Plastic Bottles Reusable

[Mauzac]

19 minutes ago, DocJames said:

Just off the Ovation.  The water that was brought to my suite was the same size water bottle that is placed on the table as one departs the ship. It is not in carafes.  So, yes, it has a screw on/off cap.  Two of these are replaced everyday (and the stewardess places it on the bed table in the evening).

 

Gosh.  I'd need 4 or 5 of those, I drink a lot of water!

[Isklaar]

2 minutes ago, Mauzac said:

 

Gosh.  I'd need 4 or 5 of those, I drink a lot of water!

 

We do too! 

We always request two of the standard mineral water bottles in the suite each day, the 1.5 litre size and we drink those in addition to water with meals, at the pool etc. Will have to ask the stewardess to double them up each day.

 

[galeforce9]

On 10/21/2019 at 6:02 PM, Isklaar said:

 

We do too! 

We always request two of the standard mineral water bottles in the suite each day, the 1.5 litre size and we drink those in addition to water with meals, at the pool etc. Will have to ask the stewardess to double them up each day.

 

Me too!! 

[koalapanda]

Ditto, timely information thank you DocJames.

[2SailingNomads]

Here is what you get on the Quest. Not an open top as some have speculated about.  Your stewardess will bring as many as you would like, but I will note that the taste is a bit off IMO, but then we have a well and multiple filtration layers at home. 

[Isklaar]

3 minutes ago, 2SailingNomads said:

Here is what you get on the Quest. Not an open top as some have speculated about.  Your stewardess will bring as many as you would like, but I will note that the taste is a bit off IMO, but then we have a well and multiple filtration layers at home. 

Very helpful, thank you for posting. 
 

[SLSD]

These bottles look similar in size and shape to water bottles I saw at an REI store yesterday.  

[2SailingNomads]

35 minutes ago, Isklaar said:

Very helpful, thank you for posting. 
 

Glad to be helpful 😀Too many posts on this thread w/ simply speculation.  Weight is definitely more than a plastic bottle, but not oppressively depending on your physical ability I guess. But we brought a lightweight bottle to take when we go onshore.  

 

 

[JodiandFrank]

We were recently on a 33 night cruise on the Ovation from Dubai to HKG.  We drink a lot of water at home, but really disliked the taste of the water onboard ship.   We purchased water and brought it back to the ship when we were in port, but we had lots of sea days and we wound up getting dehydrated.  Not a good thing!  We found that if the water was cold it didn't taste as bad as when it was room temperature, but I still prefer bottled water than this specially filtered water.

[buchhalm]

Well, my 92-year-old Irish neighbour always says "Don't drink water, fish make love in it". (He doesn't say "make love", but you get the idea)

[buchhalm]

A colleague of mine who runs a large airline catering company is currently conducting test where dishes and cutlery (porcelaine, glass, metal, plastic, melamine etc) are sterilized by a "bath" in UV light after the washing process.

Far less water and chemicals are used, and the results are very satisfying. 

[teamflames]

On 2/27/2020 at 11:57 AM, JodiandFrank said:

We were recently on a 33 night cruise on the Ovation from Dubai to HKG.  We drink a lot of water at home, but really disliked the taste of the water onboard ship.   We purchased water and brought it back to the ship when we were in port, but we had lots of sea days and we wound up getting dehydrated.  Not a good thing!  We found that if the water was cold it didn't taste as bad as when it was room temperature, but I still prefer bottled water than this specially filtered water.

Why couldn’t you just request bottled branded water ? It is still included isn’t it? You don’t need to bring your own do you?

[florisdekort]

On 3/4/2020 at 10:21 PM, teamflames said:

Why couldn’t you just request bottled branded water ? It is still included isn’t it? You don’t need to bring your own do you?

It’s complicated. All water is now Seabourn water. Even in The Restaurant. On Encore now, even speaking to the F&B Manager didn’t get me branded water “because the head office no longer allows it and therefore it’s no longer loaded in bulk”.  If you make a huge fuss, they’ll find you some, but it requires staff to run to local stores and buy it.  In the end we gave in and are now drinking Seabourn’s water.  It’s OK, not great, but manageable.  (An obvious work around is ordering sparkling water, that’s still branded, for now.) 

 

Much more dire is the situation with Corona beer.  They now refuse to serve it with fresh lime, as the lime can’t be removed from the bottle and therefore they can’t properly separate green waste from recyclable waste...  Seriously...
 

Floris 

[teamflames]

3 hours ago, florisdekort said:

It’s complicated. All water is now Seabourn water. Even in The Restaurant. On Encore now, even speaking to the F&B Manager didn’t get me branded water “because the head office no longer allows it and therefore it’s no longer loaded in bulk”.  If you make a huge fuss, they’ll find you some, but it requires staff to run to local stores and buy it.  In the end we gave in and are now drinking Seabourn’s water.  It’s OK, not great, but manageable.  (An obvious work around is ordering sparkling water, that’s still branded, for now.) 

 

Much more dire is the situation with Corona beer.  They now refuse to serve it with fresh lime, as the lime can’t be removed from the bottle and therefore they can’t properly separate green waste from recyclable waste...  Seriously...
 

Floris 

Thanks for the update, not comforting news (although clearly there are bigger issues confronting our decision to board).

We had a very similar problem on Viking Ocean, they have their own water and sparkling. It unfortunately took a LOT of complaining before they relented and have us branded sparkling water.

The beer update does not surprise me, we could not even get an answer on our last cruise of what beers were available. The drinks offerings on SB were its major downfall for us.

Hope things improve for you.

[saminina]

SB Seattle is discouraging branded bottled water being ordered pre cruise.    We received a letter promoting their green way of doing things and basically forget about them supplying our preference.    Eventually they agreed to supply what we wanted, but not without aggravation.

 

 

 

[medroots]

It really has become very complicated on board. I agree with the commenters who say the water frequently has an off taste. Occasionally the bottles have that soapy odor as well.  Sojourn doesn’t have the smaller bottles yet and the larger bottles are quite heavy and cumbersome to take out for a day ashore.  US Public Health required SB to remove the gaskets in the lids as they can’t be properly sanitized, with the result that many bottles leak. But we have become really annoyed at the extent to which they’ve carried out the green philosophy. Toothpaste in the Boutique now comes in a small jar (no more plastic tubes), is organic (does it even meet dentistry standards?), has a terrible taste and is priced at a ridiculous $10 USD.  The deodorant is organic as well, and not terribly effective in a hot and humid climate. The soaps available in the suite in the large dispensers are all scented and have caused rashes on several people with sensitive skin.  All of this can be worked around on shorter cruises, but it’s difficult to bring enough of everything from home for a 5 month world cruise. Many of us have spent a lot of time on shore shopping for toiletry we previously received or purchased aboard. 

[SLSD]

10 hours ago, medroots said:

 The soaps available in the suite in the large dispensers are all scented and have caused rashes on several people with sensitive skin.  All of this can be worked around on shorter cruises, but it’s difficult to bring enough of everything from home for a 5 month world cruise. Many of us have spent a lot of time on shore shopping for toiletry we previously received or purchased aboard. 

I have ALWAYS gotten rashes from the soaps on Seabourn, unless I use L'Occitane soaps which we use at home.  Because I cannot be assured that L'Occitane soaps will be available (sometimes they are!) , I always bring a couple of small bars of it myself.  (It's not that it's the only soap I can use, but at least I know it will not cause a rash).  I also bring Cortisone cream in case I get a rash.  I learned when I had to go to the ship's doctor at one time (our first SB cruise and the rash was severe)

 that MANY passengers have reported getting a rash from the soap.  So--my advice is to at least bring some soap that you know your skin will accept.  I understand how the world cruisers might have to be bring a number of bars of soap.  

Edited March 7, 2020 by SLSD

[jenidallas]

Do they still offer the green French soap with the textured elements?  I always use that or L’occitane because I’m allergic to eucalyptus (which is in the special Seabourn Molton Brown shower gel).  Many times I can get suite stewardesses to bring me other MB scents that do not cause me to develop hives.

[Ragnar Danneskjold]

On 3/6/2020 at 12:47 PM, florisdekort said:

Much more dire is the situation with Corona beer.  They now refuse to serve it with fresh lime, as the lime can’t be removed from the bottle and therefore they can’t properly separate green waste from recyclable waste...  Seriously...

That’s it, I’m trading in my Tesla for a diesel F-350 pickup.  It’s all gone too far.

[Catlover54]

On 3/7/2020 at 3:52 PM, saminina said:

SB Seattle is discouraging branded bottled water being ordered pre cruise.    We received a letter promoting their green way of doing things and basically forget about them supplying our preference.    Eventually they agreed to supply what we wanted, but not without aggravation.

 

 

 

We boarded the Encore yesterday and at dinner in the TK Grill we were offered regular or “sparkling” water from pitchers.  The “sparkling” water offered,  presumably SB made, was almost flat ( not surprising as it had been sloshing around in a pitcher for an unknown period of time). In our room we had no problem getting Pelligrino, as we have done on prior cruises ( we both prefer sparkling mineral water) , and will request that for dinner today and see if we can get it without fuss.

Hopefully we will not have the same waiter as we did in the Colonnade yesterday who declined to get me a glass of pinot noir, said he did not have any Pinot , and when I expressed astonishment there was none, none on the whole ship, he insisted it “had not been delivered”.

[whogo]

The reusable plastic bottles were a nonissue to me. The water tasted fine, but then I drink tap water at home and when traveling in the USA and Europe. I don't remember the good old days when Seabourn provided water in single use plastic. I am no Feinschmecker and not the right kind of people. I saw the bottles stacked in dish washer racks in the galley, assume they are washed like all the other dishes and glassware.

 

A couple of other notes from the little bit of this thread that I have read. The Quest still had bar soap on our January sailing, no big dispensers in our cabin. I was happy with the shampoo and random Molton Brown bar soap I chose, but then I am not the right kind of people.

 

I never understood the fresh lime and Corona thing, I don't think fruit belongs in beer and sticking a wedge on a beer bottle is ridiculous. Why not pour the beer into a glass like a civilized person, run the lime around the rim, and squeeze the lime and drop it in the glass?

[Ubiquiti]

Just read this topic (having recently got off the Sojourn) and agree with the funny tasting water complaints.
 

Seriously: When a luxury cruise line now has guests bringing their own water and soap on board, the powers that be have lost the plot.

[Mauzac]

I had absolutely no problem with the water.  I take my hat off to SB for taking the single use plastic issue seriously.  Every company should. 

 

We always chilled the water in the fridge, the taste was fine as far as we were concerned.    No problem with soap either.  

[Catlover54]

We recently disembarked the Encore.  The big SB water containers were available to take on excursions when getting off. I did not bother with them, as they are heavy and I drink sparkling water unless out, and I was refilling the little plastic bottles I had brought with me with sparkling Pelligrino from our suite for excursions. DH hates SB bottles for excursions (heavy and leaky) though he thinks the water tastes ok, but he is not picky about water as long as it is cold. We washed out or home plastic bottles in the suite each day ( I addressed the possible long term safety issue some people have with doing this previously).

 

The stewardess kept our suite stocked with bottled Pelligrino , and we learned at meals to ask for Pelligrino which would eventually come room temperature, so we knew to ask for a glass of ice on the side. One waiter told us to ask for Perrier instead as it is a smaller bottle, so we started asking for that, but often they would bring Pelligrino anyway, either was fine.

 

So we did not have a problem getting bottled  sparkling water in the suite or dining venues, it just took longer in venues, a very minor issue.

We saw a few tables in MDR with bottled still water, not sure if pax had to fuss to get it. but it looked like most pax just drank the room temp pitcher water waiters came around with.

If the water quirks were the only issue on SB it would not stop us from cruising with them, if they stay in business.  It is other service and communication issues that might, depending on what their competitors are doing in the brave new cruising world, when and if it re-emerges.

 

They still had the little soap bars, including the green ones, all ok for us.