Water price increase

[loman]

1 hour ago, whitecap said:

I agree and we may just have to find a vessel (pitcher) to carry water back to the room.

I carry a couple of glasses of water back to my cabin when im done for the evening. 

[loman]

4 minutes ago, ShillyShally said:

Water can taste different, I drink about 2 gallons a day and know immediately if water tastes different.  Yes at home I drink filtered and otherwise don't drink bottled but when traveling I do buy bottles for the room to ensure I have something likely better than what may be coming out of the tap at a hotel or on a ship.  But in a pinch will absolutely drink that too.  When I buy bottles I buy what I like because I have taste preferences and water is not the same from every bottle.  

Thats a lot of water, good for you for choosing a healthy beverage.🙂

I use a brita at home , and i cant tell the difference between water brands

so ship water for me is fine. 

 

[whitecap]

20 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

Water is water, folks.  But there can be taste differences depending on what you are used to drinking. However, All bottled water is just bottled water. Smart Water doesn't make you smarter than tap water. Evian is all marketing, thus being better is simply in your head.  Why are you paying more for water than you do for gas? The Evian is over $9 a gallon.😮

I don't necessarily disagree however, the taste and the added ingredients can certainly make a difference, especially to those who need to be careful of minerals etc, that are added to foods and waters.

[Guest phd1003]

1 hour ago, crewsweeper said:

The Evian is over $9 a gallon.😮

[Fouremco]

Back a good number of years ago, when bottled water sales were starting to gain a foothold in the US, Consumer Reports ran a blind taste test using a variety of (primarily European) bottled waters and a few samples of US city waters. The surprising (?) winner was good old NY city tap water!

[roseoftx]

Curious where someone saw that it was Evian, I know that this is given out in the suites, but what we got in our cabin in February was no name brand.  And I agree the price hike was quite a jump.  Even had me considering getting a refreshment package but that $30 a day vs $30 total. 

[ShillyShally]

56 minutes ago, roseoftx said:

Curious where someone saw that it was Evian, I know that this is given out in the suites, but what we got in our cabin in February was no name brand.  And I agree the price hike was quite a jump.  Even had me considering getting a refreshment package but that $30 a day vs $30 total. 

The new water option is Evian, now what is curious, since I too booked under the no name mentioned, is it doesn’t show reserved now that my cruise shows the new water package. I’ll need to check to make sure my reservation wasn’t refunded but also now I’m curious if 1. I’ll still get water and 2. If it will be Evian or the last of any no name bottled they have

[icsys]

1 hour ago, roseoftx said:

Curious where someone saw that it was Evian, I know that this is given out in the suites, but what we got in our cabin in February was no name brand.  And I agree the price hike was quite a jump.  Even had me considering getting a refreshment package but that $30 a day vs $30 total. 

 

What we got last October was San Benedetto in CANS

 

 

[RD64]

8 hours ago, whitecap said:

And I could understand that once an item becomes "popular" that it may cause a slight increase but Doubled?  I kind of think that doubling the price may actually be taking advantage of your customers.  But thats just me.

Supply and demand. RCL is not forcing anybody to purchase bottled water.

[rockmom]

They have had Evian packages in the past and they were always more expensive.  Over the past few years there have been water packages for 'not a famous brand' bottled water.  We paid $11.99 last black Friday for a 12 pack for a cruise on Freedom that sailed in February.  We have a 24 pack of 'bottled/canned/ water du jour reserved for a longer sailing, on Black Friday it was $16.99.   The bottles/cans were always whatever the local brand would be, as someone showed, last summer we had the canned San Benedetto water when sailing out of Rome. That was also a 24 pack we pre-booked and was less than $20.  Maybe they are doing away with basic, local brand water and will only offer Evian and a higher price?  Makes the C&A Welcome waters more valuable, if they are giving Evian, lol.  

Edited March 9, 2023 by rockmom

[ONECRUISER]

9 hours ago, whitecap said:

DW has just informed me that Evian is considered a higher quality maybe, but is it really?  Reminds me of a movie I once saw where a marketing genius told her client, "you can change the label, but it's still tap water from NY".  🤣

Evian is $12-14 a 6pack in my area, been that way for yrs, even pre-CV. Same with paying over $30 for 12pack on Royal Ships, nothing new been that way at least 8-10yrs. And no, its not US tap water either

Edited March 9, 2023 by ONECRUISER

[mets07]

7 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Back a good number of years ago, when bottled water sales were starting to gain a foothold in the US, Consumer Reports ran a blind taste test using a variety of (primarily European) bottled waters and a few samples of US city waters. The surprising (?) winner was good old NY city tap water!

Truthfully, not surprising to anyone who grew up in any of the five boroughs of New York City.    

 

Here is some background info:

A combination of aqueducts, reservoirs, and tunnels supplies fresh water to New York City. With three major water systems (Croton, Catskill, and Delaware) stretching up to 125 miles (201 km) away from the city, its water supply system is one of the most extensive municipal water systems in the world.

New York's water treatment process is simpler than most other American cities. This largely reflects how well protected its watersheds are. The city has sought to restrict development surrounding them.

 

 

[Fouremco]

6 minutes ago, mets07 said:

Truthfully, not surprising to anyone who grew up in any of the five boroughs of New York City.    

 

Here is some background info:

A combination of aqueducts, reservoirs, and tunnels supplies fresh water to New York City. With three major water systems (Croton, Catskill, and Delaware) stretching up to 125 miles (201 km) away from the city, its water supply system is one of the most extensive municipal water systems in the world.

New York's water treatment process is simpler than most other American cities. This largely reflects how well protected its watersheds are. The city has sought to restrict development surrounding them.

 

 

Thanks for the information. I wasn't previously aware of the scope of its water system.

[deliver42]

Unless the bottle says spring water, most bottled waters are nothing more than tap water with a filter. The ship water is probably safer than any bottled water they sell.

[LB_NJ]

10 hours ago, whitecap said:

A couple of weeks ago, while preparing for our upcoming back to back on the Adventure of the Seas, we checked out the water package, to have bottled water delivered to the stateroom.  The price was comparable to what we are use to paying on Princess, $7 for 12 bottles.  I delayed in ordering and in checking yesterday, the water package had been taken off the RCCL website.  I contacted RCCL and they advised they were working on getting the package back on the site.  Well, this morning the water package was back on the site and ready to receive orders, HOWEVER, the price had skyrocketed.  A 12 pack of 1 liter bottles ( 1 liter is equal to 2 bottles of the regular size) is now being sold for $31.  Prior to this change, the cost was $18 for 24 regular bottles.  Math not being one of my strong suits, it does appear to me that RCCL has just doubled the price for the same amount of water.  As a comparison, Princess continues to sell 12 regular size bottles of bottled water for $7.  

Is this increase just another way that RCCL is attempting to steer passengers toward the 'beverage packages"?

Well, we still have several months before departure and hopefully the price will come back down. 

They are looking at everything to raise revenue and cut costs.  If it ever goes down, it won't be by much.  This will continue until people stop traveling on the cruise line.

[md80fan]

I wonder if this is more of a logistic issue ( as well as a profit issue). Cases of water and pallets of water take up precious space on a ship not to mention how heavy a case of water is. Maybe Royal is thinking it is not worth the hassle of dedicating storage space and having staff members lug around cases of water to staterooms. Maybe they figure they will raise the price to decrease demand and for those that must have water then Royal will make it worth their wild in terms of added profit. I am just guessing here with no first hand knowledge. I do not know who delivers cases of water to staterooms as I have never ordered it but if this goes with stateroom attendants having more rooms to look after do they want them lugging around cases of water at the beginning of a cruise.

[Ryder101]

Help me out here. Where in the planner under water does it specifically say Evian? I see the crazy price jump from $11.99 to $30, but it doesn't mention water brand???

[bajathree]

It was reported by someone currently on Odyssey that they ordered the water package last week on their sailing and received 1 Liter glass bottles of Acqua Panna

Edited March 9, 2023 by bajathree

[Markus201]

How much water are you allowed to carry on?

[bajathree]

6 hours ago, Markus201 said:

How much water are you allowed to carry on?

Guests may also bring non-alcoholic beverages as carry-on items on boarding day. Non-alcoholic beverages may not exceed 12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom.

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/food-drink-onboard-policy

[JeffT237]

20 hours ago, whitecap said:

  I kind of think that doubling the price may actually be taking advantage of your customers. 

Currently onboard the Wonder, prices have been high on everything. I don’t think Royal is trying to take advantage of their passengers, they’re making the most they can at price points many people are willing to pay. 

[adolfo2]

We had previously "booked & paid" for a 24-bottle case of water... waiting for them to cancel 😞

[whitecap]

1 hour ago, JeffT237 said:

Currently onboard the Wonder, prices have been high on everything. I don’t think Royal is trying to take advantage of their passengers, they’re making the most they can at price points many people are willing to pay. 

I believe you are correct.  Like everything else, grocery stores, gas stations, service oriented companies, they are all "testing the waters" to see how far they can go before the public begins to stop utilizing their services.  I don't think, if I were the one making the decisions, that I would approve such a huge leap in price, but I don't sit in the Board room.  When the customers begin to reject the cruise lines prices, whether it be for water, beverage packages or excursions, they will re-evaluate and maybe come back to a reasonable price.  Until then, we'll find a way to compensate.

[whitecap]

3 minutes ago, adolfo2 said:

We had previously "booked & paid" for a 24-bottle case of water... waiting for them to cancel 😞

I surely do hope that RCCL would not stoop to doing that, just to make a few extra bucks.  If they do, well, that will tell you something about RCCL.

[long4acruise]

To compare water pricing against another cruiseline: HAL is charging $37.99 (incl 18% service charge ) for twelve 12-oz cans!  That's $3 per 12 oz can.

Guests aren't allowed to bring on any plastic bottles of water either at embarkation or at the port. Guest can bring on up to six liters or twelve cans (500 ml or less) per stateroom.