Water on excursions

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

Many years ago I had a mix up between (aluminum) water bottle and white gas bottle, when I was doing a 3 day mid-winter cross-country ski circumnavigation of Crater Lake in Oregon.  (40' deep snow, blizzard conditions and all that...)  Fortunately, the flask with the Drambuie was NOT compromised!  Meanwhile, now back in my dotage, we use these reusable water containers - I've had these for 10 years or so - took them on many week long bike trips.  Occasionally one wants to give them a thorough washing, of course.  (When you see the green slime - you're overdue!)  Many people use the water provided in bottles in their suite to fill their bottle/plastic bladder/whatever.  It's all good.  We just don't want to add any more bottles to the great gyres in the middle of the oceans - we've done enough damage.  

[Brownie54]

We are currently on the Mariner. The new water system is in place in each suite, but plastic, recyclable bottles were available yesterday at the gangway when we went out on excursion.

[journeyfan]

13 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

 If the places we visit onshore don't restrict plastic water bottles, then I'm not sure why we are obsessed with it? I am not adverse to drinking RO water, but when I see the ship refilling with water at the dock, and sometimes see or smell bad water from the tap, I'm reluctant to drink the tap water onboard.

 

The cruise ships are "obsessed" with keeping plastic out of the oceans because many of the countries they visit are dumping plastic and other refuse into the ocean.  No one will want to cruise if the oceans become clogged with garbage.

[journeyfan]

20 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

What is the cost of providing a reusable bottle to every passenger?  Whatever the cost is will likely be added to our cruise fare.  I can see no reason why passengers cannot purchase their own bottle and, if they forget them, they can be sold in the Boutique.  

 

Of course the cost will "be added to our cruise fare." But currently, for example.... on a 10-day cruise, with each passenger taking 2 bottles of water on each excursion, passengers in their cruise fare are now paying for 20 bottles of water.  Paying for just one reusable bottle might be less expensive.

[journeyfan]

13 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

I am not adverse to drinking RO water, but when I see the ship refilling with water at the dock, and sometimes see or smell bad water from the tap, I'm reluctant to drink the tap water onboard.

 

Doesn't the RO process remove all (or most) of the contaminants from water?  I'm assuming the water coming out of the tap is the same as the water in the heavy Vero glass bottles.  I drank as much tap water as bottled water on the Mariner cruise that ended 2 days ago and I'm still healthy.... I think.😀

[mj_holiday]

5 minutes ago, journeyfan said:

 

Of course the cost will "be added to our cruise fare." But currently, for example.... on a 10-day cruise, with each passenger taking 2 bottles of water on each excursion, passengers in their cruise fare are now paying for 20 bottles of water.  Paying for just one reusable bottle might be less expensive.

It is not just the cost of buying water in single use plastic bottles, it is also the cost of recycling them.  Having to store the used bottles until port at a place that can take them takes manpower.

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, journeyfan said:

 

Doesn't the RO process remove all (or most) of the contaminants from water?  I'm assuming the water coming out of the tap is the same as the water in the heavy Vero glass bottles.  I drank as much tap water as bottled water on the Mariner cruise that ended 2 days ago and I'm still healthy.... I think.😀

 

You likely will not get sick from tap water on the ships but after having brown water (rust) come out of the taps a few times, I cannot even rinse my toothbrush in tap water (although the issue with brown water on Navigator has now been fixed).

 

When you are on a luxury cruise ship, with access to good water, I can’t understand why anyone would need to drink tap water.  Maybe I’m missing something?

[Kwaj girl]

3 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

You likely will not get sick from tap water on the ships but after having brown water (rust) come out of the taps a few times, I cannot even rinse my toothbrush in tap water (although the issue with brown water on Navigator has now been fixed).

 

When you are on a luxury cruise ship, with access to good water, I can’t understand why anyone would need to drink tap water.  Maybe I’m missing something?

I drink tap water at home and see no need, personally, to drink bottled water on the ship.  I absolutely won't drink questionable water ashore and just bring my reusable /"filled from the ship's tap" bottle on excursions.

[Travelcat2]

6 hours ago, journeyfan said:

 

Of course the cost will "be added to our cruise fare." But currently, for example.... on a 10-day cruise, with each passenger taking 2 bottles of water on each excursion, passengers in their cruise fare are now paying for 20 bottles of water.  Paying for just one reusable bottle might be less expensive.

I suspect, but do not know for sure, that the small plastic bottles given on the ship would be a fraction of the cost of a reusable bottle.  In terms of people taking 2 bottles of water on each excursion, IMHO, that is an overstatement.  Not everyone takes excursions and those that do may not take two bottles each (most people that I've seen take 1bottle and many of us take none).  

 

It seems that people that are into drinking water already have their own bottles that they keep with themselves.  Regent is going to make the water available and it is us up us whether as to whether we want to fill our bottles with Vero water or something else (or not bother taking a bottle from the ship).  

 

I personally do not believe that Regent needs to provide absolutely everything for their passengers. It would be nice if there were some water bottle choices in the Boutique.  We regularly read that passengers do not know how to spend their OBC's ......... perhaps purchasing a nice water bottle would help. 

[SWFLAOK]

9 hours ago, journeyfan said:

 

Doesn't the RO process remove all (or most) of the contaminants from water?  I'm assuming the water coming out of the tap is the same as the water in the heavy Vero glass bottles.  I drank as much tap water as bottled water on the Mariner cruise that ended 2 days ago and I'm still healthy.... I think.😀

Yes, RO water should not have anything left in it,  but it's going into the same water tanks that they fill with water from giant hoses at the dock in places where I would be reluctant to drink the water local town/city water. They would need to treat the tank with chlorine to eliminate the local water contaminants from the tank.

The Vero water system treats the drinking water after it comes out of the ship's water tanks, and before it goes into the glass bottles. I don't know what it does, but we saw the water filling portion of it in the galley tour that we took in July. That looked only like a filler, and not like a filter, but there may be something else hidden below deck.

 

[SWFLAOK]

3 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

I personally do not believe that Regent needs to provide absolutely everything for their passengers. It would be nice if there were some water bottle choices in the Boutique.  We regularly read that passengers do not know how to spend their OBC's ......... perhaps purchasing a nice water bottle would help

I wouldn't mind having a nice water bottle, with a Regent logo,  provided for each guest. It needs to be unbreakable, and light in weight, so it can be refilled from the glass bottle and taken on excursions. It also needs to fit into the fridge without having to remove everything else since that's not true of the glass bottle (at least on Voyager it wasn't). I would be willing to forego an additional tote bag in exchange for refillable excursion water bottles.

Unfortunately, I never have trouble spending my OBC's.

[xrvlcruiser]

For me, the reusable bottle needs to be small enough to fit in my pocketbook. At this point, I refill some small plastic bottles I "acquired" on a tour earlier this year.

 

Peggy

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, xrvlcruiser said:

For me, the reusable bottle needs to be small enough to fit in my pocketbook. At this point, I refill some small plastic bottles I "acquired" on a tour earlier this year.

 

Peggy

 

Small bottles would work best.  On "our" cruise next month, I don't think I'll be needing water bottles.  Just want to get onboard Explorer ...... I miss her!

[xrvlcruiser]

Jackie,

 

I'm ready to go too . . . . unfortunately, we have a month to wait. Ah well.

 

And yes, I'll have a couple of the little bottles.

 

Peggy

Edited October 18, 2019 by xrvlcruiser

[Kwaj girl]

Another option - use your Regent Rewards points to get a collapsible Regent logo water bottle.  Wish I could post a picture here but I am not too tech-savvy.  I will be using one today for my Portland excursion.

[orvil]

For those of you who are concerned about drinking ship's water, I suggest you ask for a tour of the below deck water filtering facilities.  They are quite robust.  There is a highly trained environmental officer that would love to talk about their job.  I wouldn't hesitate to drink the water from the tap aboard ship.  We drink their coffee and tea, after all.  It comes from the same well treated sources.

Now, drinking the water, coffee or tea on an airplane concerns me.  I've traveled as crew on passenger airplanes all over the world and there is no way you ever see me drink airplane water.  I have brushed my teeth with it.  While the water is supposed to be potable, it's quite some time before those tanks are flushed and cleaned.

[Will Work for Tiramisu]

I think it is a safe assumption that the operators of cruise ships have a real, economic interest in not having their customers getting sick from bad water and running about barfing over the railing and all that.  Kind of a sensitive topic, given the frequency of norovirus eruptions on cruise ships.  Thus, methinks they pay pretty good attention to making sure that they are not handing out water that will make their jobs much harder, and hurt their bottom line.  I've drunk the tap water on four different cruise lines, and am none the worse for wear.