Doing laundry on a cruise is sometimes unavoidable, especially if you are going on a long cruise or if you’re cruising with kids. Whenever I go on a cruise lasting more than 10 days, I inevitably find myself needing to do laundry at least once. Given that I typically cruise with my kids, there are times when I have to do laundry more than once during the trip. For example, during my recent 12-day Baltic cruise, we had to do laundry three times! Below are some practical cruise laundry tips that I think you will find useful.
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Cruise Ship Wash and Fold Service
Most cruise ships don’t offer self-service laundromats, so you’ll have to use their wash and fold service. Typically, for the wash and fold laundry service, you fill a laundry bag with your dirty clothes for a flat fee, and they will wash and fold them for you. Some cruise lines will limit it to a certain number of pieces, so you can’t overstuff the laundry bag.
The turnaround time for getting your laundry back varies from ship to ship. It usually takes 48 hours, but some ships can return it the next day. If you’re in a hurry, you can also pay extra to rush the service and get it back the next day.
Do know that on some cruises, you might not have the flat fee option and would have to pay for laundry items individually, which can be quite expensive. I suggest checking what laundry services are available on your cruise ship before your next trip so that you can plan your packing accordingly.
Cruise Self-Service Laundromat
You can also do your laundry on a cruise ship using the self-serve laundromat provided by some cruise lines, like Princess Cruise, which typically has a laundromat on every deck. It’s a convenient option because, for a small fee, you can do your laundry as often as you’d like at an affordable price. Unfortunately, self-serve laundromats are not very common on cruise ships.
How to Get the Best Price on Wash and Fold
To get the best price on wash and fold laundry service, I find it best to buy it in advance before boarding the ship. Cruise lines will usually offer a 10-20% discount on the wash and fold laundry price if you buy it in advance.
If you don’t buy ahead, another way to get a good price on cruise wash and fold is to wait for a sale on laundry service. The special offer is typically announced in the Cruise Daily Planner, but there’s no guarantee that there will be one, so it’s a bit of a gamble. To be on the safe side, it’s best to just buy wash and fold laundry service in advance on the cruise line’s website.
Wash and Press
One thing to note is that some cruise lines, such as Celebrity Cruises, offer a wash and press service that is more expensive than a regular wash and fold. My mother-in-law once intended to choose wash and fold, but she mistakenly ended up buying wash and press. As a result, her clothes came back neatly ironed and hung up, except for the underwear and socks, which were neatly folded!
If the cruise ship doesn’t offer a wash and press option, try including a note with your wash and fold laundry request asking for your clothes to be returned on hangers. This has worked, but it’s not always a guaranteed service.
Cruise Loyalty Status Free Laundry
One thing to know is that if you have Cruise Loyalty status, you should check if one of your perks includes free laundry service. Many cruise lines, such as Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise, and Celebrity Cruise, offer a complimentary bag of wash and fold laundry as a loyalty benefit. If you qualify for this, there’s no need to pay for the cruise wash and fold service.
Even if you don’t qualify for free laundry, you may still receive a discounted rate if you’re at a lower tier level. For example, on Celebrity Cruise, Select Level passengers can get a bag of wash and fold service for a flat rate of $20. So do check your loyalty status and perks before buying laundry service in advance.
Laundry Bags
Don’t assume that the cruise ship’s laundry bag is the standard size of 30” x 40”. Some cruise lines have much smaller laundry bags. For example, Celebrity Cruises’ laundry bag is notably smaller than Princess Cruises’.
Things Can Get Lost
When you use the cruise ship’s laundry service, there’s a chance some of your clothes might go missing. My in-laws experienced this on a Norwegian Cruise, where a lot of their underwear never made it back. So, only send clothes for laundry that you wouldn’t mind losing. For example, I would never risk sending my son’s favorite blanket to the cruise ship’s laundry service!
Take Pictures
One way to safeguard your clothes in case they get lost is to take a picture of everything you’re sending to the cruise ship’s laundry service. Do know that this is easier said than done. It’s a bit of a hassle to lay out all your clothes and take a photo of them.
But if you have special pieces that you’d hate to lose, it’s a good idea to take a picture of those items. Having a photo can make it easier to track down any lost laundry!
Itemize Wash and Fold Laundry
Some cruise lines such as Celebrity Cruise will ask you to write down how many items are in the laundry bag. For example, 4 t-shirt, 5 pants, etc. It’s a way for them to keep track of your clothes to make sure they return the same number of clothes back. Do know that it can be a bit of a chore to itemize everything!
Tag Your Clothes
The cruise ship’s staff will tag your clothes to keep track of them. Although I find that not all items are tagged, socks and underwear are not tagged, so they are more likely to get lost.
Sort by Color
I’m honestly not sure if the cruise staff will sort clothes by color or mix your laundry with other passengers. I just always assume they don’t sort, so I only give them clothes that I know won’t bleed and can be safely washed with mixed colors.
No Delicates and No Hang Dry Only
Don’t include delicate items or clothes that need to be air dried in the wash and fold bag. The crew is likely to put everything in the dryer, which may cause your clothes to shrink or get damaged.
If you have delicate items or clothes that require air drying, I suggest sending them for dry cleaning instead. Or don’t wash it. Just wait until you get home!
Maximize Your Laundry Bag
Most cruise wash and fold services charge a flat rate, which means you can pack as many clothing items as you can into a bag. I recommend being strategic and folding your clothes neatly to maximize the space in the bag.
During my recent Celebrity Cruise, I successfully fit 51 pieces of clothing in one bag. My packing skills improved over the course of the cruise—I started with 31 pieces in the first bag, then managed to fit 42 pieces, and finally achieved the maximum of 51 pieces! (Yes, I did laundry service three times during our 12 day cruise with kids.)
Sink Laundry
Even with the cruise laundry service, you may not want to send everything in the wash and fold bag. You will likely be doing some light washing of bathing suits and delicates on the sink.
One thing to know is that not all cruise ships have retractable clotheslines in the shower. For example, Celebrity Cruise does not have one; they replaced it with two small hooks instead, which you can use to hang a bathing suit each. This drastically reduces the number of clothes you can hang to dry.
If you want to increase your laundry drying capacity, I suggest bringing along a foldable clothespin/line. I like this brilliant travel clothespin, which doesn’t take up much luggage space and works on towel rods. And don’t forget to pack travel laundry detergent packets so you don’t get stuck using hand soap as a detergent!
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