Cruise Guest Wants Answers After Laundry Service “Ruins” Suit
With certain clothing stains, time is of the essence. If you don’t wash or dry clean the item quickly enough, the stain could set and that’s the end of that outfit.
Stains don’t take a break just because you’re on vacation, which is why Carnival Cruise Line offers both self service laundry rooms and valet laundry services.
But one recent guest of Carnival Venezia – who was onboard to watch his friends get married at sea during the April 13, 2025, Eastern Caribbean sailing – tried to use the laundry service and it turned into a disaster.
The unidentified Redditor got food stains on his formal suit during the festivities, so he sent it off to Carnival’s valet laundry team to get it cleaned during the 7-night sailing instead of waiting until he returned home – which would risk letting the stains set.
However, the dry clean only suit was allegedly put through the normal washing and drying routine – shrinking the suit to the point that it is no longer wearable.
“It was clearly put through the regular wash — the food stains that prompted me to want the items dry cleaned in the first place are gone other than some subtle oil/grease marks, the carbon copy of my laundry services form provided back to me has been hand annotated with “W/P [presumably wash/press] 3 pcs,” the annoyed guest shared.
The standard services offered by the Vista-class ship is a wash and fold or wash, press, and fold, with prices ranging from $2 to $7 per item depending on what it is.
However, if you wash and press a dry clean only item, it can cause damage like shrinkage, discoloration, and color fading.
“Most importantly the suit has been significantly shrunk — the leg hem length is at least a full inch shorter in addition to being tighter in the legs and shoulders than it was previously, which can be confirmed from the suit’s original as-tailored measurements and as is evident and visible from before/after photos I have of me wearing the items,” he continued.
As the recent guest gave clear instructions to only dry clean the now “ruined” suit, he is seeking both answers and compensation to have the suit replaced.
What Went Wrong?
As of the time of publication, Carnival Cruise Line has not weighed in on the situation. But from the context we do have, this seems like an unfortunate miscommunication.
Likely contributing to the confusion is the fact that Carnival only provides the dry clean service on select ships and Carnival Venezia is not one of them. Even so, the cruiser claims that the form he filled out for the laundry service had dry cleaning as an option and he was never told otherwise.
“Not knowing the Venezia doesn’t actually have dry cleaning services, I filled out the dry cleaning-specific portion of the laundry services form available in the room and left the suit out for the steward to collect the following day,” the guest wrote.
“Rather than explaining that dry cleaning services aren’t available, the suit was collected by the steward and given to the laundry department,” he added.
It’s not clear why the form includes dry cleaning as an option since it’s unavailable on this ship or why the crew members wouldn’t have contacted the guest before going ahead with the wash and press service.
Read Also: Cruise Ship Laundry: What You Need to Know
According to the guest’s account, dealing with the laundry manager and guest services team to resolve the issue has been difficult.
He was upset that he would not get a resolution on the ship, but would rather have to contact Carnival’s main office and submit receipts and evidence through the Carnival Guest Care Form for “consideration of a refund” after disembarking.
More likely than not, the hands of the crew members onboard were tied because Carnival has to conduct the proper checks to confirm the compensation is warranted and at what amount.
And of course, there are always two sides to every story to consider. Carnival has to investigate what happened, so that if something really did go wrong, they can make it right for the guest and correct possible issues moving forward.
There are sometimes cases where guests are upset even when crew members follow protocol perfectly – in which case Carnival may deny compensation requests.
It’s not clear what this cruiser can expect as far as possible compensation – or what the suit was worth – but Carnival currently compensates up to $250 for lost or damaged luggage, so there might be a similar reimbursement cap here.
Cruise Guest Wants Answers After Laundry Service “Ruins” Suit