Is the self-service laundry on Princess worth it vs using regular laundry service?

[leck57]

On 1/30/2022 at 9:38 AM, CineGraphic said:

We won't sail on a ship that doesn't have a self-serve laundry.

 

I'm not paying someone $5.00 to wash a pair of socks.

A full load of laundry could cost you the same as bringing a 3rd person along for the ride.

 

Only once were all of the machines in use on our deck, so we used the laundry room one deck below.

 

We choose our preferred itinerary first but if there is a choice between a couple of similar cruises, we will also take the cruise that offers self serve laundry. We often do land tours before a cruise and we can take far less luggage if we can wash our clothes, and not have to pay ridiculous prices to get it done.

[Torfamm]

I prefer the self-service laundry. I don’t like to send clothes out. We generally only use it on longer trips. It’s a real advantage then

[Torfamm]

I prefer the self-service laundry. I don’t like to send clothes out. We generally only use it on longer trips. It’s a real advantage to sailing with Princess in that situation 

[MissP22]

Only send clothing to their laundry you don't care about.

Sooner or later they'll shrink it, make holes in it or lose it.

 

 

[azgrandmax3]

It seems with Princess (32 cruises) we have had only good results.   We mark COLD WATER ONLY PLEASE.  No shrinking problem. You may want to try it.

[GateGuardian]

I'm ok either way. It's definitely much cheaper than sending clothes out. $3/wash and $3/dryer. 30min/cycle each. I just set a timer and come back when it's done. I bring my own Tide pods and dryer sheets. I havn't seen laundry bag specials like on other cruise lines, so I usually lean towards self-laundry.

[DANCING GRANDMOMMY]

On 1/29/2022 at 4:18 PM, justafem said:

We've done both, send it out and do it ourselves.  Personally, I prefer to do it ourselves.  I can easily decide which items are delicate and which setting to use, while if they items are sent out, they are washed in vats of boiling water and agitated until they fall apart.  

 

Service desk has been handing out laundry tokens (free!) for the last several months.  We do laundry on port days, we don't normally leave the ship, so it's easy to pop in and out of the laundry room as needed.

 

Never seen more than 1 other person in the laundry room, even on sea days, possibly lucky, possibly most people bring enough clothing.

 

What I do know, is sending it out, (unless you're elite and it's free) is pricy.  At least the price to me is more than I'm willing to spend.  Actually cheaper to replace clothing than to have them do the washing. 

I was under the impression that the laundry is closed on port days?

[ontheweb]

17 minutes ago, DANCING GRANDMOMMY said:

I was under the impression that the laundry is closed on port days?

We once had a port day where the laundry including self service was closed due to water restrictions in St. Petersburg, Russia.

 

And they were very, very busy the next day, a port day in Helsinki.

[BamaVol]

I’ve used the laundry on NCL.  I’ve used the self serve on Princess.  No problems with either but one was much less expensive than the other.  Here’s the self serve on Caribbean Princess. 

 

 

[cr8tiv1]

My sister used the self laundry on the Diamond.  Expected to be done by dinner.  Went back to check.  

 

1.  Waited 30 minutes. She didn't push the correct buttons.  Washer did not start.  Luckily there was crew in there that helped her.

 

2.  Waited another 30 minutes.  Clothes washed but NOT spun dry.  Dripping wet, she put it in the dryer.

 

3. Went to dinner.  Checked on dryer mid-dinner.  Nope...as expected, not dried.  Customer Service gave her another token.

 

4.  Left dinner again.  Nope...not dried yet.

 

5.  Took almost 2 hours to dry the very wet clothes.  Washer malfunction was reported.  Customer Service kept giving her tokens.

 

 

[SiliconCruiser]

On the Crown, the self-service washers and dryers are free.  You only need tokens if you need soap or dryer sheets.

[PurpleHays]

On our last cruise, all the dryers were taken, but one was finished. I folded some guy's clothes and left them on the dryer I took them out of. They were still there when I went back to take mine out. Guess he forgot about them. . .

 

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, PurpleHays said:

On our last cruise, all the dryers were taken, but one was finished. I folded some guy's clothes and left them on the dryer I took them out of. They were still there when I went back to take mine out. Guess he forgot about them. . .

 

More likely, he was very, very inconsiderate. 😒

[dockman]

On 1/29/2022 at 6:03 PM, Kmkub said:

 One of Princess' unique features is the self-service laundry. I just used it a few days ago, and it was completely empty.

 

You use your medallion to buy tokens ($3 per load.) All in all, I paid $7 for one load, which included the detergent.

 

There is a sign with approx. times for how long each load takes. I just set the timer on my phone. I was done in just over an hour; but less than 10 minutes of that was in the laundry room itself. Most of the time, I was on the balcony, reading a book.

 

 

I wish all passengers would take a hint from you and be sure to set an alarm to come back and empty the machine when done.....there seem to always be a few "special people" who leave their clothes in a washer or dryer for 15-30 mins or more after they are done ....other people are waiting to use the machines but these special people don't care and often get nasty if people empty the machine and pile their clothes up so they can use the machines...."special people" apparently don't have watches or phones or can't be bothered with inconveniencing others.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, dockman said:

I wish all passengers would take a hint from you and be sure to set an alarm to come back and empty the machine when done.....there seem to always be a few "special people" who leave their clothes in a washer or dryer for 15-30 mins or more after they are done ....other people are waiting to use the machines but these special people don't care and often get nasty if people empty the machine and pile their clothes up so they can use the machines...."special people" apparently don't have watches or phones or can't be bothered with inconveniencing others.

A few minutes would not bother me so much, but there seems to be people whose few minutes stretch on a long, long, long time.

[PescadoAmarillo]

1 hour ago, dockman said:

I wish all passengers would take a hint from you and be sure to set an alarm to come back and empty the machine when done.....there seem to always be a few "special people" who leave their clothes in a washer or dryer for 15-30 mins or more after they are done ....other people are waiting to use the machines but these special people don't care and often get nasty if people empty the machine and pile their clothes up so they can use the machines...."special people" apparently don't have watches or phones or can't be bothered with inconveniencing others.

And then there are the “claimers”, especially on ships that have stacking washers and dryers. They believe that, since they’re using a washer, that gives them a claim on the dryer right above it, even if it is sitting idle and someone else could be using it now. 

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

Do the washers & dryers hold/ cope with a decent amount? There are three of us, on a 2 week cruise in august

 

I really don’t want to take 2 weeks clothing for us all

We’re already likely to bring a lot for variable weather as we’re going from Southampton to the very top of Norway

 

$6 wash & dry seems really reasonable (will take own washing tabs due to allergies)

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

And then there are the “claimers”, especially on ships that have stacking washers and dryers. They believe that, since they’re using a washer, that gives them a claim on the dryer right above it, even if it is sitting idle and someone else could be using it now. 

I though you used they're free laundry? 

[konatyme]

@kenexxIt was neat to see a post from you. I thought I recognized your "name" and when I checked your list of cruises, it confirmed that we met you on the Dawn Princess in Sept. 2008. What a great cruise that was!

[PescadoAmarillo]

1 minute ago, MissP22 said:

I though you used they're free laundry? 

What an odd comment.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

What an odd comment.

I just though that since you get free laundry, you didn't bother with the do it yourself laundry. 

[kenexx]

4 hours ago, konatyme said:

@kenexxIt was neat to see a post from you. I thought I recognized your "name" and when I checked your list of cruises, it confirmed that we met you on the Dawn Princess in Sept. 2008. What a great cruise that was!

Yes that was one of the best cruises ever!   

[PescadoAmarillo]

4 hours ago, MissP22 said:

I just thought that since you get free laundry, you didn't bother with the do it yourself laundry. 

That would be an incorrect assumption. I can’t recall a single Princess cruise where we didn’t do at least one, and often more, loads of laundry at the self serve laundromat. And yet I’ve never once requested free tokens at Guest Services. It’s my choice to not use (or use) the Elite perk; if I choose not to, I don’t expect to be compensated for that decision. 

[coo359a2]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

That would be an incorrect assumption. I can’t recall a single Princess cruise where we didn’t do at least one, and often more, loads of laundry at the self serve laundromat. And yet I’ve never once requested free tokens at Guest Services. It’s my choice to not use (or use) the Elite perk; if I choose not to, I don’t expect to be compensated for that decision. 

We're Elite too but usually do 1 or 2 loads in the laundromat every 12 days on each of our cruises..  I've never asked for tokens or even thought about it.  Also never been on a ship where the machines are free though it would be nice.  Only send out clothes that I don't care how they come back or if they come back.  

[theloo]

Are the laundry hours still 8am to 10pm?  I read an old thread that said there is one laundry room open 24 hours (I think on the Emerald, deck 5).