Newly Elite...how does free laundry work?

[paul929207]

I have never sent any laundry out but I'm curious as to how they would keep my laundry separate from other laundry. I've seen the huge washers and dryers and I can't imagine just one cabin's laundry going into the washers & dryers without other laundry from multiple cabins.

They put an adhesive laundry tag on each piece so they can identify each persons laundry.

[cmst220]

we always write elite on the form and the laundry bag .

never had any probs with getting stuff back or damaged

[GHDPeter]

According to the CD on P&O UK Aurora, it the sea air that causes clothes to shrink while cruising

[stag]

It doesn't really matter if you write Elite or not on the laundry sheets. If there is a charge on laundry, the same amount credit will be put back on the account automatically.

 

They are using huge industrial grade washers with powerful agitator and very high speed spinner. I have seen the pictures of the laundry department. All clothing will be labeled and washed together. It requires a lot of muscle to pull the laundry items out. You should not send delicate garments.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Here are photos of the form and the tags. This pair of shorts never made it back to me, and that's when I started writing the total number of items in the Special Instructions area and circling it.

 

http://www.pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com/2012/11/day-7-st-kitts.html

 

What I don't know is, when I send in running shorts (as I did on this form), they get laundered or cleaned. They don't need to be pressed; I'm not certain how the ship's laundry cleans them. And maybe that's why they got lost.

[Kinkacruiser]

My query is how often can you /do you put out your filled laundry bags? If one packs 'light', then I assume this would be more frequent. After enjoying this great service on our last 24 day cruise, I was surprised to see how much the ship's laundering would have cost us if we were not Elite.

I also assume that the more Elites on a cruise using the service, the longer the turnaround - correct?

[rkmw]

My query is how often can you /do you put out your filled laundry bags? If one packs 'light', then I assume this would be more frequent. After enjoying this great service on our last 24 day cruise, I was surprised to see how much the ship's laundering would have cost us if we were not Elite.

I also assume that the more Elites on a cruise using the service, the longer the turnaround - correct?

 

Anna, we normally send our washing out after 4-5 days but i have heard of people sending it out every 2 days

 

the normal turn around is 2 days but we have had 3 days when a lot of elites are onboard

[paul929207]

My query is how often can you /do you put out your filled laundry bags? If one packs 'light', then I assume this would be more frequent. After enjoying this great service on our last 24 day cruise, I was surprised to see how much the ship's laundering would have cost us if we were not Elite.

I also assume that the more Elites on a cruise using the service, the longer the turnaround - correct?

You can send laundry out as often as you wish. We send things about once per week on the longer cruises.

 

When we were on the Grand Princess this winter there were over 1000 Elites, plus the passengers in suites, we did not notice any delays.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We send out every other day on hot weather itineraries. In Alaska we sent out every 3-4 days.

[Pam in CA]

For me, it all depends. I took a pre-cruise 3-day tour in Beijing last month before boarding the Diamond. I put out a full bag embarkation day, skipped three days, then sent out every other day. As it got closer to disembarkation, I sent out a couple of days in a row so that most of my clothing was clean before packing.

[Kinkacruiser]

Thanks for all your replies. I'm sure all first-timers would appreciate this as well.

Thanks to posts on the Princess board, I've already learned all the tips about Elite benefits - the free internet, preferred tendering , swapping the mini-bar assortment, etc.

[Steviewonder1]

On our last 10 day New England Cruise on the Crown Princess we sent laundry out 2 times. Out first day by 9AM, back the second day by 5PM, most often before 2PM. No delays. Yes same day does get charged for. We are doing a 12 Day Eastern Med cruise later this year and I see 3 times for laundry. We will not take more than 5 changes of clothes. Lugging a ton of clothes around is a boring thing to do. This is why you build status with the Cruise Line you love or get Penthouse Suites. You have paid for it one way or the other, so use it!

[skeetns]

The suggestion to take a picture of the filled out laundry slip is a good idea.

We did that on the Caribbean Princess in April.

 

When the laundry came back a blouse was missing.

We noticed right away when the cabin steward brought the clothes back.

 

He went to check and a few minutes later came back and asked for our copy of the laundry slip. He left and came back about 20 minutes later and asked us if we were sure we sent the blouse out.

 

Actually asked us twice more if we were sure we sent it out.

I guess I should have recorded a video of packing the bag to PROVE we sent it out.

 

They never did find the blouse.

They gave us form to fill out to be reimbursed.

They wanted our copy of the laundry slip, the same slip that our cabin steward asked us for but never gave back. He said the laundry team needed it to find the blouse.

 

We had to send in the reimbursement form using the picture of the slip I had taken .

 

It has been just over 3 months. Haven't even gotten an acknowledgement that Princess has received our claim yet.

[skf]

I found one just this morning.

 

I found four...on the same shirt!

 

We trade our bottles of XX beer (not fond of it) for Perrier. You can mix & match for things you like & dislike in the minibar.

We don't use ice but have to keep reminding the stewards to stop filling the bucket.

Steve & Pete

[Coral]

The suggestion to take a picture of the filled out laundry slip is a good idea.

We did that on the Caribbean Princess in April.

 

When the laundry came back a blouse was missing.

We noticed right away when the cabin steward brought the clothes back.

 

He went to check and a few minutes later came back and asked for our copy of the laundry slip. He left and came back about 20 minutes later and asked us if we were sure we sent the blouse out.

 

Actually asked us twice more if we were sure we sent it out.

I guess I should have recorded a video of packing the bag to PROVE we sent it out.

 

They never did find the blouse.

They gave us form to fill out to be reimbursed.

They wanted our copy of the laundry slip, the same slip that our cabin steward asked us for but never gave back. He said the laundry team needed it to find the blouse.

 

We had to send in the reimbursement form using the picture of the slip I had taken .

 

It has been just over 3 months. Haven't even gotten an acknowledgement that Princess has received our claim yet.

 

I lost a sweater a few years ago and filed a claim once I got home. They eventually sent a check months later. When I received the check, it appeared to come from an employment agency, not Princess. If I hadn't remembered the amount I claimed, I would have wondered what the heck the check was for. Just thought I would mention that.

 

I didn't need a copy of the laundry form filled out when I had this situation.

[umbertsmum]

I found one just this morning.

 

I found four...on the same shirt!

 

We trade our bottles of XX beer (not fond of it) for Perrier. You can mix & match for things you like & dislike in the minibar.

We don't use ice but have to keep reminding the stewards to stop filling the bucket.

Steve & Pete

 

I just checked my skirt and yep , there's one right there on the hemline

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[caribill]

The suggestion to take a picture of the filled out laundry slip is a good idea.

We did that on the Caribbean Princess in April.

 

When the laundry came back a blouse was missing.

We noticed right away when the cabin steward brought the clothes back.

 

He went to check and a few minutes later came back and asked for our copy of the laundry slip. He left and came back about 20 minutes later and asked us if we were sure we sent the blouse out.

 

Actually asked us twice more if we were sure we sent it out.

I guess I should have recorded a video of packing the bag to PROVE we sent it out.

 

They never did find the blouse.

They gave us form to fill out to be reimbursed.

They wanted our copy of the laundry slip, the same slip that our cabin steward asked us for but never gave back. He said the laundry team needed it to find the blouse.

 

There are several copies of the form, all of which are supposed to be sent out with the laundry. One of the copies is supposed to be returned with the laundry. Did you not get that copy?

 

Even if you did not get it back, Princess still had two copies of the filled out form. Wonder why they did not look at one of their own copies.

[NearEnough]

With the mini-bar, it can also be exchanged for a bottle of wine. We don't drink scotch, brandy etc. I know a bottle of wine is not to the same value as the combined mini-bar items but, hey, it was all free, and we love the wine. I can't go a day without finding a laundry sticker on an item of clothing. On a long cruise, I send out laundry every two days. Don't pack great quantities as we usually have to fly from Australia or within Australia so the free laundry is great.:D On my next cruise, 31 days, I suspect there will be a lot of elite passengers - will be interesting to see how the laundry takes to be returned. Great idea of taking a photo of the form!!

[skeetns]

There are several copies of the form, all of which are supposed to be sent out with the laundry. One of the copies is supposed to be returned with the laundry. Did you not get that copy?

 

Even if you did not get it back, Princess still had two copies of the filled out form. Wonder why they did not look at one of their own copies.

 

I think there were 3 or 4 copies when it was first filled out.

When the laundry came back we had 1 copy, I think it was a white slip.

 

A while after we told our cabin steward about the missing blouse he returned and asked us for the copy we got with the clothes. He said he had to give it to the laundry staff to help find the blouse.

 

We never got the slip back from the laundry staff, but before I gave it to our cabin steward I took a picture of the slip.

 

I was being cautious because of the way he kept asking us if we were sure we sent it out.

 

 

 

On the last morning the blouse still had not been found and we were told to go to the pursers desk to get a claim form to send in once we got home.

 

The claim form did say something about submitting it with our original copy of the laundry request, but as I only had the photo I printed that and explained on the form that the ship staff had asked for our copy back.

 

What is really frustrating is that the blouse was just purchased the week before.

After debarking Princess we were traveling to Miami for a 7 day on NCL Epic.

 

Loosing the blouse meant one less top for that week.

[San Diego Ellie]

We too are newly elite, and just completed our first cruise as elites. The free laundry and cleaning is wonderful, but it is not true dry cleaning. It is a water based process (even though they have two columns, one for "laundry" and one for "cleaning". Just one word of caution: do not send anything that is wool. I sent a 100% wool sweater to be cleaned (as it was an Alaska cruise), and it came back small enough to fit a doll. My husband sent his suit, and that came back just fine as did my jeans and all other clothing.

 

By the way (and I did not know this) if you have booked a cruise as one segment and it can be booked as two, you still get two bar setups. We did a 14 day Alaska, but many people did it one way as a seven day trip. We got a complete bar set up at the beginning of each week.

 

Also, we can laundry back the next day in every instance. However, there were not a lot of elites aboard (just 45 or so). Surprisingly, and for that reason, we were invited to the "Most Travelled" cocktail party.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Just off a wonderful 12 day cruise in the Royal..our first as Elite...and only one complaint...they shrunk my clothes!! ;)

[caribill]

Just off a wonderful 12 day cruise in the Royal..our first as Elite...and only one complaint...they shrunk my clothes!! ;)

 

Do not blame the laundry.

 

It is the salty sea air.