"Unmentionables"

[sail7seas]

4 hours ago, kazu said:

 

I wash my upper unmentionables myself.  Never send them out.

 

Never had a problem with the other undergarments, honestly.  I ask for cold water and low heat and so far, so good.  

 

8 minutes ago, HokiePoq said:

On our recent Maasdam cruise I considered this question.  I sent out "test unmentionables" to see how one of each would come back.  They came back fine so I sent them for the whole thirty days with no problems.   What I did do was send my things and DH's things on different days/bags.   On my laundry form I requested cold water/low dryer.   

The laundry on the Maasdam did a great job.   I should have mentioned that on my review.

I hand  wash my dainties in cabin sink using elemis shampoo and    that  provides me with  clean undies and no worries a bout pricey delicate lingerie being damaged .  I bring a few plastic hooks that I use to hang  from towel bar   or the   clothes line over the tub or in shower, depending upon which style bath    is in my  Neptune.  (Varies by ship  )

[Krazy Kruizers]

I do not send out my under ware -- I hand wash them myself.  I have a portable clothes that I got many years ago -- already has hooks on it.  I clipped stuff to them -- hang them up over a tub or shower.  When I know the cabin stewards are coming into the cabin, I move the line into a closet to finish drying.  I wash at night after dinner most times and everything is dry by morning -- nylon.

[TiogaCruiser]

5 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Or,  you could just go 'commando' and leave the unmentionables at home.

And risk the zipper?😫

[cat shepard]

3 hours ago, HokiePoq said:

On our recent Maasdam cruise I considered this question.  I sent out "test unmentionables" to see how one of each would come back.  They came back fine so I sent them for the whole thirty days with no problems.   What I did do was send my things and DH's things on different days/bags.   On my laundry form I requested cold water/low dryer.   

The laundry on the Maasdam did a great job.   I should have mentioned that on my review.

I wrote “love notes” on the laundry form every time we sent something. When our laundry was returned, it had a note with one of two names on it.  I believe we sent enough laundry to keep one person employed full time.  

I submitted a comment card recognizing these two folk during the cruise, and I also mentioned them by name in the post cruise survey. I had amassed quite a list of names to be recognized, as a matter of fact. Kudos to the Oosterdam & HAL.
 

PS - love your title for this thread, OP!🙃

Edited December 3, 2019 by cat shepard

[HokiePoq]

11 minutes ago, cat shepard said:

I wrote “love notes” on the laundry form every time we sent something. When our laundry was returned, it had a note with one of two names on it.  I believe we sent enough laundry to keep one person employed full time.  

I submitted a comment card recognizing these two folk during the cruise, and I also mentioned them by name in the post cruise survey. I had amassed quite a list of names to be recognized, as a matter of fact. Kudos to the Oosterdam & HAL.
 

PS - love your title for this thread, OP!🙃

I did the same thing...comment card and survey got positive personal mentions..and I sent tips down to the laundry at the end of the cruise.   They really did a good job and I appreciated it.  It also speaks well of the laundry supervisor.  (Not the OP but it is a cute title for the thread)

Edited December 3, 2019 by HokiePoq

[HokiePoq]

3 hours ago, sail7seas said:

 

I hand  wash my dainties in cabin sink using elemis shampoo and    that  provides me with  clean undies and no worries a bout pricey delicate lingerie being damaged .  I bring a few plastic hooks that I use to hang  from towel bar   or the   clothes line over the tub or in shower, depending upon which style bath    is in my  Neptune.  (Varies by ship  )

I bring those plastic hooks, too.  I did not send my delicate tops that have beading, etc.   I also have Styrofoam drying hangers that help with this.   Drip overnight and then move to hook in the cabin the next day.

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

And risk the zipper?😫

 

"Something about Mary" and “franks and beans” just came to mind 

[Floridiana]

6 hours ago, OCruisers said:

I just use shampoo to wash mine out.  

 

So do I.

[sail7seas]

.

 

 

[sail7seas]

54 minutes ago, HokiePoq said:

 

 

I just  got some new fairly solid hooks on amazon.   They are good and sturdy enough to  hold adequate weight of wet items

[Seasick Sailor]

55 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

"Something about Mary" and “franks and beans” just came to mind 

 

Copper! Jeez...I am so glad I came back to Cruise Critic..

[cowmilker]

We were on B2B2B2B cruises in the Med last year, a total of about 50 days. I never used the laundry service one time. 

Every night, I simply washed what we wore that needed washing, rolled them in a towel and hung them to dry.  Generally, most things were dry by morning, and the stuff that wasn't was left hanging in the shower until it was dry.

The laundry service is lovely but really hard on clothes and I avoid it if I can. 

Our upcoming trip is far longer, and involves Antarctica, and that means heavier clothing, so I might be forced to send some stuff out, but it won't be much. Fleece dries in a matter of what seems like seconds.

FWIW, I don't own a dryer and haven't had one in many years.

[crystalspin]

Our first 26-day cruise (TA+Med), I did all the laundry by hand -- I had heard so much about laundry mis-treatment on ship, on CC. I decided after that, that I would handwash smalls, maybe t-shirts, but anything larger could be dry-cleaned! for not much more than city prices. 

 

Then Kazu reported her experience on the ship's tour and with writing special treatment on the slip, and I got brave: sending a sackful on our last TA on the Zuiderdam. Everything came back FINE. (They said I sent one fewer pair of DH's socks than I thought, and that might have been true. I got a LOT in that bag.)

 

I still take EZ-wash sheets, pre-cut in quarters, which is just enough for a sinkful of small things. I tend to take "soft bras" that wash and dry easier by hand or machine. And I do take as many changes of underthings/socks as I can fit in the suitcase coming in underweight! So some of all of the OP's choices.

Edited December 4, 2019 by crystalspin

[Caribbean Chris]

15 hours ago, HokiePoq said:

I did the same thing...comment card and survey got positive personal mentions..and I sent tips down to the laundry at the end of the cruise.   They really did a good job and I appreciated it.  It also speaks well of the laundry supervisor.  (Not the OP but it is a cute title for the thread)

 

You and Cat Shepard are thoughtful people and have inspired me to show appreciation to  the anonymous people who work in the laundry in tangible form. I’m embarrassed to say I've never thought to do that. 

 

Just got off Celebrity, where we always get a bag each of free laundry per cruise as a Captain’s Club Elite level benefit. It came back as a rumpled little bundle, which is a big contrast to nicely folded in wicker basket with tissue paper on HAL. IIRC, they even put a little HAL sticker to hold the tissue paper closed.

Edited December 4, 2019 by Caribbean Chris

[cat shepard]

27 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

 

You and Cat Shepard are thoughtful people and have inspired me to show appreciation to  the anonymous people who work in the laundry in tangible form. I’m embarrassed to say I've never thought to do that. 

 

Just got off Celebrity, where we always get a bag each of free laundry per cruise as a Captain’s Club Elite level benefit. It came back as a rumpled little bundle, which is a big contrast to nicely folded in wicker basket with tissue paper on HAL. IIRC, they even put a little HAL sticker to hold the tissue paper closed.

Do not be embarrassed. Where do you think I got the idea?
 

Not sure I would have thought about it myself. And @HokiePoq

has given me a great idea - give them a tip. I had their names, I could have done this! You can bet I will do this in the future.

Edited December 4, 2019 by cat shepard

[HokiePoq]

2 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

 

You and Cat Shepard are thoughtful people and have inspired me to show appreciation to  the anonymous people who work in the laundry in tangible form. I’m embarrassed to say I've never thought to do that. 

 

Just got off Celebrity, where we always get a bag each of free laundry per cruise as a Captain’s Club Elite level benefit. It came back as a rumpled little bundle, which is a big contrast to nicely folded in wicker basket with tissue paper on HAL. IIRC, they even put a little HAL sticker to hold the tissue paper closed.

It would not have occurred to me, either, for a rumpled bag, lol.   Elite benefits on X are very good but that free laundry on HAL is special, especially with the pride they are taking in their work.

[Cruising-along]

22 hours ago, lcand1923 said:

Unmentionables are washed in the sink, rolled in a towel and then hung in the shower to dry.  If they are still damp in the morning, I transfer them to the closet so the room steward doesn't have to duck them while cleaning the shower/tub.

 

I do the same.  I don't want them to have to duck things hanging/drying to get their jobs done.

3 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

 

Just got off Celebrity, where we always get a bag each of free laundry per cruise as a Captain’s Club Elite level benefit. It came back as a rumpled little bundle, which is a big contrast to nicely folded in wicker basket with tissue paper on HAL. IIRC, they even put a little HAL sticker to hold the tissue paper closed.

Celebrity's laundry is a joke.  I always miss HAL's laundry when we take a Celebrity cruise.  (BTW, do you get one free bag each no matter how long the cruise is?)  It's why we only take 7-10 day cruises with Celebrity until we get some status to get *some* laundry perks.  Getting free laundry on HAL has really spoiled us.

[lazey1]

I have always just sent all of my unmentionables in the laundry bag and never had any problems.  I do hook the bra's before stuffing them in the bag. I have sruised on all the chips in the fleet except the Volendam, the Konigsdam and the Nieuw Amsterdam but I expect the laundrys on these ships do as good a job as on the other ships.

 

[Despegue]

Why are people calling underwear unmentionables??! 

Panties, boxers, bra’s, banana hammocks deserve to be called by their names 😀

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Despegue said:

Why are people calling underwear unmentionables??! 

Panties, boxers, bra’s, banana hammocks deserve to be called by their names 😀

It's a perfectly good generic term that covers all of them.
It's not as if not using their specific names hurts their feelings, or anything. 

[Naismith]

On 12/3/2019 at 11:07 AM, OCruisers said:

I just use shampoo to wash mine out.  

 

Yes, I concur that their shampoo works very well:  effective at cleaning and clothes smell good.  (I didn't know, and had brought a bottle of my own but didn't need it, so glad others are learning.)

 

I always do my own laundry when traveling (not just underwear).  I can't carry heavy luggage, so it helps.  As others have said, I wash things out in the evening, which is a way of winding down.  By morning things are dry enough to finish in the closet.  I always travel with a half-dozen folding plastic hangers that are great for hanging things up to dry.  

[Seasick Sailor]

2 hours ago, Despegue said:

Why are people calling underwear unmentionables??! 

Panties, boxers, bra’s, banana hammocks deserve to be called by their names 😀

 

BECAUSE Despegue... I started the thread and I was trying to be "delicate" regarding personal underthings. And I am not concerned about boxers or banana thingy's, but my lacy unmentionables. 

[MAVIP]

What I learned from this discussion: tip the laundry men/women.  A while ago I read the suggestion on CC to thank them, which I did on our voyages this year. Next cruise I will find out how to send them an extra. Once in a while I put an extra tip in the basket with our dirty shoes, but I would not venture that in the laundry bag (risking laundry tag to be attached and a washed bill 🙂 ).

[Caribbean Chris]

19 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Celebrity's laundry is a joke.  I always miss HAL's laundry when we take a Celebrity cruise.  (BTW, do you get one free bag each no matter how long the cruise is?)  It's why we only take 7-10 day cruises with Celebrity until we get some status to get *some* laundry perks.  Getting free laundry on HAL has really spoiled us.

 

Right, I believe Elite benefit is free bag per cruise regardless of length.

[Chocolatemom2]

I also use the shampoo and roll them in a towel. I’ve found that If I then stand on the towel and do a little dance it gets them almost dry, so they only have to hang for a couple of hours. 
good idea about tipping or recognition for those doing the laundry.