having alot of dirty wash when you get home and not having to obsess if I packed exactly enough of everything for everyone. Also we all seem to have some favorite items we like to wear multiple times. Have a great cruise!!!

[calex1976]

I've enjoyed reading all the posts about the laundry. My DH and I always do

laundry on our cruises. Usually mid week and then again the day before we

leave. We can both get by with packing 1 large suitcase that way. We only

take a couple pairs of shorts, about 3 tshirts (we always buy new ones on the

islands), underwear, 2 swimsuits, a cover up, dress pants and shirt, and a dress for me.

No one knows us except our friends who cruise with us, so as long as we are

clean, who cares???? It does take $3 for each washer and dryer. We take

the purex sheets with us or I put dryer sheets in a ziploc and take a very

small bottle/box of detergent. We always book our room across from the

laundry room, so we can put the laundry in and hang out in our room or

balcony. At times, we have put our laundry in and gone to dinner. There

are timers on them. We watch our time and one of us goes back to switch

out the washers to the dryers, and then watch our time again and by the

time the dryers are done, we are done with dinner. We fold our laundry

and then are ready for the evening of entertainment and fun! Then on the

last day, we do up laundry all while relaxing on our last day. We then go home

with clean laundry! Love my Carnival Cruises!! :D:D:D

 

We do the exact same thing. On our first cruise we packed two huge suit cases, since we have learned to get by with much less. Washing and wearing the shirts we buy at different stops has helped out a lot. We can pack one medium bag and two back packs( also have the rolling Carnival bag for liqueur we buy).

[CocoaMom]

Just know that if you leave your laundry in the washer / dryer, I'll be moving it out. Honestly, can't stand laundry hogs!

[Suntanz]

I am still on the fence whether to do laundry or not. Great responses for both sides.

[mibarron]

I did the self-service laundry when we were on Disney. It was packed and took forever. Never again. Now, I just splurge and have whatever cruise ship I'm on wash our clothes half way through the trip. I shove in as much clothes as possible in the laundry bag....and VIOLA! Laundry is clean and folded next day. Spent the time doing what I wanted versus spending them washing clothes (shudder!!). :D

[blessedx3]

I've usually do laundry as we'd rather pack light. Last summer it was $3 a load.

 

On the Dream:

 

Name: Launderettes / Ironing Rooms

Locations - Launderettes

Main Deck 2 - midship / across from 2375

Empress Deck 7 - midship / across from 7347

Lido Deck 10 - forward / across from 10262

Locations – Ironing Rooms

Riviera Deck 1 – aft / across from 1411

Upper Deck 6 – midship / across from 6382

Verandah Deck 8 – midship / across from 8395

Vista Deck 9 – midship / across from 9403

Hours: hours posted on the door to the Laundry

Function: Self-Service Launderette / Ironing Room

 

• 2 or 3 washers
  
• 2 or 3 dryers
  
• 1 iron and ironing board
  
• Vending machines dispense small boxes of detergent and water softener
  
• Ironing Room: 2 ironing boards/irons
  

Thank you so much for posting this. This is exactly what I was looking for!!!!!!! Did you bring your own laundry soap on board? Anyone ever have problems bringing their own laundry soap with them?

[crusinfamof4]

I don't do laundry on ship, cause by the time you are needing to wash, so is everyone else. So, I just pay the $15.00 a bag and send out whatever needs to be sent out for wash. Although the bags are small, I squeeze and fold as small as I can. I can get 2 days worth of close per person in my family (there's 4 of us) and I do this twice on the cruise. Plus it helps, as we cruise during hurricane season, when we came home, we didn't have power for almost a week, but we had clean clothes.

 

If the laundry rooms were not so crowded and it's usually the same people in there using the washers and dryers, I wouldn't mind washing myself.

[CocoaMom]

Thank you so much for posting this. This is exactly what I was looking for!!!!!!! Did you bring your own laundry soap on board? Anyone ever have problems bringing their own laundry soap with them?

 

I always bring my own and never had any problems doing so. I actually just packed this morning tide pods for upcoming cruise.

[hbrote]

I will send our cloths to the ships laundry and let them do it. It is not that expensive and they do a great job. All of my dress shirts go in the first day to be washed and pressed and they look great.

[Ally22]

Just got off the Breeze Saturday. I ended up doing 3 loads during the week. It was $3.25 per load and it takes your S&S card to activate/pay for the machines. Also you can call your steward for a laundry bag any day, don't have to wait for the "special" and get a bag washed/dried/folded for $15

[cruisincountrygirl]

We have done laundry on every cruise. We usually arrive in whatever city we're departing a few days early, so the first night we do a couple of loads. We have learned that if you do it first thing when you get on the ship you usually can find a machine.

Wal-Mart has the Tide packages in the travel section and their $1 each. I take about 15 of those in a zip loc bag, which works very well.

We have also found that people are very respectful of your laundry, and I've even found mine moved from the washer to the dryer for me on one occasion (we had left the quarters there and just ran back to the room for a bit and got busy).

They do take longer than your machines you're used to, and many times you'll have to dry twice, so be prepared for that. We've gotten to where we take about half a dozen changes of clothes (things we really like) with one or two nice outfits and then just prepare to do laundry. It's worked beautifully so far, and this will be our 4th cruise doing it.

[labsnabys]

Just off our first cruise, and we used both methods -- we packed light for our family of 4, and so needed to do some wash just a few days in. Hubby said, "I don't want you to spend your vacation doing laundry, so just send it out!" After he saw how little you could fit in that bag for $15, he started singing a different tune. They did a great job -- don't get me wrong -- but I could do two full loads myself for less than $15. I had brought fabric softener sheets from home, so buying detergent ($1) and a single wash and dry ($3 each machine) cost $7/load.

 

The first time I went in, I was the only one using the laundry room, so it was smooth sailing (har har). A few days later when I returned, all machines were in use and I had to wait about 30 minutes for someone to finish. By then, there were two more people waiting behind me. After I put my clothes in the washer and left to get coffee, a heated argument ensued between the ladies waiting behind me and someone ahead of me who decided she would remove her wash and toss in another load despite that fact that others had been waiting for the machines. The only thing worse than spending your time doing laundry on a cruise is spending your time fighting with other guests about the use of the laundry room on a cruise! :eek: