Water on Carnival fantasy

[mandydean]

Hi all,

I've heard some mixed feedback on the on-ship water. We're sailing out on Fantasy on Saturday and I'm wondering if it's worth it to bring our own water on. We are bringing a 1-yo and a 4-yo (including porta-crib) so we will have plenty of stuff to carry and check. My husband doesn't want the hassle of carrying the water onto the ship, but while I'm no water-snob, he is rather picky about water. Is the water on the ship OK? I'm asking flavor-wise, since I'm sure it's safe or they wouldn't sell it.

 

I've seen that we could order water to the room, but I cannot bring my self to cough up that kind of money for bottled water. We are not bottled-water drinkers here at home.

 

Also on a totally different topic, but while I'm thinking of it - can I check a portable crib (pack n play) as luggage? What about a rather unwieldy mattress for same pack n play?

 

Thanks everyone. Sorry for my newb questions :)

[Lovefuninthesun]

We think the water tastes fine onboard. It's highly subjective, though -- somebody else will tell you they hate it.

[Wilgr]

It's Charleston water, fresh from the Hydrant.

[beyond2k]

I drink a lot of water at home. On the Freedom the water was fine. On the dream it tasted bad and had an aquarium type smell.

[CharlesKru]

Wilgr is mostly correct.

 

The water you get from the bar, dinning room, or lido deck is all water brought on board at your departure port. We watched them refill for over a hr before we made our trans-Atlantic crossing.

 

The water in your cabin however, sink, shower, toilet, is desalinated water that they process on ship. I personally find it to be good, and drink at least 2 or 3 bottles of it a day. It does have a slightly different taste though, than what you get in the dining room.

 

And Lovfuninthesun is right, it really is subjective, as my wife will use it to brush her teeth, but wont drink it.

[OCruisers]

The tap water on Carnival Fantasy is fine ... *taste good and is perfectly safe to drink. :)

* Best over ice since it's a bit warm directly from the tap. ;)

LuLu

[Bookbug53]

I have never had an issue with the drinking water on any ship. Ice water is available all the time on lido. Use the cups or bring refillable travel type mugs with you. I also need water throughout the night and go to lido late in the evening and fill a pitcher with ice water to have in the cabin. There are usually some around on the various stations. Use the clean ones that are upside down next to the clean cups. :) I have never felt the need to schlep water on board.

[chengkp75]

Wilgr is mostly correct.

 

The water you get from the bar, dinning room, or lido deck is all water brought on board at your departure port. We watched them refill for over a hr before we made our trans-Atlantic crossing.

 

The water in your cabin however, sink, shower, toilet, is desalinated water that they process on ship. I personally find it to be good, and drink at least 2 or 3 bottles of it a day. It does have a slightly different taste though, than what you get in the dining room.

 

And Lovfuninthesun is right, it really is subjective, as my wife will use it to brush her teeth, but wont drink it.

 

There is no difference between the water in the bars, dining rooms, or lido and that in your cabin. All the water, whether distilled or desalinated onboard, or taken onboard in port, is stored in large water tanks, and then pumped EVERYWHERE throughout the ship. The difference that you may have noticed, and led you to the conclusion that the water in the public spaces was different, is that the water at these locations go through bar guns, or water dispensers, and these have carbon filters to remove the residual chlorine that is required by USPH to be in the water circulating around the ship all the time. This filtration is not for flavor, but because the chlorine will cause scale formation in the water dispensers (and ice machines).

 

Unlike your local water board, which chlorinates or otherwise sanitizes the water at the plant where it comes from (lake, well, river), and then has no control over how the water quality degrades until it stops flowing at your house because no water is being used, the water onboard is constantly being recirculated, and the USPH requires that the residual chlorine, at the farthest point from the engine room (normally on the bridge), be monitored and the chlorination equipment is adjusted based on this residual as far from the injection point as possible. So, if your cabin is close to the main water riser coming from the engine room, you will have a higher chlorine concentration than a cabin that is at the end of the run (generally forward most and aft most cabins on each deck). And each deck will have a slightly different concentration.

 

I will add another vote that water "taste" is one of the most subjective questions people ask. Generally, if it doesn't taste like the water at home, it bothers some people.

Edited August 27, 2014 by chengkp75

[Terre]

I agree, I've always liked the water on the Fantasy, and all the Carnival ships for that matter.

[vikkster]

Hi all,

I've heard some mixed feedback on the on-ship water. We're sailing out on Fantasy on Saturday and I'm wondering if it's worth it to bring our own water on. We are bringing a 1-yo and a 4-yo (including porta-crib) so we will have plenty of stuff to carry and check. My husband doesn't want the hassle of carrying the water onto the ship, but while I'm no water-snob, he is rather picky about water. Is the water on the ship OK? I'm asking flavor-wise, since I'm sure it's safe or they wouldn't sell it.

 

I've seen that we could order water to the room, but I cannot bring my self to cough up that kind of money for bottled water. We are not bottled-water drinkers here at home.

 

Also on a totally different topic, but while I'm thinking of it - can I check a portable crib (pack n play) as luggage? What about a rather unwieldy mattress for same pack n play?

 

Thanks everyone. Sorry for my newb questions :)

 

Call Carnival and have them put a pack n play in your room. They do have them available.

I bring water because That's all I drink and I think water does have a flavor.

You can pack it in a rolling bag.

Have a great cruise!

[Gamecock_Cruiser]

We sailed on the Fantasy and it tasted like normal city water to me. Now the Fascination had some awkward tasting water that I couldn't drink.

[rarasnake]

I am a water snob.. We live in the city and I refuse to drink the water out of our taps (city water stinks) and the only thing that I like is Dasani. That being said, I had no problems drinking the water on the Fantasy..

[bruadhin]

Wilgr is mostly correct.

 

The water you get from the bar, dinning room, or lido deck is all water brought on board at your departure port. We watched them refill for over a hr before we made our trans-Atlantic crossing.

 

The water in your cabin however, sink, shower, toilet, is desalinated water that they process on ship. I personally find it to be good, and drink at least 2 or 3 bottles of it a day. It does have a slightly different taste though, than what you get in the dining room.

 

And Lovfuninthesun is right, it really is subjective, as my wife will use it to brush her teeth, but wont drink it.

 

Water is much, much, much cheaper than fuel oil. Because that is basically what desalinized water is, fuel oil spent running the desalinization plant. A ship is going to take every opportunity it can to buy water versus burning fuel to generate its own.

 

What fellow cruisers are probably noticing is just the difference between their local water and the ship's water. Also, the age of the filters, the amount and mix of minerals the ship is adding back to the water and the level of chlorination.

[chengkp75]

Water is much, much, much cheaper than fuel oil. Because that is basically what desalinized water is, fuel oil spent running the desalinization plant. A ship is going to take every opportunity it can to buy water versus burning fuel to generate its own.

 

What fellow cruisers are probably noticing is just the difference between their local water and the ship's water. Also, the age of the filters, the amount and mix of minerals the ship is adding back to the water and the level of chlorination.

 

Well, this depends. If the ship is using an evaporator to make fresh water, the main energy source is the waste heat from the diesel engines' cooling water, so there is virtually no additional energy required other than running the diesels to power the propulsion and hotel needs. A reverse osmosis water maker does not use that much energy compared to what the rest of the ship consumes.

 

Ships will take on water in port depending on the itinerary. Since neither evaporators nor desalinators can be operated within 12nm of shore, if the itinerary is port intensive, there will not be enough time at sea to generate all of the water required for the voyage. Any water taken onboard in port, regardless of country of origin, must be segregated from the water being used onboard until the medical center can run a fecal coliform bacteria test on it, and this takes 18-24 hours, so this will limit the amount of water that a ship takes.

 

As for the "chemicals added back in", this is a fairly persistent misunderstanding about distilled water. The only reason anything is added back into the water is not taste, as some maintain, but to neutralize the slightly acidic nature of distilled water. This acidic nature causes corrosion in the ship's piping systems, and if ingested over long periods can leach minerals from the body, causing weak teeth and bones. The almost universal choice of material used in these "re-hardening filters" is calcium carbonate, which is a main ingredient in Tums antacids.

[falkcor]

Well, this depends. If the ship is using an evaporator to make fresh water, the main energy source is the waste heat from the diesel engines' cooling water, so there is virtually no additional energy required other than running the diesels to power the propulsion and hotel needs. A reverse osmosis water maker does not use that much energy compared to what the rest of the ship consumes.

 

i just want to say that i clicked on this thread because i saw your response. i appreciate your very factual and relevant feedback in almost any thread i see you post in. so, kudos for that :cool:

[falkcor]

I am a water snob.. We live in the city and I refuse to drink the water out of our taps (city water stinks) and the only thing that I like is Dasani. That being said, I had no problems drinking the water on the Fantasy..

 

regarding dasani, you do realize that every bottle of dasani does in fact come from a municipal water supply (tap water), right?

 

a lot of the 'bottled water' most people consume does, in fact, come from 'tap water', which is then bottled, but many people do not realize that.

 

google it, it will be fully substantiated. a selection of such links is as follows:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasani

 

and since wikipedia isn't typically an 'accepted' 'source' of information:

 

http://www.naturalnews.com/038840_dasani_tap_water_purified.html

 

http://travel.usnews.com/features/Where_Your_Bottled_Water_Comes_From/

 

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/08/bottled-water-california-drought

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3523303.stm

 

(several links posted as to not be biased, many more are available).

 

the ships employ a similar strategy to prepare the potable water fit for consumption.

[mandydean]

I love this assortment of scientific answers! Haha - you all must have known I was a nerd :-) Thanks so much for the detailed responses!

[mandydean]

Call Carnival and have them put a pack n play in your room. They do have them available.

I bring water because That's all I drink and I think water does have a flavor.

You can pack it in a rolling bag.

Have a great cruise!

 

Is what they have available actual pack n plays, or mini cribs? I've read that the mini-metal cribs that many ships have are larger than pnps. Since our son actually sleeps in his pack n play as his crib every night (with the added "regular mattress), we're thinking he will sleep better in his "own bed" than one provided. But maybe not worth it..?