Iced tea in the MDR

[Lorey2007]

Does anyone know what kind of tea, brand, instant or brewed, they use for the iced tea in the MDR on Radiance and Allure? I am trying to figure out why my feet and ankles got so swollen. I have ruled out just about everything except the iced tea which I had at least 2 glasses each night at dinner. The swelling only occurs after one day on the ship and immediately disappears upon debarking. I certainly don 't want to give up cruising.

[Bizzybeez]

I had the same thing happen on Radiance of the Seas. My feet and ankles swelled up. I had just assumed it was all the extra salt that was in the food. I hadn't considered the drinks.

[Clarea]

We find that if we use bottled water, then the swelling is greatly reduced.

[gerif]

I know it's made from concentrate, but I don't think it has anything to do with swelling - more likely the salt in the food.

[Folk Singer]

Does anyone know what kind of tea, brand, instant or brewed, they use for the iced tea in the MDR on Radiance and Allure? I am trying to figure out why my feet and ankles got so swollen. I have ruled out just about everything except the iced tea which I had at least 2 glasses each night at dinner. The swelling only occurs after one day on the ship and immediately disappears upon debarking. I certainly don 't want to give up cruising.

 

 

more likely the extra salt in the food and the water onboard.

Edited September 19, 2014 by Folk Singer

[Formerly known as Seabee]

More likely the salt is from the water which is produced from reverse osmosis which converts sea water to fresh but only removes 85-95% of salt.

[Lorey2007]

We eat out a lot and on these two cruises we had several days precruise that we ate out all three daily meals with no issues, I'm sure the restaurants we ate at before the cruise had as high sodium as most places do. I'm just trying to figure out what in particular happens when on the ship and the only thing different was drinking the iced tea. I did not drink the ships water I brought some bottled water with us.

[Lorey2007]

More likely the salt is from the water which is produced from reverse osmosis which converts sea water to fresh but only removes 85-95% of salt.

 

So I should most likely skip the iced tea.:( If that's it I will.

[cb at sea]

You are in a VERY high humidity environment....along with the ship's food (which is VERY salty), to the additional drinks you are imbibing, whether it's alcohol or not....and many folks with swelling issues (but not all!) fly to the port...and that can have a major effect on your body!

 

We do drink the ships water, and have never had a problem, but some folks do....you can bring bottled water onboard, if you want to...they really don't care about that! Mnay folks on land use water softeners, which do the same things as the ship's water producing plant...and much of the water is piped onboard at ports! So, it's not all made by the ship. It is safe to drink!

Edited September 19, 2014 by cb at sea

[Langley Cruisers]

..I did not drink the ships water...

 

Ah, but you did. The iced tea, any coffee or hot tea, juices at breakfast (from concentrate), soups, sauces, even the ice cubes in your drinks... all made with ship's water.

[Fat Paul]

Wow, amazing the things that you learn on cruise critic.

[sweetlove13]

Does anyone know what kind of tea, brand, instant or brewed, they use for the iced tea in the MDR on Radiance and Allure? I am trying to figure out why my feet and ankles got so swollen. I have ruled out just about everything except the iced tea which I had at least 2 glasses each night at dinner. The swelling only occurs after one day on the ship and immediately disappears upon debarking. I certainly don 't want to give up cruising.

 

Did you fly before the cruise? I used to have this problem really bad. On one vacation it was so bad that from the knee down my legs were unrecognizable as my own. On my last trip I wore those compression stockings on the plane and I had no problems the whole trip. It was only a 4 day cruise but also 3 days land vacay pre cruise and I ate and drank whatever I wanted without swelling, no problem, for the first time! Just a suggestion. :)

[boscobeans]

I know it's made from concentrate, but I don't think it has anything to do with swelling - more likely the salt in the food.

 

A final sodium concentration in RO water of 100 mg/liter which is the highest I have ever read about when desalinating with a single pass RO system would require drinking more than 5 liters to exceed a 500 mg sodium per day diet.

 

By comparison, one cup of whole milk adds 122 mg of sodium, which is more than 1 liter of RO water.

 

One slice of white bread, 114 mg, once again more than a liter of RO water.

 

A. large hamburger, not counting sides like fries or pickle packs an astounding 990 mg of sodium. That's the same as drinking almost ten liters of RO water.

 

Dietary sodium intake from restaurant food is much higher than most people think.

 

Think about the breakfast buffet: ham-cold cuts-smoked salmon-salted bagel-bacon-sausage-salt on those eggs-salted butter/margarine-home fries-breads/biscuits...and on and on.

 

Nothing wrong in my opinion with eating these items, I do, but I think the water is the least of your sodium worries on a cruise ship.

 

WATER SOFTENERS remove hardness from water and do add sodium in the process. I have both, a softener and an RO system to remove the sodium that the softener adds. My water is almost salt free, way below the 100 mg/liter stated above.

 

OMO

 

 

bosco

Edited September 19, 2014 by boscobeans

[heziggy]

besides the increase of sodium in your diet, , I am (almost) sure you are doing a lot more walking then you would normally do on a daily basis and depending or not if you went to a warmer climate, these two things can and will contribute to swollen ankles and feet. When you return home you are going back to your normal routines. This happens to me even on a single day walking excursion like a corn maze or a day on the boardwalk. I find that by laying down and elevating my feet for a lil while helps.

[Folk Singer]

Wow, amazing the things that you learn on cruise critic.

 

 

Sometimes the information is a little more like the national enquirer. :eek: Over all it is a very useful forum.:):)

[dancinman66]

Ice tea I gave found is nothing to my liking. Others may but not me

 

 

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[mil76]

I'm a huge iced tea drinker at home, but the iced tea they have on RCL is horrible. I think it's just their way of getting me to buy the soda package.

[herbanrenewal]

Make your own iced tea on board by making hot tea and pour over ice. This obviously doesn't impact the salt content but tastes a lot better.

[ehfl]

The food on RCL is very salty. Also, the water may have traces of salt.

It's not the total level of salt but the sodium to potassium ratio that can cause swelling. So to compensate, just take potassium, which you can get at any drug or health food store.

[herbanrenewal]

The food on RCL is very salty. Also, the water may have traces of salt.

It's not the total level of salt but the sodium to potassium ratio that can cause swelling. So to compensate, just take potassium, which you can get at any drug or health food store.

 

Good advice-and you can get potassium in your grocery store - salt substitute is potassium chloride.

[ls4977]

Does anyone know what kind of tea, brand, instant or brewed, they use for the iced tea in the MDR on Radiance and Allure? I am trying to figure out why my feet and ankles got so swollen. I have ruled out just about everything except the iced tea which I had at least 2 glasses each night at dinner. The swelling only occurs after one day on the ship and immediately disappears upon debarking. I certainly don 't want to give up cruising.

 

I just finished a week on the Navigator.... The Iced tea is some awful concentrated unknown substance... hard to get a hold of in the morning and just not what I would expect from RC.... It is very frustrating and I expect more from RC!!!

[BND]

There's no more salt in the desalinated water on a cruise ship than there is your tap water at home.

 

Between the humidity and the food, swelling will happen. Drink more water and you will help that tremendously. The food is very salty, just like almost any restaurant. I never understood why chefs think adding salt adds more flavor. If you watch the cooking show, they are always pushing salting foods and even criticize chefs for not adding enough. The meat is seasoned with salt and the sauces all have a lot. If you are on a low sodium diet, the chef will work with you and cook you something separate-tells you something now doesn't it? They don't tell you to not drink the water, because it's not an issue. Minerals are added back in after desalination because they've all been removed during the process.

 

And, yes, the tea is a concentrate, but it's still real tea. I drink it occasionally, but it's not the issue with swelling. If anything, the caffeine is a diuretic.

Edited September 21, 2014 by BND