Changes for elite laundry

[BJS]

If at all possible utilize the "cleaning" and not the washing service.

Never give them anything that hasn't been dried at home in a hot dryer.

Most importantly- NEVER give them anything of value or something that you care about & don't want damaged. .

 

Great advice. I never send any of my clothes to the laundry but have had good experience with dry cleaning. DH has sent his things to the laundry with several bad experiences. They will use a large safety pin to pin underwear together which has resulted in large holes in items. They also use ink to stamp on tags which are then ironed onto clothing- results have been that the ink has bled through the back of shirts. Just know and heed the above advice

Most importantly- NEVER give them anything of value or something that you care about & don't want damaged. .

 

I think many Elites would rather have free self-service laundry than the currant perk.

[floridalover5623]

I forgot to add.....Take a photo of each individual item before giving to to them.

At least you'll have a photo to show them after they lose something.

It's difficult to describe some items and a picture goes a long way.

[Corgidawgga]

Thanks everyone for the tips! iPhone pics a great idea.

 

 

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[Kenswing]

I forgot to add.....Take a photo of each individual item before giving to to them.

At least you'll have a photo to show them after they lose something.

It's difficult to describe some items and a picture goes a long way.

Do you really do this? I can't imagine taking the time to photograph all of my clothing items. Then take the time to actually present my case to someone who can actually replace said clothing item. I'm on vacation. If I lose a pair of underwear or tshirt it just doesn't seem to be worth the time or effort that it takes away from me having a good time..

[NSWP]

If you have 2 adults and 2 teenagers in a cabin believe me you will have more laundry in 3 days than you can stuff in one of those bags without breaking it. Also if you have been traveling 4-6 days before boarding you are going to have dirty laundry. However it should only be used for those in the cabin not their friends and relatives who are not elite in separate cabins .

 

Agree, in my post re one bag per 3 days, I meant to say 2 berth cabin, not a family of 4. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

[geoherb]

I take a photo of my clothes before sending just in case something gets lost. When the clean clothes come back OK, I delete the photo. Digital cameras are great.

[Grego]

Agree, in my post re one bag per 3 days, I meant to say 2 berth cabin, not a family of 4. Sorry for any misunderstanding.

 

Understood. As with my post earlier where there were over 30 bags for a less than 10 day voyage (I believe now it was 7 days), it was a two-person cabin. I guess they smuggled in a bunch of other family members and friends to include in the bag count.

 

By the way, the least amount the Hotel Manager remember being turned in was one bag with one pair of socks inside!

[elfinmagic]

We usually put out one bag every two or three days - we put them out before leaving for breakfast nd will get them back by about 5 the next day - except on the last days of a b2b it may take an extra day

[floridalover5623]

Do you really do this? I can't imagine taking the time to photograph all of my clothing items. Then take the time to actually present my case to someone who can actually replace said clothing item. I'm on vacation. If I lose a pair of underwear or tshirt it just doesn't seem to be worth the time or effort that it takes away from me having a good time..

I sure do. Not for underwear since I just wash it out myself which takes no time & it dries by the next day.

Mostly for items that we send in for "cleaning". It takes hardly any time when lying on the bed before bagging.

[bren51]

We were on a TA from Rome to Lauderdale last October and there were quite a few elites. This coming April we are a 27 day cruise from Lauderdale and we are only taking one bag each. Does anyone know if you can request larger laundry bags then those smaller paper bags they give you in your closet area? Maybe we will have to send out laundry every other day and then the last day of the cruise make use of their self laundry facility on board since we will be spending a couple extra days in London after the cruise.

[floridalover5623]

We were on a TA from Rome to Lauderdale last October and there were quite a few elites. This coming April we are a 27 day cruise from Lauderdale and we are only taking one bag each. Does anyone know if you can request larger laundry bags then those smaller paper bags they give you in your closet area? Maybe we will have to send out laundry every other day and then the last day of the cruise make use of their self laundry facility on board since we will be spending a couple extra days in London after the cruise.

Not larger bags available

[geoherb]

You can request extra bags from your cabin steward. DH and I have done separate orders on the same day in separate bags.

[BJS]

We were on a TA from Rome to Lauderdale last October and there were quite a few elites. This coming April we are a 27 day cruise from Lauderdale and we are only taking one bag each. Does anyone know if you can request larger laundry bags then those smaller paper bags they give you in your closet area? Maybe we will have to send out laundry every other day and then the last day of the cruise make use of their self laundry facility on board since we will be spending a couple extra days in London after the cruise.

 

We have always been able to get and turn in as many bags at one time as we have needed. Just ask your cabin steward.

[Woobstr112G]

We have always been able to get and turn in as many bags at one time as we have needed. Just ask your cabin steward.

 

Exactly what we've done over the years. Never a problem.....:):):)

 

Bob

[San Diego Ellie]

We just disembarked from two weeks on Ruby yesterday (two one week B2B cruises). The first week there were 400 elites, and the second week, 200. Each week the last day they allowed laundry to be sent out was Tuesday, just three days into the week, and laundry throughout the two weeks took 72 hours to get back. Since 200 is not such a huge number, I suspect this is a new tactic to limit laundry, and will soon be universal in the fleet. It will be interesting to see what people report after disembarking other ships.

[rbt001]

I have an idea as to how Elites can reduce the occurrence of extensively delayed laundry, but first, let me address comments from a few about laundry on Carnival.

 

I took my first cruise on Carnival and CCL treated me as a Platinum guest, so my 14 day cruise entitled me to 5 bags of "WASH & FOLD" which was returned same day. A nice touch was a personal note was attached each time: "Hope you are enjoying your cruise." "Have a beautiful day." and the like.

 

I would say that no one on Princess should wish for wash & fold service, as no ironing was involved and the folding was hasty.

 

It compares poorly to NCL's coupon offer of one price to wash and fold whatever can get stuffed in the bag. I just got back and used this service: shirts were folded with great care and wrinkle-free.

 

OKAY-- So if anyone goes back and reads this thread and other before about the delayed laundry, you may find the pattern that I did which I think explains the problem-- beyond just "a large number of Elites."

 

Transatlantic cruises are fingered often. And a few posters have also stated what I think is the problem. I haven't quoted them because I don't want to point fingers at them.

 

At issue is the number of people who have been travelling a few or more days before the cruise.

 

As soon as they get on board, they sent out ALL their dirty laundry. Remember reading a few posts that state they do exactly that? How about the posters that need SEVERAL bags to send out their laundry.

 

I will tell you that I personally have been in the situation where I embark with several days or dirty laundry.

 

BUT, BUT, BUT.... I NEVER send out all that laundry on the first morning. Why? I certainly don't need it all cleaned at once, I only wear one set in the day and different clothes at night, so I don't need four days of clothing back at once.

 

Instead, I do sent laundry out every day, including what I've worn the day before and plan to wear again on the cruise-- and maybe one or two items from the dirty laundry I brought on board.

 

Imagine if even HALF of Elites sailing were to practice this, thereby reducing laundry volume, smothing it out. [Half of the Elites because ... well just wait for the derogatory comments from the other half that will show up in this thread.]

 

I know some Elites believe it's their GIVEN RIGHT to turn in as much laundry as they like. I am not disputing that, but instead suggesting a litlle CONSIDERATION to this idea of staggering laundry so as to not overwhelm the staff on the first few days. Just spread it out some.

 

The alternative could be that Princess does something about it that we all may not like.

 

Until they do enact "Super Elite Status" -- their Medallions, when worn around the neck, will GLOW bright white for all to see-- I doubt Princess will offer the perk to only some Elites but not others in some form of "days cruised" count, as the Creaking Bones Crowd suggested.

 

Instead, most likely, some "Limit per Day" will be imposed.

 

Or perhaps a "Days before Return" policy where the more items submitted, the longer it takes to get back:

 

5 items or less: next day

6-12 items: two days

13-20 items: three days.

[Cruise2End]

I’d love it if they offered you the option of so many tokens (number dependent on the cruise length) instead of free laundry by the staff... much easier on the staff, and there would still be a fair number of elites that would send in laundry vs doing their laundry themselves.

[NSWP]

We just disembarked from two weeks on Ruby yesterday (two one week B2B cruises). The first week there were 400 elites, and the second week, 200. Each week the last day they allowed laundry to be sent out was Tuesday, just three days into the week, and laundry throughout the two weeks took 72 hours to get back. Since 200 is not such a huge number, I suspect this is a new tactic to limit laundry, and will soon be universal in the fleet. It will be interesting to see what people report after disembarking other ships.

 

Good points, yes it would appear Princess are 'slowing up' our Elite Laundry concession.:halo: There is always somebody who stuffs up a good thing by excessive use.:evilsmile:

[Hlitner]

Just off (this morning) a 10 day Regal Cruise that has about 450 Elites on the ship. The notice waiting in our cabin said laundry would take 72 hours! I still wonder how HAL manages to get laundry back in about 2 hours....all nicely folded (including underwear) or put on hangers (based on customer request).

 

Hank

[kenexx]

Not all of it is the fault of the pax. On my Panama Canal Fort Lauderdale to LA I was in a full suite and had friends down the hall in a mini. The cabin steward once he realized we were together actively suggested our friend to use our free laundry by giving them the laundry bags! Neither of us in the full suite were Elite at that time. The laundry always came back next day at the latest as it should be for full suites.

[rockdoctor]

Just give off the Crown. Never any laundry on the last 3 days of a cruise. Once it was back same day service at no charge.

[Micahs Grandad]

Just off (this morning) a 10 day Regal Cruise that has about 450 Elites on the ship. The notice waiting in our cabin said laundry would take 72 hours! I still wonder how HAL manages to get laundry back in about 2 hours....all nicely folded (including underwear) or put on hangers (based on customer request).

 

Hank

 

As I said earlier in this thread, Carnival gives free laundry to platinum and diamond and often has over 1000 on board and manages to do same day laundry. Why does princess take so long?

[baz48]

I'd suggest to Princess that if the wait time for Elite laundry extends beyond 2 days, they should give us tokens to use the laundry machines for free. I agree that $6 each time you wash and dry is pricey. This small gesture might go a long way towards ameliorating the anger over long laundry wait times.

[Corgidawgga]

Just off Crown, three pieces of dry cleaning sent off 9:30 Am Saturday and back in room Sunday early evening.....probably since we disembarked Monday am. [emoji6]

 

 

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[ggprincess2004]

Just off the Diamond after 40 days on board, our laundry was always returned the next day. Not too many elites on board those cruises.