Free CPAP water or no?

[mintsugarcube]

I cruised Carnival only a few months ago and someone had said that the CPAP water (distilled water) would be free. All I had to do was to call the special needs department at Carnival. I did. It was free and was waiting for me when we boarded.

 

Today I called Carnival special needs also and am being told "not free. It's $4." Have they changed the policy now?

[Schoifmom]

I don't know, to be honest. I have gotten onboard for $3, and requested it through Special Needs and had it for free. I guess it just depends ...

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

On all 3 cruises we had to pay $3. I tried calling special needs and was told I had to call room service once on board.

[mintsugarcube]

Thanks for your responses!

[mabones]

I cruised Carnival only a few months ago and someone had said that the CPAP water (distilled water) would be free. All I had to do was to call the special needs department at Carnival. I did. It was free and was waiting for me when we boarded.

 

Today I called Carnival special needs also and am being told "not free. It's $4." Have they changed the policy now?

 

Unfortunately you have to pay for the distilled water. My DH just uses the tap water since it has already gone through the sterilization process.

[Earthworm Jim]

Unfortunately you have to pay for the distilled water. My DH just uses the tap water since it has already gone through the sterilization process.

 

That's a good point. Since my understanding is the ship's water is generated using reverse osmosis, does that mean the minerals and other dissolved solids are removed so you don't need distilled?

 

(I don't think sterile is the issue. If you can drink it, it's sterile enough for a CPAP. Besides, your gallon of distilled water is sitting open a long time before you finally use it all. So that's not even technically sterile anymore after the first use when it's been opened.)

 

Edit: Found a youTube video that showed distilled with 0 ppm (parts per million) dissolved solids, reverse osmosis filtered water at 27 ppm, and regular tap water with over 200 ppm. So reserve osmosis is better than regular tap (which varies with how hard your water happens to be) but still isn't as good as distilled.

 

Edited September 17, 2015 by Earthworm Jim

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

That's a good point. Since my understanding is the ship's water is generated using reverse osmosis, does that mean the minerals are removed so you don't need distilled?

 

(I don't think sterile is the issue. If you can drink it, it's sterile enough for a CPAP. Besides, your gallon of distilled water is sitting open a long time before you finally use it all. So that's not even technically sterile anymore after the first use when it's been opened.)

 

I believe minerals are added to the tap water on the ship when the water is from reverse osmosis. However, the ship also uses municipal water while at port, and it fills the tasks before leaving port. So, ship water is a mixture of both

Edited September 17, 2015 by PrincessArlena'sDad

[suzinva]

I called special needs back in Feb 2014 on the Victory. When I arrived, room service brought me 2 gallons (way more than I needed) and charged me $3 or $4 per gallon.

[katiel53]

There has been a charge for it every time I've checked.

[Boozebabe]

On 4 or 5 cruises we have always stopped at CVS to buy a gallon for my friend. Then we discovered the ship sells it for $3. Now we don't have to lug that water around a few hours while waiting for cabins to be ready. Would be worth it at twice the price. BTW let me have a 12 pack of that bottled water too so we don't have to carry that any more either....WHEW!

[RjayB]

I don't understand why anyone thinks it should be free. :confused: Paying $3 or $4 for a gallon sounds more than fair to me.

[Pyrate13]

I've used the tap water in my machine every trip, never had a problem of any kind.

[Grandmaanne7]

Not free on Carnival. We just used bottled water that we prepurchased at a great rate and all was well.

[kelkel2]

New to the whole Cpap thing. My husband just got his this month. Will I need to call in advance for this or can I simply call room service once we arrive?

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

New to the whole Cpap thing. My husband just got his this month. Will I need to call in advance for this or can I simply call room service once we arrive?

 

You can call when you arrive

[Singer4Him]

On our Conquest cruise, we had been told that there would be no charge. Guess what? There was. I don't remember the exact amount but it was a lot more than you would pay at Kroger. Needless to say, the next time, we brought our own.

 

[ConshyCrock]

We've always called ahead because we were told Carnival needs to know about medical equipment on board. The water has always been delivered, but has never been free. It's only a few bucks so it's worth it to not get stuck lugging around a gallon of water until we board.

[dioxide45]

I don't understand why anyone thinks it should be free. :confused: Paying $3 or $4 for a gallon sounds more than fair to me.

 

It was free for my wife when we sailed on Celebrity last fall. Of course that cruise was more expensive than most of the Carnival cruises we have taken, so it wasn't really free. It seems that perhaps the RCL lines offer it for free? Not sure. I know we paid about $3 a bottle on Carnival in April. While it is only about $0.88 a bottle at Walmart, I am willing to pay $3-4 not to have to lug it on to the ship.

 

We had a real ordeal getting it on the Paradise. Called when we were on board and were told they didn't have any. That wouldn't be an option. My wife uses it for a NediPot, not for CPAP. So we aren't taking a chance with tap water that could also be using local port water. Dangerous stuff in there when using a NediPot. When the first person said they had none on the ship, we called back and got someone else on the phone who had it delivered rather quickly. So the same goes on the ship as it does when you call regular customer service on land.

Edited September 19, 2015 by dioxide45

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

On our Conquest cruise, we had been told that there would be no charge. Guess what? There was. I don't remember the exact amount but it was a lot more than you would pay at Kroger. Needless to say, the next time, we brought our own.

 

 

With the new beverage policy, I don't think this would be an option anymore (BYODW)

[kelkel2]

Are you guys marking something on medical advisories under the person account? I don't want to be flagged for anything but if they really need that information I would be happy to comply. The only issue is that there's no choice for c-pap.

[sanmarcosman]

I don't understand why anyone thinks it should be free. :confused: Paying $3 or $4 for a gallon sounds more than fair to me.

Because it was free, now apparently sometimes they charge and sometimes they don't. But it was always free.

Edited September 19, 2015 by sanmarcosman

[JillySue]

I called special needs yesterday and they told me it would be $3. It was $3 last time, too. We marked it on the account as well. I had also marked that I'll need a sharps container, but since we're cruising in 9 days I wanted to follow up and sure enough, special needs hadn't gotten that yet.

 

Make sure to hand carry your CPAP and extension cord, they will check for it if it's on your profile at check in. We always tuck a roll of masking tape in there too, to tape the cord to the floor and minimize tripping :)

Edited September 19, 2015 by JillySue

[kelkel2]

I honestly don't mind paying, I just don't want to get there and them not have it, because you better believe we aren't going to be allowed to bring it. For those of you who fly in the night before..what do you do for the one night you are at the hotel? Do you buy some at a convenience store for one night and just leave the left over water behind?

[MMastell]

I honestly don't mind paying, I just don't want to get there and them not have it, because you better believe we aren't going to be allowed to bring it. For those of you who fly in the night before..what do you do for the one night you are at the hotel? Do you buy some at a convenience store for one night and just leave the left over water behind?

 

I will bring a small bottle in my checked bags for the pre-cruise. If we are close on weight then the water isn't packed and I use bottled water for one or two nights. I order the distilled water from room service and have never had a problem with it not being available.

 

If worst comes to worst, standard bottled water will be fine for one night. You could use ship's water, or bottled water, if you clean your reservoir every day. The only issue is if you have the older reservoirs, that you can't open. Then you want to use distilled to avoid any build up in the chamber.

 

I clean my hose, mask and reservoir each day. I use to let it go for two or three days between cleanings but I found that cleaning it each day makes a big difference with my sinuses.

 

Don't sweat it.

 

Take care,

Mike

[wander]

Suggest you call your CPAP medical supply house and ask about just using ship tap water. Mine said that for a few weeks on a ship there was no need to bother with special water. I cruised a lot with it and never had any problems with my machine using ship tap water.