Bringing water on board

[Balsam12]

Hello Good People,

 

Doing our first HAL cruise from Vancouver in September, and not sure about the process for bringing water on board. We know it must be in cans or cartons, and there is a limit on the amount you can bring. The question is about how you bring it on board?

With some cruise lines it must be carried on, is it the same with HAL? If so, how early do you have access to your cabin to drop it off? We don't want to have a case of water that we have to carry around for hours on boarding day...

 

Finally, does anyone know the approximate cost of buying said water in Vancouver prior to boarding?

 

Cheers,

 

Balsam

[VMax1700]

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq/know-before-you-go.html

 

Items such as sodas, energy drinks or other non-alcoholic items are not allowed on board in any form. Plastic water bottles are not allowed. However, an allowance of six liters, twelve (12) cans or cartons (500 ml in volume or less) or six (6) cans or cartons (1 liter in volume or less) of water are allowed per stateroom.  Any amount in excess of this allowance will be not be allowed onboard. Water in plastic bottles will not be allowed onboard in any quantity, including in ports of call. Guests will be asked to discard open beverages in plastic containers prior to boarding. 

[Balsam12]

20 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/faq/know-before-you-go.html

 

Items such as sodas, energy drinks or other non-alcoholic items are not allowed on board in any form. Plastic water bottles are not allowed. However, an allowance of six liters, twelve (12) cans or cartons (500 ml in volume or less) or six (6) cans or cartons (1 liter in volume or less) of water are allowed per stateroom.  Any amount in excess of this allowance will be not be allowed onboard. Water in plastic bottles will not be allowed onboard in any quantity, including in ports of call. Guests will be asked to discard open beverages in plastic containers prior to boarding. 

Yes. As I noted in my post, I have read the HAL FAQ.

What I want to know is the "procedure" for bringing water on board, and possibly the cost to purchase water in Vancouver prior to boarding.

 

Thanks anyway...

[Florida_gal_50]

I wonder if you’ll even be able to find water in cans or cartons.  I have not seen anything like that and I live in a large city in Canada.  Perhaps Vancouver is different.

[cruisemom42]

HAL does not allow carrying on cans of soda any longer?

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Balsam12 said:

Hello Good People,

 

Doing our first HAL cruise from Vancouver in September, and not sure about the process for bringing water on board. We know it must be in cans or cartons, and there is a limit on the amount you can bring. The question is about how you bring it on board?

With some cruise lines it must be carried on, is it the same with HAL? If so, how early do you have access to your cabin to drop it off? We don't want to have a case of water that we have to carry around for hours on boarding day...

 

Finally, does anyone know the approximate cost of buying said water in Vancouver prior to boarding?

 

Cheers,

 

Balsam

 

Not aware of anywhere in Metro Vancouver that sells water in anything but plastic bottles. However, you may have some specialty stores in downtown Vancouver.

 

I am tagging our local Vancouver expert for his opinion 

 

 

@martincath

[Florida_gal_50]

20 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

HAL does not allow carrying on cans of soda any longer?

Is this a question?  What hal says and does are two things.  In a somewhat recent thread a poster reported taking a case of pop on in plastic bottles.  I don't drink pop so I'm not about to test that theory.

[Crew News]

24 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

HAL does not allow carrying on cans of soda any longer?

They do not permit sodas to be brought aboard.

[cruisemom42]

2 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Is this a question?  What hal says and does are two things.  In a somewhat recent thread a poster reported taking a case of pop on in plastic bottles.  I don't drink pop so I'm not about to test that theory.

 

Just curious as I never realized the rules had changed in that regard. I definitely took some cans of soda onboard in Japan. Not intentionally breaking the rules, just based on past practice. I was aware of the plastic issue but I still assumed cans were fine. No one questioned me.

 

Also, interestingly, HAL was using plastic water bottles throughout my April Westerdam cruise (28 days).  I know, I know, blame it on the supply chain....

Edited June 24, 2023 by cruisemom42

[slidergirl]

31 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Not aware of anywhere in Metro Vancouver that sells water in anything but plastic bottles. However, you may have some specialty stores in downtown Vancouver.

 

I am tagging our local Vancouver expert for his opinion 

 

 

@martincath

I wonder if Whole Foods would at least have cartons of water.  All the WF stores I visit here below the Southern Border have them.  

[Florida_gal_50]

28 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Just curious as I never realized the rules had changed in that regard. I definitely took some cans of soda onboard in Japan. Not intentionally breaking the rules, just based on past practice. I was aware of the plastic issue but I still assumed cans were fine. No one questioned me.

 

Also, interestingly, HAL was using plastic water bottles throughout my April Westerdam cruise (28 days).  I know, I know, blame it on the supply chain....

They are also fine with their crew carrying on plastic water bottles.  Pretty sure this is a revenue thing.

[martincath]

1 hour ago, Balsam12 said:

... If so, how early do you have access to your cabin to drop it off?

 

Finally, does anyone know the approximate cost of buying said water in Vancouver prior to boarding?

Thanks again @Heidi13 Andy, I might have missed this Q given the generic title.

 

First Balsam, while I'm aware of canned regular drinking water (ideal for long-term storage, the kind of thing that many of us with an Earthquake kit acquire as it doesn't need swapped out at all often) it's generally very pricey - frankly I would guess that unless you literally only consume water, and therefore any of the Beverage Packages would be of no value to you at all, you'd find life easier and likely cheaper to just buy a package to get you all the bottled water you need. And given the listed volumes per cabin, you cannot possibly bring enough onboard to drink throughout a cruise instead of what's available onboard - it's less than 1L per day per cabin not remotely adequate for your only source of hydration!

 

Secondly, even if we can figure out a reasonable location/pricepoint for you locally to buy a case, you really don't want to take it on board then get off again! Boarding in Vancouver almost always involves preclearing US CBP, leaving the ship again means going back through CBSA into Canada, and it's an unusual thing to do here because of this immigration issue so frankly you're a lot more likely to get follow-up questions and face even longer delays! Board once, stay on, is the only sensible use of time!

 

If you are still keen to acquire canned water though, I got mine from Amazon - and a quick Googling indicates that's probably still by far the least pricey option... On the carton front I have no particular experience as expiration dates are nowhere near as good as canned - but it looks like 1L cartons of alkaline water are readily available (we have a lot of, let's say quirky dietary beliefs locally!) from both Amazon and in our more 'organic' supermarket chains like Whole Paycheck. If you order from Amazon and have it delivered to a close-to-the-pier Locker location (closest is I believe inside the Canada Post office at Granville & W. Pender) you have 3 days to collect packages, so depending on shipping you may find that buying Prime for one month to get a nice, tight delivery window is cheaper than paying extra for a 1-day shipping time!

 

Caveat - if HAL allow 'water with stuff in it' to be brought onboard life becomes simpler! 12-packs of flavoured fizzy water (mostly in standard 355ml cans, so unfortunately not maxing out your allowance efficiently) cost about the same as pop and are available in all the drugstores, supermarkets etc. That angle you'll need to hope some recent HAL cruisers are able to confirm policy on though!

[cruisingdreamer]

London Drugs sells cartons of water.  Closest London Drugs is about 4 blocks up Granville Street from port. 

[cruisingdreamer]

should have added : londondrugs.com

[3Shelaghs]

Gee this is a toughie. I'll be doing the same in Amsterdam. The cruise port area of Vancouver doesn't have many little stores for food/snacks. You might grab a cab and ask him to take you to nearest convenience or grocery store. Cost.....LOL.... it is Canada... so........ $30 Can for the 500ml cases of 18, or $35. Can for 12 one litre bottles. You can get cheaper water. 

Or if staying at a Vancouver hotel, ask the concierge or desk staff where to obtain .

If you can't find any cases of water, grab a hotel bag, and start purchasing the single paks up to your allowance from a convenience store. They have so many types and brands of water, the world is your oyster.... even CBD infused 🙂 Usually there is a port store for the crew???

I believe you tape a cabin tag on the case, and turn the case in at the same time as your luggage 

[Btimmer]

Even with the new rule, we have brought as many as 18 cans of soda onboard in our carryon at port stops during our 5 cruises on HAL since the resumption of operations.  We haven't tested it at embarkation. Your results may vary.

[colin v]

 What’s wrong with water from the ship? Is it filtered through dirty socks?

[wdw1972]

35 minutes ago, colin v said:

 What’s wrong with water from the ship? Is it filtered through dirty socks?

Nope - it's just as good as water people pay for a small fortune for in stores.  It makes no sense to bring water onboard.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[OlsSalt]

About paper water bottles - made from bamboo and sugar cane - a search online shows various purveyors:  https://paperwaterbottle.com

 

In the past we always ordered in-cabin water from the bar staff,  and it was delivered to the room. Or we ordered it ahead of time:

__________________

6 Bottle Acqua Panna Water Package

Price $29.50
BUY NOW
6 BOTTLE ACQUA PANNA WATER PACKAGE
6 - 1 Liter glass bottles of Acqua Panna, premium natural spring water delivered to your stateroom.

Edited June 24, 2023 by OlsSalt

[Florida_gal_50]

4 hours ago, 3Shelaghs said:

Gee this is a toughie. I'll be doing the same in Amsterdam. The cruise port area of Vancouver doesn't have many little stores for food/snacks. You might grab a cab and ask him to take you to nearest convenience or grocery store. Cost.....LOL.... it is Canada... so........ $30 Can for the 500ml cases of 18, or $35. Can for 12 one litre bottles. You can get cheaper water. 

Or if staying at a Vancouver hotel, ask the concierge or desk staff where to obtain .

If you can't find any cases of water, grab a hotel bag, and start purchasing the single paks up to your allowance from a convenience store. They have so many types and brands of water, the world is your oyster.... even CBD infused 🙂 Usually there is a port store for the crew???

I believe you tape a cabin tag on the case, and turn the case in at the same time as your luggage 

I’m pretty sure cbd water will not make it on the ship and you could find yourself in a bit of trouble.  You are supposed to carry it on not slap a luggage tag on it.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, wdw1972 said:

Nope - it's just as good as water people pay for a small fortune for in stores.  It makes no sense to bring water onboard.

 

Sue/WDW1972

I believe it has a higher salt content.  While I don’t drag on water I mostly drink bottled on the ship to keep from blowing up like a puffer fish 🐠 when I’m on a hot cruise.

[wdw1972]

2 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I believe it has a higher salt content.  While I don’t drag on water I mostly drink bottled on the ship to keep from blowing up like a puffer fish 🐠 when I’m on a hot cruise.

I hadn't ever noticed that, but if that's your reality then bottled water makes sense.  Now that I think of it, I always have the Retreat booked, where the big bottles of water are provided.  I always take the open bottle down to my stateroom and basically that's what I use in my insulated metal water bottle when not in the Retreat, so I guess I haven't drank much of the ship tap water in several years.  

 

Sue/WDW1972

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, wdw1972 said:

I hadn't ever noticed that, but if that's your reality then bottled water makes sense.  Now that I think of it, I always have the Retreat booked, where the big bottles of water are provided.  I always take the open bottle down to my stateroom and basically that's what I use in my insulated metal water bottle when not in the Retreat, so I guess I haven't drank much of the ship tap water in several years.  

 

Sue/WDW1972

I always take my extra water back.  I drink a lot of water daily, 2 to 3 litres.  I know some drink a tsp or 2 a day so it does make a difference.  I rarely drink bottled water at home and I never get to puffer fish status so there has to be a difference.  I definitely drink the tap stuff in the restaurants on board.

[Dancing Shoes]

6 hours ago, 3Shelaghs said:

Gee this is a toughie. I'll be doing the same in Amsterdam. The cruise port area of Vancouver doesn't have many little stores for food/snacks. You might grab a cab and ask him to take you to nearest convenience or grocery store. Cost.....LOL.... it is Canada... so........ $30 Can for the 500ml cases of 18, or $35. Can for 12 one litre bottles. You can get cheaper water. 

Or if staying at a Vancouver hotel, ask the concierge or desk staff where to obtain .

If you can't find any cases of water, grab a hotel bag, and start purchasing the single paks up to your allowance from a convenience store. They have so many types and brands of water, the world is your oyster.... even CBD infused 🙂 Usually there is a port store for the crew???

I believe you tape a cabin tag on the case, and turn the case in at the same time as your luggage 

There was a booth selling cans of water at the terminal in Amsterdam.  I almost bit, but was too late. I had no problem bringing an empty plastic bottle on board during embarkation.

[Florida_gal_50]

I’ve had no problem bringing on an empty water bottle either.