Drinking Water free or pay?

[Ohana Cruiser]

First time cruiser question. We are going to the Baltics on a 14 night cruise on Celebrity Constellation. Does anyone know if we have to purchase drinking water if you are ordering room service or in the dining room?. Or can a glass or pitcher of water be delivered to your room? I called Celebrity and spoke to someone that told me Ice Tea, coffee and milk are free drinks, but water must be paid for. Any advice? We are a big water drinking family and I'd hate to pay for bottled water on a 14 night cruise. Can I order Ice tea without the tea? (^_^).

[Essiesmom]

The water from the faucets is safe to drink, and you will have an ice bucket in your cabin. Water is desalinated seawater, and is chlorinated. Water in northern Europe is also safe to drink, so you would not need to buy water to take on shore excursions. Take a widemouth bottle for each person and fill it in the buffet before you leave the ship, or ask for it to be filled at the bar. EM

[Andee]

If you insist on drinking bottled water, you will have to pay for it. if you are willing to drink tap water, as I am, you can have it at any meal, and get it from the sink in your room.

[Ohana Cruiser]

Thanks so much for the H20 advice.

[Tatianablue]

I just returned from a Carnival cruise, to us, the water had such a taste to it. I tried and tried to drink it, but had to drink the bottled water in our room. I gave it my best shot, but just could not drink it. The only place I could stand it was in the dining room.

 

I hope you have a better experience:)

[davecttr]

Apparently if you fill your water bottle with tap water and leave it in the fridge with the top off for a couple of hours the chlorine taste etc will disappear. Or you could add some juice to kill any remaining taste, either way you will feel good drinking your expensive bottled water for free.

[CruiserPK]

Through LL Bean, REI and that type of store, you can buy personal water bottles with filters that would probably do the trick. They are for serious campers/backpackers, but could certainly work on a cruise ship! I personally would not drink the ship's water, but it is a preference.

Cheers, Pam

[cb at sea]

Everything you eat on the ship is prepared with the ship's water. It's safe to drink, and when chilled with ice, is tasty! (It never runs really cold from the tap, however, so ice is a must!)

[jorgesgirll]

Why dont you just bring your own water!!! I do!! A 24 pack of poland spring!

[Ohana Cruiser]

I was told by Celebrity that we are not allowed to bring our own water. So I thought I'd bring a Brita filtered water pitcher. What ship were you on that let you bring water on board?

 

Why dont you just bring your own water!!! I do!! A 24 pack of poland spring!

[FritzG]

On the Diamond we apparently had a pitcher of ice water in our refrigerator every day. We didn't open the refrigerator until the 5th or 6th day so we didn't even know it was there!

[OVgirl]

Last year, on Galaxy, we had a thermal pitcher of water on the desk everyday. There was also an ice bucket.

[hajekfam]

Celebrity has a thermal pitcher with ice water in each cabin as well as the ice bucket and glasses (real glass). Your cabin steward makes sure that the pitcher and bucket are filled during the day - if you need more, you can call him to refresh it.

As far as excursions go, we buy a bottle of water the first port day and then refill it each day from our cabin. We usually refill it when we come back from an excursion and then put the bottle in the refrigerator (mini bar that we have the steward empty on the first day).

[smeyer418]

three points,

 

1. some people are very sensitive to the salt in sea water. Even after its been desalinated by reverse osmosis residual salts do effect a small number of people. If you are unusually sensitive to salt(and you know who you are because you swell up)...you may need to use bottles water.

 

2. most cruise lines customer service say you can't bring bottled water on board but the crew and the screeners don't stop you.

 

and finally.

you shouldn't fill your previously used bottles directly from a spigot (this has cause illness on some ships) The correct way to do it is to fill either a clean glass or a pitcher first and then fill your bottle- This is because you occasionally touch the spout with the lip of your bottle and it is contaminated with your saliva. Of course if you thoroughly wash your bottle with soapy water and then sterilize first its ok....

[Putterdude]

The only problem that I have with shipboard water is that is not cold. However add some ice to it, it is just fine.

[clearwater10]

I have been on 20 cruises and I always bring bottled water and diet cokes with me. I am not a huge drinker but I take one to the pool with me and I like to have one in the room when I want it. I have put it in my carry on and never have had a problem. I have been on Disney, Carnival, RCCL and Princess. I don't take cases but, I do take a couple of six packs and several water. As long as it is not opened, you should be fine. You could put some in the checked baggage as well, just roll them in the clothes so they don't bust from all the throwing around they do with the luggage. If you are flying to the port, you need to consider their rules or pick it up on the way to the port.

[chipmaster]

Everything you eat on the ship is prepared with the ship's water. It's safe to drink, and when chilled with ice, is tasty! (It never runs really cold from the tap, however, so ice is a must!)

 

 

LOL, I remember reading once a gourmet food article about how the most important elment go great tasting food was the very best starting material, that would probably include the water. Hmm perhaps they don't wash a thing with that nasty ship filtered water.

 

Ship ice water, in tea, coffee and the food all tasted fine to me. Damm I am paying enough I figure the water has got to be safe to drink.

 

By the way between RO or distilation I'll wager that the ship board water is as pure as most municipal sources.

[Vampire Parrot]

On nearly every modern cruise ship, fresh water is made mostly from evaporators, with a smaller proportion made using reverse osmosis. As such, it's usually very soft. The water is tested each day for quality and taste, and detailed records are kept. I'm rather fussy about the taste of water, and have found that the tap water on the ships I've been on in the last 5 years has always been fine.

 

Usually, it's the salt in the meals that causes swollen ankles etc., not the sodium in the water.... ever seen how much salt a good restaurant uses? :eek:

 

VP

[cruiserbryce]

I dont think the bartenders will fill already empty bottles for you...there were even signs on our last cruise by the drinking fountains that said refilling water is prohibited...unsure how much is for safety/health reasons and how much for $$ reasons but still...

[smeyer418]

On nearly every modern cruise ship, fresh water is made mostly from evaporators, with a smaller proportion made using reverse osmosis. As such, it's usually very soft. The water is tested each day for quality and taste, and detailed records are kept. I'm rather fussy about the taste of water, and have found that the tap water on the ships I've been on in the last 5 years has always been fine.

 

Usually, it's the salt in the meals that causes swollen ankles etc., not the sodium in the water.... ever seen how much salt a good restaurant uses? :eek:

 

VP

 

every cruise ship I have been on uses reverse osmosis. Its much cheaper because you don't have to boil the water to make steam(yes I know they can use electricity to heat the water but that used a lot of fuel to work the generators too) and re-condense it. When the ships used steam it was just as easy to re-condense it for water anyway, Ships are prohibited from making water within 3 miles of shore. if they were using the steam method it wouldn't matter, but because they water is merely desalinated without boiling its safer to do it off shore.

 

You may be right about the salt in the food but it has been reported that even when people get a salt free diet on a ship the swell up anyway.....

[chipmaster]

every cruise ship I have been on uses reverse osmosis. Its much cheaper because you don't have to boil the water to make steam(yes I know they can use electricity to heat the water but that used a lot of fuel to work the generators too) and re-condense it. When the ships used steam it was just as easy to re-condense it for water anyway, Ships are prohibited from making water within 3 miles of shore. if they were using the steam method it wouldn't matter, but because they water is merely desalinated without boiling its safer to do it off shore.

 

You may be right about the salt in the food but it has been reported that even when people get a salt free diet on a ship the swell up anyway.....

 

Now is that ankle swelling or waist swelling, I find my waist swells on every cruise :o

 

Edema ( swollen ankle/feet) that most experience is most likely a combinatoin of stress of travel, change of diet ( unbalanced and salt rich ), and perhaps poor fitness.

 

Moderation of eat and drink and being healthy is a far smarter and higher probability cure then those that believe bottle water and soda are the cures.

 

I agree if it tastes bad to ya, then how can you enjoy vacation and you gotta to what you gotta do. For me the complimentry free coffee, lemonade, ice tea, and boring old ice water and them meals are treats enough!! :D

[Red-Bird]

Edema ( swollen ankle/feet) that most experience is most likely a combinatoin of stress of travel, change of diet ( unbalanced and salt rich ), and perhaps poor fitness.

 

They are also a symptom of C.O.P.D. and heart problems.

 

D

[chipmaster]

They are also a symptom of C.O.P.D. and heart problems.

 

D

 

Yeah, I saw that too, and wouldn't be surprise that many don't have that too :eek:

[Vampire Parrot]

every cruise ship I have been on uses reverse osmosis. Its much cheaper because you don't have to boil the water to make steam(yes I know they can use electricity to heat the water but that used a lot of fuel to work the generators too) and re-condense it. When the ships used steam it was just as easy to re-condense it for water anyway, Ships are prohibited from making water within 3 miles of shore. if they were using the steam method it wouldn't matter, but because they water is merely desalinated without boiling its safer to do it off shore.

 

Yes, pretty much every ship can use reverse osmosis, but most of the fresh water produced on board a modern ship is from a multi-stage flash evaporator.

 

The energy used to run these evaporators is from low-grade heat from the engines, (e.g. from the engine cooling system) it's energy that would otherwise be wasted.

 

The seawater isn't boiled in an evaporator, instead it's heated to about 80C, and pumped to a flash chamber which is below atmospheric pressure at which point the seawater boils. The distillate (water) produced is very pure and contains less than 4 parts per million (!) of salt. The slightly cooler water is then fed into another flash chamber which is at a lower pressure, the water boils again, the distillate is collected, and so on. This can happen 3 or 4 times, hence the name "multi-stage flash evaporator".

 

The evaporators on a cruise ship typically produce around 650 tons per day per evaporator. Carnival Spirit and other Spirit class ships have two of these evaporators, as do HAL's Vista ships. The Queen Victoria has three evaporators, two 650 ton/day and one 400 ton/day.

 

The following cruise lines all use evaporators on their ships:

Norwegian Cruise Line, AIDA Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa, Princess Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, MSC Cruises, P&O Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Cunard Line.

 

The problem with Reverse Osmosis is that it uses more energy, as seawater has to be pressurised to at least 600 psi in an RO plant.

 

VP (Engineering Geek)