Water, Water, everywhere water

[Binda]

Hi! This may be a very strange question but -- my friend is taking medicinal powders on our Insignia cruise and she will need at least 16 oz. of water to mix them with. Will we have to buy bottled water on the ship for this, is there drinking water supplied or do we bring our own (would be a lot of water to pack). If we have to buy the water does anyone have any idea of what it costs. I told you it would be a strange question. Anyway, we will appreciate any input.

Thanks

Binda

[HowardB]

I would think the easiest/cheapest solution would be to drink from the tap.

[gencon]

On our previous cruises with Oceania, we drink the tap water. The water tastes like good, clean spring water, as de-salinized water should. Never had a problem.

[Binda]

Thanks for your replies. I guess it never occured to us that you could actually drink the tap water. In this day of bottled waters it seems like I forgot that people still drink from the tap. Thanks again.

Binda

[ClaudiaF]

I believe that the bottled water though costs about $3.50 a bottle.

( from ship).. you can of course buy some in ports and bring back to ship with you if you really want to.

[Druke I]

Tap water on modern cruise ships is very "clear", although my wife, with a sensitive tummy, has been told by two different ships' doctors, to stay with bottled water.

 

I drink ship's water, and have never had the slightest problem with it.

[LHT28]

You can get fresh water at the Terrace restaurant self serve station also. (not bottles)

[drwong]

Oceania's onboard water supplies are much safer than the water aboard smaller cruise ships or aboard the aircraft you'll be arriving on. (The news media has a field day every year when the EPA reports on the percentage of tested aircraft with coliform bacteria contamination in their water tanks - one year, the Wall Street Journal conducted its own unscientific study and found coliform levels exceeding Federal standards on all but two of the 14 flights they sampled).

 

Water contamination can come from one of two sources on the vessel - the water itself or the storage tanks. The water usually comes from one of two sources - bunkering (i.e., pumping water from ashore or a barge) or onboard production (i.e. distillation on the older ships, reverse osmosis on the newer ones). Bunkering is a common source of contamination - particularly in foreign countries where the local water supply doesn't meet Federal standards, or where the water barges aren't cleaned or inspected regularly and the water isn't distilled, filtered, or sterilzed before reaching the tap. Osmosis is the safest and purest, as the microscopic filters trap solids, sediments, oils, and even salt particles. The water then undergoes ultraviolet sterlization that kills any remaining micro-organisms. I believe that Oceania uses reverse osmosis.

 

The US Public Health Service conducts regular and random sanitation inspections of vessels using US ports. Under USPHS regulations, water storage tanks must be inspected, cleaned and disinfected during wet docks or dry docks or every two years, whichever is less. If you're still concerned about the safety of the onboard water supply, you'll find a 1 liter bottle of water in your cabin that you can use for drinking and brushing your teeth. There's a tag on the bottle saying that opening the bottle will add $3.50 to your onboard account, along with the customary 18% service charge (for the steward who has to bring a replacement bottle to your room).

[mike35]

I'm often asked which cruise line we prefer - Oceania or Crystal. Since we love both, I try to give a fair and balanced assessment of the plusses and minusses of both. I never gave a thought to bottled water. Since that's the topic of this thread, however, we just came off a Crystal cruise, where all the bottled water you would ever want is available to you free of charge (in your cabin, in the fitness center, and other venues). I didn't realize that Oceania charges $3.50 for a bottle. Small matter, but to some it might be significant.

 

Mike

[sandbag7]

Dr. Wong is a (water) fountain of information; I've been on cruise on more than 10 cruise lines and never had a problem with the water. Then again I've never had a problem with water on a flight, and never heard of anyone having such a problem. Federal standards are generally fairly rigorous and a violation of them is more news than danger; anyway, the water is fine, so c'mon in.

[sandbag7]

Rough translation: If you expect to drink 500 or more bottles of bottled water on a cruise, you might want to consider Crystal.

[brian_uk]

What a brilliant question.

 

Are you saying DrWong that the cold water from the tap in the bathrooms is perfectly safe even though it can be mixed with the hot and is therefore coming from two tanks presumably.

 

I have always used bottled water because I was unsure when taking medications and your response would be appreciated.

 

Brian

[drwong]

What a brilliant question.

 

Are you saying DrWong that the cold water from the tap in the bathrooms is perfectly safe even though it can be mixed with the hot and is therefore coming from two tanks presumably.

 

I have always used bottled water because I was unsure when taking medications and your response would be appreciated.

 

Brian

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call it "perfectly safe," but both the hot and cold water should be safe enough for ordinary individuals to consume, provided they don't have compromised immune systems or some other condition that might render them suseptible to various forms of bacteria that others would find harmless.

 

My grandmother always told us it was safer to drink hot tap water because it had been "boiled" first, killing any bacteria. But as you know, water doesn't boil until it reaches 212 degrees and as you probably don't know, most hot water tanks on cruise ships are set below 120 degrees or lower to avoid scalding (On some of the newer cruise ships, the showers fittings themselves are automatically set at 105 degrees). Because bacteria need sustained temperatures of 140 degrees to kill them, there's a chance that bacteria might exist in a hot water tank, and in cooler water of the pipes leading away from it, so you're wise to take the precaution of drinking bottled water with your medications - just don't drop a couple of ice cubes into the glass - they're usually made from on-board tap water and freezing does NOT kill bacteria!

 

Bacteria can readily find their way into a ship's water supply - the USPHS's Dec 2004 inspection of the QE II identified potential sources of contamination of the ship's potable (drinkable, i.e., meeting US EPA standards) water supply: http://www2a.cdc.gov/nceh/VSPIRS/VSP_InspRptDetail.asp?intInspectionID=131771.

 

As the inspection report shows, the USPHS is exacting in its scope and degree of review and should give you a level of comfort that the ship you're sailing on is A-OK. And in the interest of fairness, here's the Regatta March '05 report: http://www2a.cdc.gov/nceh/VSPIRS/VSP_InspRptDetail.asp?intInspectionID=134369. :)

 

Richard