metal water bottles - How often are they sterilized?

[ael123]

We are currently on Sirena. Upon embarkation in our stateroom was a glass bottle of water which is refilled daily and two metal canisters that hold water to carry with us and refill. My concern is that metal containers should be sterilized and should not be refilled day after day without being cleaned thoroughly  especially when taken on and off the ship for excursions. Water provides a breeding ground for germs. Are the metal canisters on all O ships? Any thoughts about how to keep them clean and safe for drinking on long voyages?

[Flatbush Flyer]

 

52 minutes ago, ael123 said:

We are currently on Sirena. Upon embarkation in our stateroom was a glass bottle of water which is refilled daily and two metal canisters that hold water to carry with us and refill. My concern is that metal containers should be sterilized and should not be refilled day after day without being cleaned thoroughly  especially when taken on and off the ship for excursions. Water provides a breeding ground for germs. Are the metal canisters on all O ships? Any thoughts about how to keep them clean and safe for drinking on long voyages?

The glass bottles are treated like any other used galley items items. They are dishwasher-safe and when you finish a bottle it’s returned to be cleaned, refilled with Vero Water and redistributed. Many high end hotels/resorts also use the Vero Water System.

The metal bottles you receive are new and are yours to keep and refill as needed at one of the various Vero Water stations onboard. You can wash them out whenever you want.

Edited April 4, 2022 by Flatbush Flyer

[ael123]

Thank you for your response. I don't have anyway of sanitizing the metal bottle while cruising. We are on a 14 day voyage and if I were at home I would run my metal bottle through the dishwasher before using it and then at the end of each day's use. We have been on the ship 6 days now. I didn't like that I was given the metal canister and there was no way to run it through a dishwasher before using it. The water tasted like tin. Then we had 2 days of taking it out on excursions and being at sea. I rinsed it out but the metal canisters need to be cleaned with hot water and dish soap which we don't have in the cabin. I don't mind the glass water container that is sterilized and refilled but I don't like the metal canister being reused and having no way to sterilize it. I would prefer they use a mixture of bottled water and the Vero system.  Had I known about this I would have requested to bring a case of bottled water. 

[Flatbush Flyer]

30 minutes ago, ael123 said:

Thank you for your response. I don't have anyway of sanitizing the metal bottle while cruising. We are on a 14 day voyage and if I were at home I would run my metal bottle through the dishwasher before using it and then at the end of each day's use. We have been on the ship 6 days now. I didn't like that I was given the metal canister and there was no way to run it through a dishwasher before using it. The water tasted like tin. Then we had 2 days of taking it out on excursions and being at sea. I rinsed it out but the metal canisters need to be cleaned with hot water and dish soap which we don't have in the cabin. I don't mind the glass water container that is sterilized and refilled but I don't like the metal canister being reused and having no way to sterilize it. I would prefer they use a mixture of bottled water and the Vero system.  Had I known about this I would have requested to bring a case of bottled water. 

You’ve got a handheld shower head in your cabin that can put out the same temp hot water as is in your dishwasher at home. You’ve got soap. 
As for the plastic bottled water you buy at home: Even the ship’s tap water is generally cleaner than most of that bottled water https://www.consumerreports.org/water-quality/whats-really-in-your-bottled-water-a5361150329/     (and cleaner than the tap water in many municipalities). Do some quick research about Vero (and also about ship water desalination). You may never want to go back to tap water at home (at least without the Brita pitcher).

If you don’t mind the bubbles you can always ask your cabin steward to stock your fridge with small Pellegrino bottles (that’s what we do). And you can take it with you on excursions too. 
And many excursions where transportation is involved will have a stock of bottled drinking water for you.

 

Finally, have you asked for disposable still water in eco-killing plastic bottles? There’s probably some sitting around somewhere. If not, just pick some up in your next port.

Edited April 4, 2022 by Flatbush Flyer

[LHT28]

I believe the whole reason for providing the reusable water bottles are to cut down on the plastic  one time use bottles around the world

I do not care for the metal drinking bottles so usually take our own reusable  bottle  which I wash in hot water in the sink

 

Maybe you could pick up a small bottle of dish soap ashore or ask the room steward if there is a way for your bottle to be sanitized

[Robjame]

Not much help for the OP, but there are effervescent tablets (Bottle Bright) sold on Amazon specifically for cleaning and sanitizing metal water bottles. Thanks to this post I will throw a pack of these in the suitcase.

[Torquer]

17 hours ago, ael123 said:

Thank you for your response. I don't have anyway of sanitizing the metal bottle while cruising. We are on a 14 day voyage and if I were at home I would run my metal bottle through the dishwasher before using it and then at the end of each day's use. We have been on the ship 6 days now. I didn't like that I was given the metal canister and there was no way to run it through a dishwasher before using it. The water tasted like tin. Then we had 2 days of taking it out on excursions and being at sea. I rinsed it out but the metal canisters need to be cleaned with hot water and dish soap which we don't have in the cabin. I don't mind the glass water container that is sterilized and refilled but I don't like the metal canister being reused and having no way to sterilize it. I would prefer they use a mixture of bottled water and the Vero system.  Had I known about this I would have requested to bring a case of bottled water. 

If you want to use something more than hand soap, you can squirt some hand sanitizer (containing alcohol) in the metal bottle, add about an ounce of water, put the lid on and shake vigorously, pour it out and then rinse thoroughly with warm water.  That should kill any bacteria living it it very nicely.

[Eloise4Ever]

We are just off Riviera and didn't use the metal water bottles for the same reason as the OP. You can get small bottles of still water in a fridge in the gym.

[Debbers]

Assuming you are given a clean, new metal container, and do not share it, only your germs will be in the water.  If you rinse it out from time to time, that should suffice.  Also, in a pinch, shampoo (well rinsed out) makes a very good soap.

[kjbacon]

On 4/4/2022 at 1:45 AM, ael123 said:

We are currently on Sirena. Upon embarkation in our stateroom was a glass bottle of water which is refilled daily and two metal canisters that hold water to carry with us and refill. My concern is that metal containers should be sterilized and should not be refilled day after day without being cleaned thoroughly  especially when taken on and off the ship for excursions. Water provides a breeding ground for germs. Are the metal canisters on all O ships? Any thoughts about how to keep them clean and safe for drinking on long voyages?

How do you sterilize your toothbrush while on board? You could duplicate that method.

[chengkp75]

On 4/4/2022 at 3:28 AM, Flatbush Flyer said:

You’ve got a handheld shower head in your cabin that can put out the same temp hot water as is in your dishwasher at home. You’ve got soap.

Nope.  Shower mixing valves are set to limit temperature to 120*F max, while a home dishwasher runs at 130-140*F, and has a rinse temperature to sanitize at 180*F.  Ship's warewashing equipment is set to have a wash water temperature of 150-165*F, and a minimum rinse temperature of 180*F.  The rinse temperature and timing must produce a surface temperature of 160*F in order to be considered as "sanitized".

 

There are glass washing machines on every passenger cabin deck for the cabin stewards to use.  Ask the steward if he/she could run your metal bottles through the glass washer every couple of days.

 

The "tin" taste is most likely due to the metal water bottle not having a coating of BPA, which is used in most cans today to keep the contents from reacting with the metal.

 

Frankly, for a cruise ship, the Vero system is mostly PR, to get people away from bottled water.  I would bet that the Vero filters (and that is all they are, progressively finer filters) have a far greater lifespan on ships than on shore.  If you take the ship's water from the MDR, which has gone through a carbon filter at the pitcher filling station, and compare it to the Vera water, I doubt it would pass a blind taste test.

 

And, I'm perfectly happy with the lake water piped to our home, or the well water at our lake house, with no filters.

[Flatbush Flyer]

19 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Nope.  Shower mixing valves are set to limit temperature to 120*F max, while a home dishwasher runs at 130-140*F, and has a rinse temperature to sanitize at 180*F.  Ship's warewashing equipment is set to have a wash water temperature of 150-165*F, and a minimum rinse temperature of 180*F.  The rinse temperature and timing must produce a surface temperature of 160*F in order to be considered as "sanitized".

 

There are glass washing machines on every passenger cabin deck for the cabin stewards to use.  Ask the steward if he/she could run your metal bottles through the glass washer every couple of days.

 

The "tin" taste is most likely due to the metal water bottle not having a coating of BPA, which is used in most cans today to keep the contents from reacting with the metal.

 

Frankly, for a cruise ship, the Vero system is mostly PR, to get people away from bottled water.  I would bet that the Vero filters (and that is all they are, progressively finer filters) have a far greater lifespan on ships than on shore.  If you take the ship's water from the MDR, which has gone through a carbon filter at the pitcher filling station, and compare it to the Vera water, I doubt it would pass a blind taste test.

 

And, I'm perfectly happy with the lake water piped to our home, or the well water at our lake house, with no filters.

Thanks for the clarification. 
Good to know about the glass washers.

[emd138]

On 4/6/2022 at 9:06 PM, Debbers said:

Assuming you are given a clean, new metal container, and do not share it, only your germs will be in the water.  If you rinse it out from time to time, that should suffice.  Also, in a pinch, shampoo (well rinsed out) makes a very good soap.

I work in manufacturing, and have made various types of food and drink containers, and I HIGHLY recommend that you thoroughly wash anything that touches your food when new before you use it.  Not so much for germs usually, but for things like mold release and machining oils that can be used in the process.  They are all technically safe for food contact, but definitely not very appetizing, trust me.  They can also be in disposable type bottles, but in general I have come across them much more often in heavier-duty products.

 

Thank you for posting this ael123, I will definitely pick up a small thing of dish soap before our trip in a couple of months. 

[PhD-iva]

I never used the provided metal water bottle. Looked cheap and water tasted tinny. I used my water bottle I brought from home…..filled w Vero water.

[DSTKIT]

We found the metal bottle were prone to leaking (especially if you do not tighten the lid).  They are not insulated, and are useless for hot items, and ice melts in a few minutes.  We stopped using them the first day, and decided to use our Yeti bottles on our next trip.

[Robjame]

17 hours ago, DSTKIT said:

prone to leaking (especially if you do not tighten the lid).

 Over the years I have found that to be true of a lot of things.......😜

[mrsheat391]

On 4/9/2022 at 4:26 PM, DSTKIT said:

We found the metal bottle were prone to leaking (especially if you do not tighten the lid).  They are not insulated, and are useless for hot items, and ice melts in a few minutes.  We stopped using them the first day, and decided to use our Yeti bottles on our next trip.

Glad to know this I was about to skip bringing ours. 

[nannycheryl]

I have always brought my own Brita water bottle with me when traveling, and will this time on Sirena.