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Bottled Water Ripoff


Curtw
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If you saw the sink pipe replacement I saw after a 4 hour plumber in my cabin on NCL you would NEVER drink from the tap IN your cabin.

It was black and rusted.

I personally know that NCL is in the process, and has a crew onboard, changing all their water pipes.

I purchase Aqua Panna from the bar by the bottle and have a dozen bottles delivered to my cabin.

I pay just under $6.00 per bottle ($1.69 in store at home)...equals 3 ...8oz bottles... as I dislike the taste of Aquafina.

We take empty small 8oz bottles with us and fill as needed, as they are easier to carry.

Water is a basic need.....This water that they force you to purchase, IF you care and need to drink instead of alcohol....Is obscene.

Taking a Brita is something to consider IF you desire.

I also decided that $100,00 in water is part of my vacation fund so I pay it....I resent it, but I pay it.

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If you saw the sink pipe replacement I saw after a 4 hour plumber in my cabin on NCL you would NEVER drink from the tap IN your cabin.

It was black and rusted.

I personally know that NCL is in the process, and has a crew onboard, changing all their water pipes.

 

I won't debate you again regarding your choice to buy bottled water, but I've got to question a couple of these comments. First off, I doubt the sink pipe was "rusted" as cruise ships do not use steel pipe for potable water piping, certainly not in the small size used at a sink, because the pipe would rust up and leak. I know that on even some of the oldest NCL ships, like the Sky, all of the potable water piping is plastic. And the fact that NCL is actively renewing piping to prevent problems is a positive thing, when was the last time the municipalities dug up and renewed water mains leading to the bottled water plant, or your house, until it had already rusted through and blown out.

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Bottled water is consistent quality. Tap water is not. I find ship water is drinkable, my spouse does not. Regardless, when we travel, we rely upon bottled water. Not exactly a luxury. Besides, my comments are not about the carry on ban. I get that. My comments are about the price.

 

 

I saw your point from the outset. It's funny how people really don't thoroughly read through the comments or threads.

 

 

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I won't debate you again regarding your choice to buy bottled water, but I've got to question a couple of these comments. First off, I doubt the sink pipe was "rusted" as cruise ships do not use steel pipe for potable water piping, certainly not in the small size used at a sink, because the pipe would rust up and leak. I know that on even some of the oldest NCL ships, like the Sky, all of the potable water piping is plastic. And the fact that NCL is actively renewing piping to prevent problems is a positive thing, when was the last time the municipalities dug up and renewed water mains leading to the bottled water plant, or your house, until it had already rusted through and blown out.

 

I absolutely saw the pipe and it was black and rusted...Orange...Cruise ships are not built with all steel....The upper decks are made of aluminum.

This keeps the ship from being TOP heavy.

The plumber was called to repair, and he said it was fixed after a 15 minute visit.

Well that didn't 'fix it'.....I had a short conversation with our room steward as he had just returned from vacation. I told him that I was a patient person, BUT the next occupants may not be, and if the problem continued, it might affect his rating as this was a suite.

It was then that he asked for the plumber to return, and he replaced the pipe entirely taking 4 hours.

I do know for a FACT... that piping is being replaced in even the new ships by small specialty piping crews especially hired for that problem.

On our cruise we were on a ship that was called....Sold out.

Well it wasn't. As the plumber was working, the ship gave us a window cabin card in which we could shower and relax. We went to see it, but didn't use it, as we could wait out the problem.

I'm not being argumentative. I'm just telling you WHY I will not drink anything but bottled water and pay for it on a ship.

We used to bring our own, but now they changed the rules.

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I absolutely saw the pipe and it was black and rusted...Orange...Cruise ships are not built with all steel....The upper decks are made of aluminum.

This keeps the ship from being TOP heavy.

 

lol @ you telling a career mariner and former chief engineer with NCL how ships are constructed. How silly.

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I am a bottled water drinker at home, but only spring water. The bottled water on the ships is not spring water, but "purified" tap water. So why bother with it? Onboard, I just drink tap. Good enough. The only time I bought bottled water was when leaving the ship for 2 different ports for beach days. And, yes, I paid $6 for a 1 liter bottle, but I didn't sweat it, or let it ruin my vacation.

 

 

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I absolutely saw the pipe and it was black and rusted...Orange...Cruise ships are not built with all steel....The upper decks are made of aluminum.

This keeps the ship from being TOP heavy.

The plumber was called to repair, and he said it was fixed after a 15 minute visit.

Well that didn't 'fix it'.....I had a short conversation with our room steward as he had just returned from vacation. I told him that I was a patient person, BUT the next occupants may not be, and if the problem continued, it might affect his rating as this was a suite.

It was then that he asked for the plumber to return, and he replaced the pipe entirely taking 4 hours.

I do know for a FACT... that piping is being replaced in even the new ships by small specialty piping crews especially hired for that problem.

On our cruise we were on a ship that was called....Sold out.

Well it wasn't. As the plumber was working, the ship gave us a window cabin card in which we could shower and relax. We went to see it, but didn't use it, as we could wait out the problem.

I'm not being argumentative. I'm just telling you WHY I will not drink anything but bottled water and pay for it on a ship.

We used to bring our own, but now they changed the rules.

 

Not sure of the whole point of this post. My post did not say cruise ships were "all built of steel", and in fact did not even comment on ship structure, just piping, and as a side note, not all ships' superstructures are aluminum, only where necessary. You'll also notice that I said ship's piping wasn't steel, but generally plastic, or copper. The flex lines under the sink are copper not steel.

 

I didn't argue that the piping wasn't being renewed, in fact I agreed with you, but I also pointed out that this is a pro-active measure to prevent leakage. As I stated, the Sky renewed several miles (virtually all the piping in the guest areas and galleys) of plastic pipe with a newer and more robust plastic pipe back in 2008. Ships do this quite regularly, though not on the scale we did it on the Sky, as we removed a full deck of cabins from service each week to complete the renewals.

 

Do you drink tap water on shore? This was my point, that municipal water supplies renew their piping even less frequently than ships do.

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Not sure of the whole point of this post. My post did not say cruise ships were "all built of steel", and in fact did not even comment on ship structure, just piping, and as a side note, not all ships' superstructures are aluminum, only where necessary. You'll also notice that I said ship's piping wasn't steel, but generally plastic, or copper. The flex lines under the sink are copper not steel.

 

I didn't argue that the piping wasn't being renewed, in fact I agreed with you, but I also pointed out that this is a pro-active measure to prevent leakage. As I stated, the Sky renewed several miles (virtually all the piping in the guest areas and galleys) of plastic pipe with a newer and more robust plastic pipe back in 2008. Ships do this quite regularly, though not on the scale we did it on the Sky, as we removed a full deck of cabins from service each week to complete the renewals.

 

Do you drink tap water on shore? This was my point, that municipal water supplies renew their piping even less frequently than ships do.

 

No I don't. We drink bottled water at home and at all times. Everywhere.

You can have a well and need a filter but can't water your plants nor drink it, so another filter is necessary.

The greatest weight on a ship is on the lower decks....Decks that hold engines/fuel/sewage/water/ supplies and most of the heavy supply's.

The upper part of the ship needs to be composed of lighter material, which they now use on ships that have 18 decks.

They are also wider than they used to be, and some could not pass through the Panama canal....Now being widened.

PVC piping was thought to be better, but they found it was not. It emitted a plastic taste and for a time there was a concern over health risks.

Cruise ships float by putting lots of weight down in the bottom and use lighter weight material above.

I would think that the Bliss has the correct pipelines.

The center of gravity of most cruise ships is about mid-ship around deck 4 (the heavy stuff is all down on decks 1 and 2). Cruise ship designers want stability.....Very heavy steel at the bottom, lighter weight steel then aluminum and fiber-reinforced plastics and carbon fiber which are being used in the aerospace industry. Lightweight material brings down the consumption of fuel needed.

The upper decks are open and use less weight even with thousands of passengers as they are never in the same place, thus dispersing weight.

When a cruise ship sits in the water, it makes room for itself by displacing water out and down. The water responds by pushing up and in as it tries to take back the space the cruise ship occupies. The balance of these opposing force are what makes the ship float.

Now I'm off topic.

Both ship and airplanes are designed and made of many different types of material including steel where needed..... and aluminum.

I do not care to drink the cabin water nor even the ships water so I purchase bottled water.

Everyone has their own wants and needs.......For myself and children I want both... along with peace of mind.

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No I don't. We drink bottled water at home and at all times. Everywhere.

You can have a well and need a filter but can't water your plants nor drink it, so another filter is necessary.

The greatest weight on a ship is on the lower decks....Decks that hold engines/fuel/sewage/water/ supplies and most of the heavy supply's.

The upper part of the ship needs to be composed of lighter material, which they now use on ships that have 18 decks.

They are also wider than they used to be, and some could not pass through the Panama canal....Now being widened.

PVC piping was thought to be better, but they found it was not. It emitted a plastic taste and for a time there was a concern over health risks.

Cruise ships float by putting lots of weight down in the bottom and use lighter weight material above.

I would think that the Bliss has the correct pipelines.

The center of gravity of most cruise ships is about mid-ship around deck 4 (the heavy stuff is all down on decks 1 and 2). Cruise ship designers want stability.....Very heavy steel at the bottom, lighter weight steel then aluminum and fiber-reinforced plastics and carbon fiber which are being used in the aerospace industry. Lightweight material brings down the consumption of fuel needed.

The upper decks are open and use less weight even with thousands of passengers as they are never in the same place, thus dispersing weight.

When a cruise ship sits in the water, it makes room for itself by displacing water out and down. The water responds by pushing up and in as it tries to take back the space the cruise ship occupies. The balance of these opposing force are what makes the ship float.

Now I'm off topic.

Both ship and airplanes are designed and made of many different types of material including steel where needed..... and aluminum.

I do not care to drink the cabin water nor even the ships water so I purchase bottled water.

Everyone has their own wants and needs.......For myself and children I want both... along with peace of mind.

 

Thanks for reinforcing the naval architecture course I took over 40 years ago. Completely aware of how ships are built, how they float, and what influences stability, but once again, I never brought this up in the first place, so why is it continuing.

 

PVC piping was never used in ships, for pressure piping, as it was found to be not sufficiently robust. Plastic water pipe on ships is Polypropylene, not PVC. Polypropylene piping is approved for ultra-pure water installations, as well as pharmaceutical applications.

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Thanks for reinforcing the naval architecture course I took over 40 years ago. Completely aware of how ships are built, how they float, and what influences stability, but once again, I never brought this up in the first place, so why is it continuing.

 

PVC piping was never used in ships, for pressure piping, as it was found to be not sufficiently robust. Plastic water pipe on ships is Polypropylene, not PVC. Polypropylene piping is approved for ultra-pure water installations, as well as pharmaceutical applications.

 

No fair!!!!

You shouldn't be distributing actual knowledge of how a ship operates!!! :eek:

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I happen to think the water on NCL tastes fine (I drink filtered water at home[emoji572]) so I wouldn't bother with bottled water. I thought the taste of tap water on CCL to be inferior. Not sure why as it MUST be filtered as well. Their bottled water was self branded; so was it the same water filtered a few extra times?? I really wondered. RCI includes water and specialty coffe in their soda package. This was excellent. I wish NCL would create an intermediate level like this.

 

 

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If you can adjust to drinking tap water.....and it's not a problem for me....there is an easy answer. Bring an empty water bottle and fill it in port. Empty before you return on board.

 

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off Epic last month and had same thought. They made us throw out an EMPTY water bottle. Probably would have let us keep a high priced personal hydration vessel but an empty plastic bottle..no

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Do you have to pay if you need water for baby formula?

 

 

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Yes, you have to pay if you purchase it aboard ship. However, you can get prior permission to bring some aboard.

Be sure you read the link ColinIllinois gives you in post #41 and follow that process since to bring water aboard for infant formula you must have prior permission from accessdesk@ncl.com

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