Laundry & the Like: Let’s Do the Numbers

laundry room at the Albany Convict Jail in Australia

January 3 to May 11, 2019, All around the World —

TEAM TRIVIA EVERY SEA DAY = 75 GAMES

Team members Tom, Jim, Steve, Kathy & Carol (mascots), Yours Truly, Viola and Frank
8 wins and 14 second place
We probably won 9, not 8: there was a cheating scandal on the final game day and another player on another team told us we’d been ‘screwed out of a win’
We tied another team for 15-out-of-15 once

THE SHIP LAUNDRY (I took a Laundry tour, but photos weren’t allowed, hence the Convict Jail photo above)

24/7
9 Laundry Men (from India, Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines)
Only eco-friendly, phosphate-free chemicals are used (and changed by a rep from the Italian manufacturer)
Linens and towels are washed at 140F and each of the four washers holds 235 pounds! Clothes are then pressed by hand; linens are put through The Mangler, which is HUGE

Per day laundry:

2500 towels (after 70 uses, towels are replaced—this is controlled by the color on the mfr’s label; used-up towels are relegated to engine cleaning!)
800 bed sheets — 6,000 on ‘turnaround day’ (when we left and the next bunch came aboard)
750 officer and crew uniforms
400 tablecloths
3200 napkins (all 4 restaurants use linen; only the bars — and the gelato bar — use paper
120 pounds of guests’ personal laundry (complimentary for suites and larger staterooms; all others pay the price)

THE ENGINE ROOM

24/7 (I should hope so!)
38 staff: Electricians, Plumbers, Electronic Engineers, Engine Storekeepers, Fitters, Reefer Engineers, Incinerator Men, Motor Men, Oilers, Wipers — plus one Engine Cadet
2 Father Engines and 2 Son Engines + bow thrusters, stern thrusters, propellers, rudders, auxiliary boilers, exhaust gas economizers, exhaust gas scrubber system
Normal speed 18 knots, maximum speed 20 knots
Potable water consumed in 128 days: 38,797 cubic meters

THE DECK TEAM

38 members: Deck, Carpenters, (Gangway) Security
They train the crew in safety procedures (the crew have frequent mandatory ‘safety drills’), maintain the tenders, lifeboats, firefighting and life-saving equipment
Interior and exterior maintenance (if there’s ever a smudge on the outside, it’s painted over the next time we’re in port!)

SANITATION & PUBLIC HEALTH

22 members from 5 countries
24/7 cleaning of all 10 galley areas, 10 dish-wash areas, 8 pot-wash areas — not to mention the ovens and stoves and other cooking equipment + all galley floors
Average day: 4,000 plates, 8,000 glasses, 15,000 pieces of cutlery

Next up: Food and Beverage! #