Cruisin' and the Laundry

[Sytrace]

I attempted laundry once on a 7 night cruise on Fantasy deck 6 ( I think) It was a definite learning experience in regards to being a waste of vacation time and money. It was late in the evening and I had no problem finding a washer and a dryer. The washer worked great but the dryer must have been worn out from lots of activity because the first one I picked didn't do the job, so I put them in another one and when I went to get them out (I figured 2 drying cycles would do the trick) they were still damp. Since there was some really rocky weather and I was feeling closed in the hot laundry area, I ended up just taking them back to the cabin.

Anyway, never tried it again and just pack enough for the complete cruise plus a couple of extra tops and bottoms (and undergarments of course) I would rather do all the laundry at home after the cruise in my own washer and dryer than have to deal with it on vacation.

 

[CurtisB]

I would rather pay to have DCL do my laundry and not worry about it. The rates are surprisingly affordable.

 

[ludari]

We just took the Disney 7 day Northern European cruise back in early July. We had a 3 day stop in Iceland beforehand so we only packed 5 days’ worth of clean clothes because we figured we’d do laundry the first night of the cruise. We thought surely no one else would be doing laundry on the first night. Boy, were we wrong. The laundry room was packed and it stayed that way for the rest of the cruise. We had to fight for a washing machine and then fight for a dryer. We have a 21 year old son who likes to stay up into the wee hours of the night so we were almost considering having him do the laundry while everyone else was asleep . When we took our Alaskan cruise in 2013 we had no problems doing laundry. Always plenty of washers and dryers available.

I was wondering what other’s experiences have been on any of the cruise ships going to any of the destinations. I’m trying to figure out if that’s the way it is now on all the ships or if it was because of location of the cruise??? I’m wondering if Disney needs to add more laundry rooms or at least increase the number of washers and dryers.

I travel a lot and over time I have learned to become an extremely light packer. I have done multiple month long trips with just a carry-on bag and one of the necessities of packing light is doing laundry. Luckily I like to stay up late and get up early so doing laundry on the ship has never been a problem for me. On my last month long cruise I did notice that when I walked by the laundry room on the first day people where already doing laundry. I'm not sure if this is the way it is now but to me it's worth it.

 

[RedSox68]

After 10 Disney cruises and many problems even getting into the laundry room, we have found two options that have worked well for us: doing laundry from our pre-cruise vacation as soon as we board the ship. Unless they have changed the laundry room hours, once the hallways are open we take our carryon full of dirty laundry right to the laundry room and toss it all in. The other option that we have really come to like is very early morning -- like 6 a.m. -- throw in laundry, go up on deck and get coffee and danish, back to put the laundry in the dryer and then off to breakfast.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, and no offense intended, but some of the people that use the laundry room can get very aggressive and almost physical and VERY possessive. We only use one washer and one dryer at a time, but I have had people standing behind me asking me to hurry up getting my clothes out! I have returned to the laundry room with at least 2-3 minutes left on my time and found my clothes thrown about and someone else's laundry in the dryer! HOWEVER, one time we had just put our laundry in the dryer, went back to the room for a book and upon returning found our laundry out and someone else's in. You don't want to think of a Disney passenger "stealing" from another, but it has happened and I find it despicable. In that case we took their laundry out and put ours back in since the time on the dryer was our dime! They didn't come back the whole time we were in there.

 

[Kuzcotopia1]

I am shocked that laundry is this big of an issue.

 

[shoes99]

My stateroom was on deck 2 on the Fantasy, I went to the laundry room and a mom and daughter we hanging out. I saw their clothes in the washer. They left and never came back.
I took their clothes out of the washer when finished, used the washer for my clothes, they finished, then I put her wet clothes back in the washer after I put my clothes in the dryer. The sad part is
she saw me standing there with my hamper looking for a machine. I never saw them come back. Must have been over 2 hours. I just sat on the floor and waited for my clothes to finish.

 

[bcwife76]

What are the hours for laundry?
Our first cruise was 4 days and then 3 days at Disneyland so we packed enough for a week. However, our next cruise is a week and we are flying out 3 days in advance and doing WDW so I'm thinking we might need to do some laundry. We are night owls, can we start a load at midnight or do the laundry rooms close overnight?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

What are the hours for laundry?
Our first cruise was 4 days and then 3 days at Disneyland so we packed enough for a week. However, our next cruise is a week and we are flying out 3 days in advance and doing WDW so I'm thinking we might need to do some laundry. We are night owls, can we start a load at midnight or do the laundry rooms close overnight?

The laundry rooms don't close. You can do your laundry at midnight if you want.

 

[Anna114]

Holy moly! I've never heard so bad stories about a washer and dryer. We are doing our first trip (DCL we've been on other cruise lines) in October, on the Magic. I was figuring to pack half the clothes since we are traveling on the Long Island railroad and not having a car I wanted to minimize what we brought with us. I guess I'll be packing a wee bit more. Oddly enough, I chose a room only a few doors down, from the laundry for this reason. I am the person that shows up before my laundry is done. I love the new app at the parks. I just can't imagine taking clothes out of the washer or dryer prior to the cycle being done. How many washers and dryers are there in each laundry room?

 

[Carrie in AZ]

On the 2012 EBPC the arguing in the laundry on deck 2 got so bad that they posted a crew member to stay there and make people behave.

In a way this surprises me, but in a way it doesn't!

 

[Bookwood]

I've never had an issue doing my laundry early in the am. I'd sort the night before, roll my suitcase down to the laundry, throw the wash in then head down to deck 4 to run, return and switch in a half hour, finish my run, and collect my laundry. (being careful not to touch it anymore an necessary because by that time I was really sweaty.) Roll it all back and shower.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

What are the hours for laundry?

The laundry rooms don't close. You can do your laundry at midnight if you want.

While the hours for the laundry rooms are 24/7, there have been times when the laundry room has been closed at night. When the neighbors/rooms closest to the room complain that there's too much noise at night, I've seen it closed.

And I've seen the laundry rooms closed on embarkation day prior to the muster drill.

 

[Shanti]

As I mentioned in an earlier post, and no offense intended, but some of the people that use the laundry room can get very aggressive and almost physical and VERY possessive. We only use one washer and one dryer at a time, but I have had people standing behind me asking me to hurry up getting my clothes out! I have returned to the laundry room with at least 2-3 minutes left on my time and found my clothes thrown about and someone else's laundry in the dryer! HOWEVER, one time we had just put our laundry in the dryer, went back to the room for a book and upon returning found our laundry out and someone else's in. You don't want to think of a Disney passenger "stealing" from another, but it has happened and I find it despicable. In that case we took their laundry out and put ours back in since the time on the dryer was our dime! They didn't come back the whole time we were in there.

Did this happen recently?

I don't think I'll leave our laundry unattended on our upcoming cruise.

 

[RedSox68]

Did this happen recently?

I don't think I'll leave our laundry unattended on our upcoming cruise.

No, it was on our Med back-2-back in 2007. I didn't do laundry on our last two cruises and have never done laundry on the new ships -- only on the Wonder and Magic. In comparison, we did laundry last year on the Princess ship -- way more passengers than any Disney ship, same size laundry rooms, and we had zero problems. Put the clothes in, went back in time to switch them to dryer. People were waiting and everyone was very polite and made sure everyone got everything out before putting their clothes in. And they even asked if we were done with the machine. We've done laundry at campgrounds and at resorts, and (unfortunately) DCL is the only place we have ever had a problem. Not every time we have used them, just the two instances I mentioned previously, but it's still discouraging.

The good thing is if you are back in time for the washing cycle, nothing happens because they can't open the door until it's done LOL

 

[Starwind]

We do plenty of laundry on the ships. And, due to allergies to laundry detergents and the corresponding need to get all the soap out, for us each wash takes more than one full cycle :-( I try to pack clothes that can be laundered together so I don't have to worry about e.g. separating lights and darks. And I only use one washer at a time (well, unless it is 2 am and no other humans are around) so I am only tying one up for hours and hours.

A few tips:

Learn where all the laundry rooms are on your ship. THis webpage lists them and has lots of good info about laundry on the ships: http://disneycruiselineblog.com/2013/01/onboard-self-and-full-service-laundry-and-dry-cleaning/

The laundry room closest to your stateroom may not actually be the closest or the best choice. Example: Our first cruise we were on the Dream deck 5 forward. One day I headed out to do laundry and our stateroom host saw me. He asked if I was headed to laundry and I said yes. He asked where, and I explained deck 6. He explained that the laundry room on deck 2 was actually closer/easier: walk to the forward elevators, go down the elevators, get off at deck 2 and it is right there. With the deck 6 i would have had to walk to forward elevators, go up one floor (stairs or elevator), then walk all the way back forward again. Deck 2 was half the walking. We used deck 2 laundry for that trip and it worked very very well.

The laundry room we used for our last 2 cruises was deck 9 forward, right around the corner from our stateroom. This worked particularly well for late night/early morning laundry.

I always set a timer or alarm on my smartphone for several minutes before the cycle should end. This lets me get back to the laundry room before or as it is ending so I can rescue my laundry. That said, I have not had the experience others have with people removing other people's laundry. I HAVE seen people leave their completed cycle in the machine for hours and hours.

I have done laundry during late dinner -- just nip out and switch the cycle and then come back. This worked better using the deck 2 laundry room as it is a quick walk from all the MDRs.

We bring our own liquid detergent - one of only two kinds I have found that we can tolerate. I bring a couple Nalgene 250 mL bottle full of it and a small measuring spoon (the amount needed is measured in teaspoons). Although the Nalgene is leakproof, it still lives in a double Ziploc to be safe, especially during travel.

For allergy reasons, my first laundry cycle any time I do laundry in a public washer is to take two towels (pool towels are handy for this on the cruise) and run them through with just water, in the hopes that that cycle will get any excess detergent and such out of the machine before our laundry goes in it. Unfortunately, it means even longer to do the chore.

Finally, I bring a Scrubba Wash Bag (https://thescrubba.com/) so I can handwash some items in the room (e.g. bras) either because they shouldn't go in the washing machine or so they are done quickly. The challenge with it is drying anything in those staterooms can take a long time.

SW

 

[Anna114]

Thank you Starwind. That link for the disney cruise blog laundry is so comprehensive and helpful.

 

[Vijoge]

I attempted laundry once on a 7 night cruise on Fantasy deck 6 ( I think) It was a definite learning experience in regards to being a waste of vacation time and money. It was late in the evening and I had no problem finding a washer and a dryer. The washer worked great but the dryer must have been worn out from lots of activity because the first one I picked didn't do the job, so I put them in another one and when I went to get them out (I figured 2 drying cycles would do the trick) they were still damp. Since there was some really rocky weather and I was feeling closed in the hot laundry area, I ended up just taking them back to the cabin.

Anyway, never tried it again and just pack enough for the complete cruise plus a couple of extra tops and bottoms (and undergarments of course) I would rather do all the laundry at home after the cruise in my own washer and dryer than have to deal with it on vacation.

I pack light and sent our things to the ship's laundry. It's not very costly and it save me from having to do laundry while on vacation.

 

[Jennifer777]

We've never had any issues with people becoming aggressive or fighting over machines but it is frustrating carrying your laundry bag from one end of the ship to another a half dozen times and each time seeing the same clothes sitting in the washers, done washing with empty dryers wide open. When I'm washing clothes I check back frequently and I'm always there at the end of the cycle so I can move them right away. I do this to be courteous but also because I don't want anyone touching my clean clothes. I aim to do laundry once during a 7 night cruise, with 2-3 loads. On our last 4 night sailing though, we had 4 nights in the keys prior so I tried washing the first couple days and the machines were already full. I'd love to just pack enough for 8 days and not worry about it but we're active people with active, messy kids and having dirty, sweaty gym/active clothes laying around makes me unsettled. I can't imagine what our room would smell like with 6 days worth of a 13 year old boy's sweaty socks stinking the place up. Our room just doesn't feel clean with lots of dirty clothes in it and I don't want to go home to 7 days worth of dirty clothes. Doing laundry helps me pack lighter and I don't mind washing and doing laundry on vacation. It's the walking back and forth and waiting for a machine to open, carrying laundry bags back and forth that makes it a chore.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Found the picture I took - wet laundry just waiting for someone to return:

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Oops, wrong thread.