Water on board the Black Watch?

How is the tap water for drinking on board the Black Watch? From past experience I've found that some cruise ships have tap water that tastes fine and on others not so good.

How much does Fred Olsen charge for bottled water on board?

Does the buffet have a filtered water dispenser where one can refill a water bottle?

When you get to your cabin, there is a litre bottle of water which from memory was £1.50. You can order replacements of either still or sparkling. If you are on the inclusive drinks package, it will cost half of that.

I have drank water on all of the Fred ships, but much prefer it with either a tea bag or hop or two :D

The quote function does not appear to be working, but referring to the reply by ovccruiser, I there is a bit of a slip as the bottles of water are 1.5 litre rather than 1Litre. The prices are correct as stated.

Water is available at meal times, either waiter service or at self service points, but only tea and coffee is available at self service points outside mealtimes. I think you will find they will not want you to refill bottles for hygiene reasons. Tea and coffee facilities, (so a kettle), is in all cabins and the tap water is fine if boiled, but I would not want to risk drinking it otherwise. If on all inclusive, they will supply glasses of water in the bars and we have taken pint glasses of water down to the cabin at night - tell them though as they usually like to give you the plastic glasses used on the outside decks to take to cabins, and I think that is safer as well, especially if the boat gets a bit rocky overnight.

I am a big water drinker and I do not drink alcohol or soft drinks or tea/coffee. So that's not good news if I have to pay for water for all 26 days of my cruise. I wonder how many bottles of water will fit in an extra suitecase:cool:

I am a big water drinker and I do not drink alcohol or soft drinks or tea/coffee. So that's not good news if I have to pay for water for all 26 days of my cruise. I wonder how many bottles of water will fit in an extra suitecase:cool:

Thats not a problem at all. Why not buy some big bottles when you go ashore to have in the cabin. Alcohol will be taken off you when returning to the ship, but we have always been able to take bottled water onboard, though perhaps we usually limit it to a couple of big bottles each per port.

As I said, water is available in the restaurants during meal times and you could go in for an extra snack during that time, though on second thoughts we think the waiters pour water into your glass, even in the self service. We have often taken our remaining water out of the restaurant as well - though they are not always happy to have the glasses taken out as presumably they do not want them to go astray or get broken on deck - the plastic ones will be no problem. If not on all inclusive, the bar price for a glass of still mineral water, (or fizzy water from the post mix), was £1, or £2 if you want a pint glass, so I do not see it will make a massive difference to the price of a long cruise.

I actually took 12x 500ml bottles of water in a suitcase when we did the arctic this August ( how sad am I!) as like you I drink a lot of water and was loathe to pay Fred's prices. I am sure on previous Fred cruises it was made very clear the general tap water was not for drinking, however this time in the passenger information it said the bathroom tap water was of drinking quality. Once my supply ran out I used said tap water with absolutely no ill effects and it didn't taste too bad. I was drinking a lot of water as I caught the most horrendous cold which inevitably developed into a cough hence the reason I was drinking large amounts of water. I should perhaps say this was on Boudicca but I can't see that should be any different across the fleet.

Last time we were on the Black Watch we were invited to the Captain's table and he told us the tap water is perfectly safe to drink without boiling it. We've drunk it on all the Olsen ships since and have not experienced any problems. If you are concerned ask the Chief Engineer and he will confirm what I have said.

A lot of folk who won't drink cruise tap water are happy to drink the water from the buffet restaurant machines, and I was told on one cruise that it is just chilled tap water!

I'm glad to hear the tap water is safe to drink. The U.S. cruise lines all have decent drinking water from the cabins taps, although a little chlorinated for some folks' tastes.

When someone mentioned boiling it I got rather worried. I'm also going to be on an Arctic cruise which means most ports are in places where bottled water is expensive such as Norway; and, unfortunately, we are departing from Tilbury dock and there are no stores within walking distance. Perhaps I can get the very expensive transfer car (100 GBP) driver from Heathrow to make a pit stop along the way.

Perhaps I can get the very expensive transfer car (100 GBP) driver from Heathrow to make a pit stop along the way.

The quickest route from Heathrow to Tilbury is about 70 miles or so, which makes the £100 fare about right. There are shorter routes but it will take a lot longer.

The good news you will pass South Mimms Services on your journey so he could stop for 10 mins while you go buy some water if you really want to.

I have always been able to ask the bar for a glass of water on all Olsen ships and not been charged for it whether I have been on AI or not. Just ask for ordinary water the same as you would in any bar or hotel at home. They usually put a slice of lemon in it as well.

I drink a lot of water too and couldn't bear the tap water on Black Watch. However safe it may be it had a horrible taste for people who like the taste of clear fresh water and even tainted my cup of coffee. We bought water in every port to take back onto the ship

We generally drink the cabin water on Fred. Olsen ships. But on Black Watch found that the water had an unpleasant tang, so much so that we threw away some water bottles that we had put it in.