Polite laundry procedures

[MrsParr]

Just back from the seven night out of miami. The last sea day the laundry was hopping, and a CM was there, removing items promptly from dryers and putting them in plastic bags in a neat stack. That kept things moving and avoided any confrontations. When a couple of the dryers broke down, he arranged for our clothes to be dried at the central facility and returned to our room at no charge.

 

[MrsKP]

Just back from the seven night out of miami. The last sea day the laundry was hopping, and a CM was there, removing items promptly from dryers and putting them in plastic bags in a neat stack. That kept things moving and avoided any confrontations. When a couple of the dryers broke down, he arranged for our clothes to be dried at the central facility and returned to our room at no charge.

That is good to know!

 

[Gilland18]

On the recent EBPC, there had been some conflicts in the deck 2 laundry room that resulted in a CM being assigned to stand in the hall monitoring the people doing laundry. They looked totally bored but there didn't seem to be as much squabbling after that.

 

[MrsKP]

We are spending 2 1/2 weeks in Europe. Since we will be going to multiple hotels & the cruise, I am limiting everyone to one 25 inch suitcase and a carry-on like a backpack. I will be doing laundry!!

How long does it take to wash and dry a load?

 

[ro8821]

Best I remember its about 30 minutes to wash a load. We washed a load of clothes on the ship half way through and we did it first thin in the morning. There wasn't anyone in there. That was at about 730 or 8 in the morning. So we will always do ours early morning to beat the crowd.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Best I remember its about 30 minutes to wash a load. We washed a load of clothes on the ship half way through and we did it first thin in the morning. There wasn't anyone in there. That was at about 730 or 8 in the morning. So we will always do ours early morning to beat the crowd.

We've found the best times to do laundry are early (DH & I are early risers, even on vacation) and during dinner. Just keep an eye on the time and pop on back to the laundry room between courses to switch from washer to dryer. Another good time is the turnover day, if you're doing a B2B. You put the load in the washer before disembarking, stick a post-in on the washer saying you're a B2B and you'll be back. Once back onboard, switch to the dryer while noone else is onboard.

 

[Started With a Mouse]

We were on the EBPC and were using the deck 7 laundry room. It was $1 per wash and $1 per dry. You swiped with the keys to the world card. What bothered me was people looking for their clothes in the dryer, they would open the dryer that was running, determine it wasn't their load of clothes, and close the door, but would NOT push the start button. When I mentioned this, they looked at me like how dare I tell them what to do! This was a constant problem. There were plenty of washers/dryers available, so I don't see a problem using more than one. If there weren't multiple available, and I had more than one load (as the original poster asked), yes, I would put my next load in the washer I had just unloaded.

 

[tinkerone]

i don't get it. if i need two or three washers and there are two or three not in use, why would i not use them? maybe i misunderstood a p.p. but i'm not going to use one thinking maybe someone else will come in and need one. i'd rather spend 30 minutes doing three loads than spending 90 minutes doing three loads.
did i get it wrong?
plus, i will wait a few minutes to see if someone comes to empty their dryer but if no one shows up, for sure i'm moving the cloths out and i'm not spending a lot of time wiping down a counter. rude? maybe but i think its more rude to not take into account that i'm not the only person on the ship.
not looking for flames, just calling it as i see it. not everyone will agree.

 

[bumbershoot]

Just my 2 cents....we were on the 14 night EBPC with two kids, so we had to do laundry. So did most of the rest of the ship. I brought a pop-up mesh hamper and used it to collect our laundry and take it to the laundry room. I had post-its and wrote a note saying "the white hamper is ours". I stuck that on whatever washer or dryer I was using.

I love that; good idea!

I never leave laundry anyway, however, having had half of my clothes stolen from an apartment machine years ago. But for a person who hasn't had that experience and doesn't know what it's like, that's a good idea.

i don't get it. if i need two or three washers and there are two or three not in use, why would i not use them?

I think the OP was saying that if they were using a washer, there's a line to use other washers, and they come back, they'll IMO jump the line and keep on using "their" washer.

I gotta say that I disagree wholehearted;y with that idea. I would never in a million years even think of doing that. My use of one washer for one load does not give me rights to that washer. It gave me that one use. If there's a line to use washers, I get to get back into that line. It would never even occur to me that the washer was still mine. Never will, either.

But then, I wouldn't have left the area to begin with.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

i don't get it. if i need two or three washers and there are two or three not in use, why would i not use them? maybe i misunderstood a p.p. but i'm not going to use one thinking maybe someone else will come in and need one. i'd rather spend 30 minutes doing three loads than spending 90 minutes doing three loads.
did i get it wrong?
plus, i will wait a few minutes to see if someone comes to empty their dryer but if no one shows up, for sure i'm moving the cloths out and i'm not spending a lot of time wiping down a counter. rude? maybe but i think its more rude to not take into account that i'm not the only person on the ship.
not looking for flames, just calling it as i see it. not everyone will agree.

I agree. If I have 2 loads to wash, and there are 2 washers available, I'll use them. If there's only one, I'll put one load in. And look and see when the next washer will be available (there are timers on each of them). And I'll wait for it.

My take is I'm in the laundry room, I get to use what's available, when it's available.

 

[tajz90]

I think the OP was saying that if they were using a washer, there's a line to use other washers, and they come back, they'll IMO jump the line and keep on using "their" washer.

I gotta say that I disagree wholehearted;y with that idea. I would never in a million years even think of doing that. My use of one washer for one load does not give me rights to that washer. It gave me that one use. If there's a line to use washers, I get to get back into that line. It would never even occur to me that the washer was still mine. Never will, either.

But then, I wouldn't have left the area to begin with.

That's the situation I was referring to. I was on the Fantasy and needed to wash. The room only had a couple of washers and one was due to be finished in 20 minutes. We decided to hang around and wait. The machine
Finished the load and about 10 minutes later the person showed up to retrieve her clothes and the proceeded to use the washer again. I said something about needing to wait in line again because by that time a couple more people showed up. She said it was hers to use as many times as she wished. I didn't think so. Very frustrating.

She said she wasn't staying with her laundry because it was her vacation and I reminded her that it was also mine .

 

[SoCaOC-Mom]

That's the situation I was referring to. I was on the Fantasy and needed to wash. The room only had a couple of washers and one was due to be finished in 20 minutes. We decided to hang around and wait. The machine
Finished the load and about 10 minutes later the person showed up to retrieve her clothes and the proceeded to use the washer again. I said something about needing to wait in line again because by that time a couple more people showed up. She said it was hers to use as many times as she wished. I didn't think so. Very frustrating.

She said she wasn't staying with her laundry because it was her vacation and I reminded her that it was also mine .

I can see why you would be upset in that situation. I also think that a washer or dyer is rented for a single use.

However, I feel if a person who is using the washer or dyer is waiting there the entire time, then they should be able to reuse it.

 

[cmclaura]

That seems to make the most sense. You'd think, if you were waiting there and intended to use the machine when it finished, if anyone came along, you'd likely have the courtesy to tell them you're going to use it to save them waiting needlessly.

 

[tinkerone]

That's the situation I was referring to. I was on the Fantasy and needed to wash. The room only had a couple of washers and one was due to be finished in 20 minutes. We decided to hang around and wait. The machine
Finished the load and about 10 minutes later the person showed up to retrieve her clothes and the proceeded to use the washer again. I said something about needing to wait in line again because by that time a couple more people showed up. She said it was hers to use as many times as she wished. I didn't think so. Very frustrating.

She said she wasn't staying with her laundry because it was her vacation and I reminded her that it was also mine .

see, thats where we differ. if the machine finished and the person had shown up 10 minutes later their laundry would have been on the counter and that conversation would never have happened. a different conversation maybe, lol. thing is, i'll wait five minutes then i consider it abandoned.
and your right. it is your vacation and your time is valuable. you want to be with family and friends. not your issue if they are late.
whats that old saying???? just do it!
not looking to argue about it, just telling everyone what i would do. you don't like it then be on time.

 

[love280mickey]

see, thats where we differ. if the machine finished and the person had shown up 10 minutes later their laundry would have been on the counter and that conversation would never have happened. a different conversation maybe, lol. thing is, i'll wait five minutes then i consider it abandoned.
and your right. it is your vacation and your time is valuable. you want to be with family and friends. not your issue if they are late.
whats that old saying???? just do it!
not looking to argue about it, just telling everyone what i would do. you don't like it then be on time.

Finding this thread very interesting but concerned. We're in 7014 on the Fantasy next March, right outside of the facilities. Hoping there won't be lots of congestion/noise going on. On the other hand I'll be very close for a quick run over to do a load if needed.

 

[KerryFamily04]

Ditto! When we were on the fantasy in may some one used 2 out of 5 washers and left. I washed 2 loads and dryed and they didn't come back, i waited for my stuff to finish. I agree with having the Littles a load needs to get done at least once in 7 days. Another person ended up getting annoyed that the dryers (never even got started) were just sitting there full. He demoed their stuff and proceeded to finish his and it opened up room for others waiting to start theirs. It really boils down to your not the only one on the ship, do your stuff and get it out of the way. If you leave it then you don't care where it ends up. Be respectful of others and the fact that there is thousands of people in a small place wanting to do the same things. Also, I did my laundry on the day in port while my son and husband went on and excursion and my daughter and I stayed on board.

 

[mousebrat]

The laundry facility is a place that it seems you can offend someone no matter what you do. While some are offended at having to wait 5 minutes, others are offended that someone else would touch their clothes. With everyone having Wave phones, what would people think if someone left a note with their room number and a request to call if the machine is finished and the person hasn't made it back?

 

[PrincessShmoo]

The laundry facility is a place that it seems you can offend someone no matter what you do. While some are offended at having to wait 5 minutes, others are offended that someone else would touch their clothes. With everyone having Wave phones, what would people think if someone left a note with their room number and a request to call if the machine is finished and the person hasn't made it back?

Not everyone uses the Wave phones. We don't. I think that you should be responsibile for making it back in time to empty your own machines when finished. Not relying on others to let you know.

I did my laundry at laundromats for a large number of years before I married. The machine usage was always first come, first served. If I go in and there are enough machines for me to do all my loads at once, that's what happened. If there were fewer machines than loads, I'd fill up the free machines and wait for the busy ones to be done and then use them. Anyone coming in while I was there would have to wait until there was a free machine to use (either one of mine when done, or another that I didn't need).

As long as I was there when my machine stopped, to transfer from washer to dryer, I could continue to use the washer if I needed it, I didn't have to hand it over to someone else.

If I wasn't there when my washer stopped, and someone was waiting, more than likely, when I returned, my wet stuff would be on the counter. And, if I had another load to wash, I'd have to wait for the the next available washer.

 

[jelliott04]

WOW! I had no idea there were such issues with laundry!

On a different note, what sort of machines are on board? IE, what sort of laundry detergent do you bring?

I used to be of the mind that it was a vacation and I was not doing laundry. However, since staying in a place where there was machine and dryer IN the room, I've changed my stance. There is just something nice about going home and putting clean clothes away instead of having 10 loads to do.

Not sure about doing laundry on a cruise, but I'm not against it.

Jen

 

[tinkerone]

The laundry facility is a place that it seems you can offend someone no matter what you do. While some are offended at having to wait 5 minutes, others are offended that someone else would touch their clothes. With everyone having Wave phones, what would people think if someone left a note with their room number and a request to call if the machine is finished and the person hasn't made it back?

i'm sorry if this is not the answer you would be hoping for but not going to happen here. i'm NOT chasing anyone down so I can use the machine. that's like babysitting someone. you know when the machine will finish so if you decided to leave either be back when its done or look for it on the counter.
this is not meant to be rude, it really isn't. I just don't know how else to put it in clear language. I am busy doing my own stuff. its not like your asking that I hold a door open so you can carry your child through. that's curtious. its asking me to spend my time doing your work. it may only take minutes to do this but they are my precious vacation minutes. ask for my help and I will gladly give it to you. expect my help and, well, I may not take the time.