How's the tap water on the Eclipse?

[Turtles06]

We are experienced cruisers who have just booked our first cruise on Celebrity (excited to try X!) -- the Eclipse TA next April.

 

My non-alcoholic beverage of choice is water. I've found the tap water on other ships to taste fine for drinking, particularly when chilled in the cabin's mini-fridge, and thus I've never found the need to take bottled water on board, even though it's allowed.

 

So my question is: how's the tap water on the Eclipse? Does it taste okay? I realize this is a subjective question, of course, but all thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

[jimzgoldfinch]

We are experienced cruisers who have just booked our first cruise on Celebrity (excited to try X!) -- the Eclipse TA next April.

 

My non-alcoholic beverage of choice is water. I've found the tap water on other ships to taste fine for drinking, particularly when chilled in the cabin's mini-fridge, and thus I've never found the need to take bottled water on board, even though it's allowed.

 

So my question is: how's the tap water on the Eclipse? Does it taste okay? I realize this is a subjective question, of course, but all thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

Tap water is fine.

 

Jim

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I thought it was fine on the Eclipse and on every other Celebrity ship I've sailed on. It's about all I drink. If you want to add a slice of lemon or lime to it, be sure to get it in the morning on the Eclipse. The beverage stations weren't well maintained and the lemons and limes didn't seem to get replaced.

[Gonzo70]

The tap water on most cruise ships generally tastes fine to most people, but the taste is never going to be consistent as the major cruise lines do a combination of making their own water on the ship (some ships use distillation and some reverse osmosis) as well as taking on potable water from various ports. So sometimes the tap water will be water made on the ship, sometimes it will be water from one port, sometimes from another port. Therefore the water from day to day may taste different on Eclipse or just about any major cruise ship.

[ghstudio]

The water on the eclipse is probably better than the water that comes out of your tap at home. If you want to drink water from a spring in Fiji or Perrier, then go for the water package. If you drink water from your tap at home, enjoy the eclipse without spending any extra $'s.

[Lsimon]

The tap water has tasted fine on all the S class cruises we've been on, and all the other Celebrity cruises we've been on except for a couple several years ago.

 

However, the water on board has a higher sodium content than the tap water we drink at home. This does not bother some people but it does cause us to experiance swollen hands and feet at times. Because of this we use bottled water for most of our on-board water drinking - and we do drink a lot of water every day.

 

Many people do not have this issue but we do know others that do. So you should make up your own mind based on the level of sodium you're used to. You can always switch to bottled water if you try the tap water and then have some bloating and swelling symptoms.

[jackdiamond]

We have never had a problem with the tap water. However, if you a fan of bottled water, simply book AQ where it is free.

[Can'tstopcruising]

We have never had a problem with the tap water. However, if you a fan of bottled water, simply book AQ where it is free.

 

I love your answer! Pay a couple of thousand extra and get free bottled water!!

[excitedofharpenden]

I used water from the tap on Eclipse to make a cup of tea and I thought it tasted horrid. I always found the pitchers of water the steward supplied tasted fine, but they don't have water pitchers on Eclipse so I ended up using bottled water in the kettle.

 

Phil

[Lois R]

We have never had a problem with the tap water. However, if you a fan of bottled water, simply book AQ where it is free.

 

Not everyone can afford AQ:eek:

[TLCOhio]

Everything was fine last month for us on the Solstice with the tap water, the ice tea/juice made through their water, etc. As noted by others, the ship has pretty sophisticated options to keep that quality high. We survived just fine without the need to "donate" hundreds of dollars to the various drink packages. When paying our MasterCard account this month, we felt much better with the burden of a having a few dollars left in our wallets.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Just back from a June 7-19 Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc. These postings are now at 21,773 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2011, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 46,691 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

 

Appreciate those who have “tuned in” for these two posts. Don’t be shy and feel free to comment and/or ask any questions of interest.

[Turtles06]

Thank you all for your feedback. Sounds like we'll be just fine not paying out money for bottled water.

 

Terry in Ohio, when I saw that you had posted on this thread, I was expecting to see a photo of a beautiful, clear glass of Solstice tap water!:)

[Can'tstopcruising]

As we have yet to sail on a Solstice class ship, I had no idea that they do not have pitchers in the cabin. I wonder why they have eliminated such a nicety????

[celebritydave]

As we have yet to sail on a Solstice class ship' date=' I had no idea that they do not have pitchers in the cabin. I wonder why they have eliminated such a nicety????[/quote']

 

On my last Eclipse cruise in November, I asked our room steward for a pitcher, and he brought one and filled it twice every day.

[Orator]

I've been to every engine control room on the S Class ships and have asked what do they believe is purer, the water produced on ship or the bottled water. In every case the Engineers said the water produced on the ship was purer and that they would choose it over the bottled water.

[excitedofharpenden]

I'm sure it's very pure, but I have found it doesn't always taste great. On Solstice last month the ordinary water tasted fine in the MDR and Bistro on Five, but on the two occasions we went to Murano it tasted off to me, like the water from the tap in my cabin on Eclipse. The water and soft drinks from the machines In the buffet have always been fine.

 

Phil

[TLCOhio]

Thank you all for your feedback. Sounds like we'll be just fine not paying out money for bottled water. Terry in Ohio, when I saw that you had posted on this thread, I was expecting to see a photo of a beautiful, clear glass of Solstice tap water!:)

 

Good one!! YES, I am guilty of not bothering with taking a picture of Solstice tap water. BUT, here's the pool area with clear water, tunes being played, sun, fun, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

 

This is a view of the Solstice main pool area. Love the sun and activities here!:

 

[JezzaC]

Biggest issue here for me is that I want to know the origin of water. On Mediterranean they can purify water on board or take it from the port.

 

I trust that if the purification is done on board, then the water would be nice and drinkable. However if they take it from ports - it is propably technically drinkable but taste can be a bit nasty.

 

Atleast all the tap water I have tried in sort of safe Mediterranean cities has had an aroma of chloride. Barcelona was even worse, the water was stinking of chloride. It was pure for sure, but for drinking? No thanks.

 

It can be true that tap water is more pure than the one in bottles. I trust that both are techinically in limitation of safe to drink. However I would like the water also to taste drinkable - so I am playing it sure for taste and having only bottled water on cruise and on ports too.

[jackdiamond]

Not everyone can afford AQ:eek:

Obviously, there is more to AQ than bottled water. I would suspect, all other things being equal, if someone priced AQ versus a regular balcony cabin, they would discover that AQ, considering the value of Blu, is a better bargain than the regular balcony cabin. From our standpoint, we value Blu at approximately $60-70 per night for dinner and breakfast.

[Lsimon]

Biggest issue here for me is that I want to know the origin of water. On Mediterranean they can purify water on board or take it from the port. ...

 

I had the occasion to hear a lecture from a Celebrity engineer who dealt with the water systems during a cruise last spring on the Constellation, but his lecture dealt with all the systems Celebrity is using, or contemplating, for all of its ships.

 

Bottom line is that the water is usually purified on board by one of two different systems but in some cases is taken on in port.

 

I've included a copy below of another post I made a few months ago which summarizes some of the points I recalled. I posted this to a thread on swollen ankles which included some debate as to whether the water had high sodium levels which could cause this. My conclusion and belief is that it does. Whether or not that point interests you the following still might be informative:

 

We just returned from the Constellation's 3/26/11 sailing. There was a lecture one morning about the ship's fresh water systems given by an individual who wore an officers uniform but I can't recall his title. He was not a ship's officer but rather a fleet engineer who happened to be on the Constellation doing some work on their systems - so his speech discussed the systems on all of Celebrity's ships and not just the Constellation.

 

He discussed three types of fresh water systems: (1) Desalination Plant; (2) Reverse Osmosis and (3) another system the name of which escapes me but which isn't currently used on Celebrity although they are investigating it - this latter system is the one he says is used on NASA and the space station although in a much more advanced and expensive version than what Celebrity/RCL is looking at.

 

He indicated that current Celebrity ships have two different systems on board - both a desalination plant and reverse osmosis. He indicated that both are used to meet demands.

 

He indicated that the Reverse Osmosis systems are basically a pressurized filter system which removed most, but not all, of the salt from sea water and that water from that process does have an above average sodium content!! He said this is due to the fact that some salt molecules are small enough to pass through the reverse osmosis filters even though the system removes most of the salt and brings it to a level which is safe to drink.

 

 

He indicated that the water from the desalination plant was basically distilled water and had no sodium in it. This water does have some minerals added back at the end of the process but these do not include sodium. He said the desalination plant uses a lot of energy and that it is mostly used when it can be run off of excess heat from the ship's engines and/or at times when water demand exceeds that available from the reverse osmosis process.

 

I asked him about the ship bringing potable water on at ports as I've seen them doing that and he indicated that under normal operating conditions water is not brought on at port but that it is done from time to time if some of the ship's water systems are down for repairs or maintenance.

 

For the record - I always used to suffer from swollen feet, ankles and hands when cruising until I discovered that switching to bottled water eliminated or greatly reduced this problem. I hate buying the bottled water due to both cost and environmental concerns but I do. I do not avoid all ship's water as I still drink beverages made with it or which contain ice made on board. I also know that other high sodium items served on board contribute to this problem - but the use of bottled water for most of my water consumption is enough to make a significant improvement for me.

[sczcardfan]

I've been to every engine control room on the S Class ships and have asked what do they believe is purer, the water produced on ship or the bottled water. In every case the Engineers said the water produced on the ship was purer and that they would choose it over the bottled water.

 

Purity and taste don't necessarily go hand-in-hand when you're talking water. Some of the "taste" that many people expect in water can actually be purified out.

 

Plus, while I can believe the Engineers are correct, I also would bet that if you went to a bottled water factory you would be told the reverse... :rolleyes:

[Wine-O]

Where do you think they get the water to make the ice in all your foo-foo drinks, the water in your coffee/tea, the water for all the fountain sodas/machines in the Buffet area, the ice in your rum & coke, the water to make your expresso/cappuccino, yada, yada, yada. :eek: Don't worry about it. :)