taking own water onboard

[!drumyay]

I'm sure this has been answered somewhere, but I was wondering what the policy is on bringing my own bottled water onboard? I will be on the Ruby Princess soon. I thought that I've read somewhere that it doesn't matter how much. So I can just bring an entire case of bottles in addition to all my luggage?

[cruisinfanatic]

I'm sure this has been answered somewhere, but I was wondering what the policy is on bringing my own bottled water onboard? I will be on the Ruby Princess soon. I thought that I've read somewhere that it doesn't matter how much. So I can just bring an entire case of bottles in addition to all my luggage?

water is very inexpensive to buy if you pre order it. $6.90 for 12 500ml bottles

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes there is no limit.

As mentioned they have an affordable water package.

[ginabab]

I second pre-ordering advantage- the water is inexpensive We ordered 24 bottles pre cruise It was waiting for us onboard

Edited July 3, 2016 by ginabab

[Cruise Raider]

I second pre-ordering advantage- the water is inexpensive We ordered 24 bottles pre cruise It was waiting for us onboard

 

I did exactly the same thing ...saved myself all the lugging around of another heavy item. The key is ... you don't have to pre-purchase it.

[!drumyay]

water is very inexpensive to buy if you pre order it. $6.90 for 12 500ml bottles

 

Thanks! Didn't realize I had this option, but now I see it online in the beverage packages.

[likeadisguise]

I did exactly the same thing ...saved myself all the lugging around of another heavy item. The key is ... you don't have to pre-purchase it.

The bottled water package is only available for pre-purchase. You can only buy individual bottles once onboard.

[azcruiser64]

Take one bottle per person aboard and refill them in your bathroom sink, just as good as bottled water.

[reedprincess]

take one bottle per person aboard and refill them in your bathroom sink, just as good as bottled water.

 

👍👍👍

[moki'smommy]

The water on the ships is processed using the same procedures as most bottled water--reverse osmosis and then filtration. Whether you buy bottled water or not, you will be consuming ship's water in food preparation, coffee, tea, etc.

 

Another vote for bringing one bottle and refilling as needed.

[Host Jazzbeau]

The ship's water is "made" by either reverse osmosis or by boiling, and then minerals are added to balance pH and taste. In the past we have found it just fine, but on our last cruise it was very salty -- and someone on another thread for a different cruise line just reported the same thing. Apparently the minerals are added "to taste" as in many recipes, and different cooks have different ideas about how much salt is needed. So we are back to bringing on our own spring water -- we never drink the bottled filtered water for this same reason.

[Astro Flyer]

Take one bottle per person aboard and refill them in your bathroom sink, just as good as bottled water.

 

The water on the ships is processed using the same procedures as most bottled water--reverse osmosis and then filtration. Whether you buy bottled water or not' date=' you will be consuming ship's water in food preparation, coffee, tea, etc.

 

Another vote for bringing one bottle and refilling as needed.[/quote']

We bring a refillable 20oz wide mouth Brita bottle with a small filter.

 

Even without a filter, the bottle is easy to add ice & water. We fill a glass with ice at the buffet & put it into our bottle and then poor a glass of chilled water into it. We follow this recommended procedure to eliminate any cross contamination when bottles contact water & ice dispensing surfaces.

 

We also fill our Brita water bottle in our cabin when we have time to chill the water in the minifridge to use later

 

The option for preordered half liter bottles of water is something we may consider if we want to carry more water off the ship for a long day in port.

[chengkp75]

The ship's water is "made" by either reverse osmosis or by boiling, and then minerals are added to balance pH and taste. In the past we have found it just fine, but on our last cruise it was very salty -- and someone on another thread for a different cruise line just reported the same thing. Apparently the minerals are added "to taste" as in many recipes, and different cooks have different ideas about how much salt is needed. So we are back to bringing on our own spring water -- we never drink the bottled filtered water for this same reason.

 

I know of no ship or cruise line that adds minerals to the water produced onboard "for taste". In fact, the only commonly used treatment is to pass the water through calcium carbonate granules (the active ingredient in Tums) to neutralize the slight acidity of distilled water. The salty taste you had was caused by over-chlorination. And bottled spring water typically has more minerals than bottled tap water run through a reverse osmosis unit.

 

Even the charcoal filters used at the water dispensers onboard, at the ice makers, and the bar guns is not for taste, it is because the chlorine will build up scale in the mechanisms of these machines, though a change in taste is a side effect.

[Colo Cruiser]

I know of no ship or cruise line that adds minerals to the water produced onboard "for taste". In fact, the only commonly used treatment is to pass the water through calcium carbonate granules (the active ingredient in Tums) to neutralize the slight acidity of distilled water. The salty taste you had was caused by over-chlorination. And bottled spring water typically has more minerals than bottled tap water run through a reverse osmosis unit.

 

Even the charcoal filters used at the water dispensers onboard, at the ice makers, and the bar guns is not for taste, it is because the chlorine will build up scale in the mechanisms of these machines, though a change in taste is a side effect.

 

 

Another yarn debunked!! Thanks. :)

[fshagan]

I know of no ship or cruise line that adds minerals to the water produced onboard "for taste". In fact, the only commonly used treatment is to pass the water through calcium carbonate granules (the active ingredient in Tums) to neutralize the slight acidity of distilled water. The salty taste you had was caused by over-chlorination. And bottled spring water typically has more minerals than bottled tap water run through a reverse osmosis unit.

 

Even the charcoal filters used at the water dispensers onboard, at the ice makers, and the bar guns is not for taste, it is because the chlorine will build up scale in the mechanisms of these machines, though a change in taste is a side effect.

 

I've come to rely on your expertise in many matters about cruise ships, and I thank you for that!

 

In your experience, how much of the water is taken on in port vs. water made by either RO or the "flash steam" process I've heard about? I've heard two things, that most ships produce RO water then treat it with chlorine and that most ships take on "bunker water" in port to avoid the cost of producing it from sea water.

[moki'smommy]

Many ships do both--take on water in "safe" ports and use the reverse osmosis system as their backup. In most ports it is cheaper to buy "city" water at the port than to produce it.

 

Some lines are more picky than others as to where they will purchase water. They don't want a ship full of sick passengers as well as contamination of their storage tanks. I don't know what sort of policies Princess has as to where they purchase vs. where they produce on their own.

[Yehootu]

All good on water treatment process, but how often are the tanks and the lines treated??

[chengkp75]

I've come to rely on your expertise in many matters about cruise ships, and I thank you for that!

 

In your experience, how much of the water is taken on in port vs. water made by either RO or the "flash steam" process I've heard about? I've heard two things, that most ships produce RO water then treat it with chlorine and that most ships take on "bunker water" in port to avoid the cost of producing it from sea water.

 

Many ships do both--take on water in "safe" ports and use the reverse osmosis system as their backup. In most ports it is cheaper to buy "city" water at the port than to produce it.

 

Some lines are more picky than others as to where they will purchase water. They don't want a ship full of sick passengers as well as contamination of their storage tanks. I don't know what sort of policies Princess has as to where they purchase vs. where they produce on their own.

 

The ships will make as much water as they can' date=' because most of the production comes from flash evaporators, which use the hot cooling water from the diesel engines as "free" energy to boil the sea water (if not used to boil sea water in the evaporators, this heat energy is transferred to salt water cooling systems and sent to the sea as waste heat). Even running a reverse osmosis unit can be cheaper than buying water from shore. There is no hard and fast rule about how much a ship will make, and how much they will bunker from shore. It depends on the itinerary. Water cannot be produced from sea water until the ship is 12 miles from shore, so a port intensive itinerary gives less time to make water, and therefore, more must be loaded from shore. Water production onboard is not the "backup", shore bunkering is, because of the additional handling and testing required.

 

All water onboard is sanitized with chlorine. When water is produced either by evaporators or by reverse osmosis, it is chlorinated before it goes to the storage tanks. Water taken on in ports is chlorinated before it goes into the storage tanks. And the water from the storage tanks is further chlorinated while it is being recirculated around the ship before the excess goes back to the storage tanks.

 

USPH regulations (and the EU and WHO standards for cruise ship sanitation are similar) require that all water taken in a port must come from a source that has been tested and found acceptable to the applicable standard, [b']within the last month.[/b] Further, this means that not just the municipal water supply must meet standards, but that the specific hydrant used to connect to the ship must have been tested. Further, all water taken onboard from port must be segregated from the rest of the potable water onboard, and not used for any reason, until a fecal coliform bacteria test is performed and found to be negative, and this test takes 18-24 hours to complete. So, any water taken on in a port is not usable for a day, which is why I say it is the "backup" source.

 

Since the water that circulates around the ship is chlorinated, there is no special treatment required, but most ships use plastic piping for ease of maintenance. Distilled water has a tendency to attract minerals to itself, so metallic piping, even copper piping as used in homes, can be "attacked" by distilled water and corrode. Chlorine acts as a sanitizing agent effectively, only over a narrow range of Ph, so some acid is also injected into the water, to keep the Ph in this range (7.2-7.6, just slightly alkaline). The requirements for the water in use being pumped around the ship are that there must be a residual chlorine content of 0.5ppm at the furthest point from the chlorine injection site, so typically there is a chlorine monitor in the bridge head (bathroom), and this monitor controls the amount of chlorine injected to maintain the proper level everywhere in the ship.

 

The storage tanks are coated with special epoxy paint that is specific for potable water use, and are inspected annually, and must be disinfected per a rigid procedure whenever anyone has entered the tanks.

[Lucky TGO]

The ships will make as much water as they can, because most of the production comes from flash evaporators, which use the hot cooling water from the diesel engines as "free" energy to boil the sea water (if not used to boil sea water in the evaporators, this heat energy is transferred to salt water cooling systems and sent to the sea as waste heat). Even running a reverse osmosis unit can be cheaper than buying water from shore. There is no hard and fast rule about how much a ship will make, and how much they will bunker from shore. It depends on the itinerary. Water cannot be produced from sea water until the ship is 12 miles from shore, so a port intensive itinerary gives less time to make water, and therefore, more must be loaded from shore. Water production onboard is not the "backup", shore bunkering is, because of the additional handling and testing required.

 

All water onboard is sanitized with chlorine. When water is produced either by evaporators or by reverse osmosis, it is chlorinated before it goes to the storage tanks. Water taken on in ports is chlorinated before it goes into the storage tanks. And the water from the storage tanks is further chlorinated while it is being recirculated around the ship before the excess goes back to the storage tanks.

 

USPH regulations (and the EU and WHO standards for cruise ship sanitation are similar) require that all water taken in a port must come from a source that has been tested and found acceptable to the applicable standard, within the last month. Further, this means that not just the municipal water supply must meet standards, but that the specific hydrant used to connect to the ship must have been tested. Further, all water taken onboard from port must be segregated from the rest of the potable water onboard, and not used for any reason, until a fecal coliform bacteria test is performed and found to be negative, and this test takes 18-24 hours to complete. So, any water taken on in a port is not usable for a day, which is why I say it is the "backup" source.

 

Since the water that circulates around the ship is chlorinated, there is no special treatment required, but most ships use plastic piping for ease of maintenance. Distilled water has a tendency to attract minerals to itself, so metallic piping, even copper piping as used in homes, can be "attacked" by distilled water and corrode. Chlorine acts as a sanitizing agent effectively, only over a narrow range of Ph, so some acid is also injected into the water, to keep the Ph in this range (7.2-7.6, just slightly alkaline). The requirements for the water in use being pumped around the ship are that there must be a residual chlorine content of 0.5ppm at the furthest point from the chlorine injection site, so typically there is a chlorine monitor in the bridge head (bathroom), and this monitor controls the amount of chlorine injected to maintain the proper level everywhere in the ship.

 

The storage tanks are coated with special epoxy paint that is specific for potable water use, and are inspected annually, and must be disinfected per a rigid procedure whenever anyone has entered the tanks.

 

Thank you that is very interesting and good to know.

Tony

[Host Jazzbeau]

I know of no ship or cruise line that adds minerals to the water produced onboard "for taste". In fact, the only commonly used treatment is to pass the water through calcium carbonate granules (the active ingredient in Tums) to neutralize the slight acidity of distilled water. The salty taste you had was caused by over-chlorination. And bottled spring water typically has more minerals than bottled tap water run through a reverse osmosis unit.

 

Even the charcoal filters used at the water dispensers onboard, at the ice makers, and the bar guns is not for taste, it is because the chlorine will build up scale in the mechanisms of these machines, though a change in taste is a side effect.

 

I know you have a lot of expertise, but my information came direct from the Chief Engineers on both NCL Dawn and Coral Princess. The information I was given was a bit more nuanced than what you are saying. (1) They use both boiling and reverse osmosis, depending on conditions [i see you have discussed this in a later post, but earlier you were stating reverse osmosis only]. (2) When there are several ports close together, they can't make enough water onboard so they top up in port -- on our NCL cruise the topping up was done in Mexico. [You may be more trusting than I, but at that point I was glad I had a case of Poland Spring in my cabin.] (3) The Engineers were very clear that water produced by boiling is not palatable [like distilled water], so they have to add minerals (including sodium in some form) to fix the taste. (4) I'd like to know the medical process by which "over-chlorination" leads to swollen ankles, whereas I am quite familiar with how salt has that effect. (5) Check the labels on bottled filtered water [e.g. Dasani] and you will see the salt content is much higher than on spring water [specifically Poland Spring -- I can't speak to Vichy because like Claude Rains I refuse to drink the collaborationist stuff :D]

Edited July 4, 2016 by Host Jazzbeau

[chengkp75]

I know you have a lot of expertise, but my information came direct from the Chief Engineers on both NCL Dawn and Coral Princess. The information I was given was a bit more nuanced than what you are saying. (1) They use both boiling and reverse osmosis, depending on conditions [i see you have discussed this in a later post, but earlier you were stating reverse osmosis only]. (2) When there are several ports close together, they can't make enough water onboard so they top up in port -- on our NCL cruise the topping up was done in Mexico. [You may be more trusting than I, but at that point I was glad I had a case of Poland Spring in my cabin.] (3) The Engineers were very clear that water produced by boiling is not palatable [like distilled water], so they have to add minerals (including sodium in some form) to fix the taste. (4) I'd like to know the medical process by which "over-chlorination" leads to swollen ankles, whereas I am quite familiar with how salt has that effect. (5) Check the labels on bottled filtered water [e.g. Dasani] and you will see the salt content is much higher than on spring water [specifically Poland Spring -- I can't speak to Vichy because like Claude Rains I refuse to drink the collaborationist stuff :D]

 

Well, several points to discuss here. Not only have I worked on cruise ships, which do use both evaporators and reverse osmosis water makers, but for decades on cargo ships, which use evaporators only to produce 100% of their water, and over those decades we have never added anything other than the calcium carbonate to this distilled water (which is exactly what comes from an evaporator), and the water is perfectly "palatable".

 

The post where you say I was talking about reverse osmosis only was because no bottled water supplier uses evaporators, unless they are selling distilled water.

 

Now, when you mentioned the water was "salty" on your cruise, I assumed you were referring to taste, not water retention, which is what I responded to. Now, if evaporation removes all of the salt from sea water, and reverse osmosis removes 98% of it, why in the world would you add it back in? Why not just let the equipment degrade a little so that it doesn't make quite as good a product and be done with it? Wastes a lot of energy to my thinking. And you were talking of adding "minerals" to the water, what other minerals (and salt is not technically a mineral, but I'll let that slide)? Now, with the fact that the USPH, the EU's ShipSan, and the WHO control every aspect of drinking water onboard ships, from the design and construction of the systems, to the operation and monitoring of those systems, to the testing of the water product, do you think they would allow uncontrolled additions of various minerals to be added to the water without a single comment about them? I don't.

 

Now, not all bottled water is "filtered" using a reverse osmosis unit, some of it is simply that, filtered. One thing I always find amusing is when folks say that RO (reverse osmosis) produces water with higher salt content. When folks have a water softener in their home, this uses salt to "re-charge" the softening agent, and if the homeowner is on a reduced sodium regime, what do you think the water softener manufacturer recommends be added to the house's water system? An RO unit to lower the sodium.

 

As to how chlorine affects water retention, I must apologize that my poor internet onboard is barely allowing me to keep up with this post, and I'm having trouble searching for links, but chlorine can replace iodine in the thyroid, causing lower metabolism. I will try later today to find some sources.

[moki'smommy]

I don't know if some of the above comments were supposed to be a dig or not, but I appreciate the expertise shown by the chief!

 

I'll put on my undergrad had at a double major in biology and chemistry. The difference between "boiling" and "distilling" is simple, and I'm certain that ships use distillation. Boiling water means that you bring a container of water to a temperature of 212 degrees F. To eliminate bacteria, you allow it to remain at that temperature for the period of time necessary to kill the microorganisms you are concerned about. You then turn off the heat source and can drink the remaining water. Of course, you've lost a fair amount of your original source in steam and you've done nothing to remove any particulate matter (that would require filtration). Boiling would be the process you would use at a campsite, when there is a break in a city water main and they advise boiling, etc. The water has an increased mineral content over the original because some of the H2O is lost in the steam while there is no loss of minerals.

 

Distillation means that you bring a liquid to its boiling point, collect the steam that is coming off, and cool the steam--thus returning it to the liquid state. Properly done, the steam should be collected in non-metallic piping and the liquid should not be in contact with metals after the boiling process. This distillate contains pure water (unless there are contaminants in the pipes). The minerals in the original will remain in the original container (not turn into steam), and the microorganisms are killed in the boiling process and don't travel in the steam. The most common "complaint" about distilled water is that it has no taste as some of the "taste" in water comes from trace minerals. Of course, lack of minerals and microorganisms is dependent upon the equipment being spotlessly clean at all times. This includes any holding tanks or containers that the water may be stored in as well as the pipes, etc. that it will flow thru to the end user.

 

Most water will have chlorine added after processing to prevent any bacterial growth.

[chengkp75]

I don't know if some of the above comments were supposed to be a dig or not' date=' but I appreciate the expertise shown by the chief!

 

I'll put on my undergrad had at a double major in biology and chemistry. The difference between "boiling" and "distilling" is simple, and I'm certain that ships use distillation. Boiling water means that you bring a container of water to a temperature of 212 degrees F. To eliminate bacteria, you allow it to remain at that temperature for the period of time necessary to kill the microorganisms you are concerned about. You then turn off the heat source and can drink the remaining water. Of course, you've lost a fair amount of your original source in steam and you've done nothing to remove any particulate matter (that would require filtration). Boiling would be the process you would use at a campsite, when there is a break in a city water main and they advise boiling, etc. The water has an increased mineral content over the original because some of the H2O is lost in the steam while there is no loss of minerals.

 

Distillation means that you bring a liquid to its boiling point, collect the steam that is coming off, and cool the steam--thus returning it to the liquid state. Properly done, the steam should be collected in non-metallic piping and the liquid should not be in contact with metals after the boiling process. This distillate contains pure water (unless there are contaminants in the pipes). The minerals in the original will remain in the original container (not turn into steam), and the microorganisms are killed in the boiling process and don't travel in the steam. The most common "complaint" about distilled water is that it has no taste as some of the "taste" in water comes from trace minerals. Of course, lack of minerals and microorganisms is dependent upon the equipment being spotlessly clean at all times. This includes any holding tanks or containers that the water may be stored in as well as the pipes, etc. that it will flow thru to the end user.

 

Most water will have chlorine added after processing to prevent any bacterial growth.[/quote']

 

Well done. The only difference I will say is that when distilling sea water, if you allow it to reach 212*F, you will form scale from the minerals in the sea water on the heat transfer surfaces, which will diminish the capacity of the equipment. Therefore, ship's evaporators bring the "boiling" or evaporation chambers to 21" of vacuum, and water boils at 140*F at this pressure. This greatly reduces the scale formation, and the subsequent acid cleaning of the heat transfer tubes. Since the water is not boiled to 212*F, there is no "guarantee" that any microbes that "carried over" from the evaporation part to the condensation part, this is why the USPH requires the water to be chlorinated prior to it going into the tanks.

 

A ship's "evaporator" is what a moonshiner calls a "still" (short for distiller). It evaporates sea water using the heat from the diesel engines' cooling water, and then condenses it again using the sea water that is about to be evaporated (thereby cooling the distillate and pre-heating the sea water feed.

[Astro Flyer]

I'm a novice about water treatments & wondering what is the source of the chlorine.

 

When refurbishing our swimming pool we added a salt system which generates a type of chlorine unlike before when it was either liquid or dry chlorine.

 

Obviously a pool is not drinking water but I think my new salt system generates chlorine that creates clearer water without the chlorine odor.

 

Do ship's water systems use liquid chlorine or chlorine generated like with my pool's salt system?

[chengkp75]

I'm a novice about water treatments & wondering what is the source of the chlorine.

 

When refurbishing our swimming pool we added a salt system which generates a type of chlorine unlike before when it was either liquid or dry chlorine.

 

Obviously a pool is not drinking water but I think my new salt system generates chlorine that creates clearer water without the chlorine odor.

 

Do ship's water systems use liquid chlorine or chlorine generated like with my pool's salt system?

 

The ships use liquid chlorine. Since the chlorine is used in the potable water system as well, it is just easier to carry over the use of liquid chlorine for the pools. After all, can't add salt to the potable water, then everyone would have swollen ankles. :D