Why does one need to buy a water package?

[CrimsonAndClover]

Hi, 

 

My husband and I have booked our first cruise. It is with Celebrity. I have been reading and following for a number of years about cruise protocol and etiquette etc. Something that I noticed now that we are getting into the nitty gritty and planning everything is this issue of drinking water.

 

As I understand it, after doing some reading up online, the tap water in all cabins on cruise ships is filtered and perfectly fine to drink. Further, there is water available at all of the buffets, bars, coffee shops, etc. So, to me that seems sufficient. We carry our own refillable non-plastic water bottles in our daily life to fill up with filtered water. We’d do the same on ship. Am I missing something? What would be the need of buying a package of plastic water bottles when we can get it anywhere on ship? 

[Flatbush Flyer]

6 minutes ago, CrimsonAndClover said:

Hi, 

 

My husband and I have booked our first cruise. It is with Celebrity. I have been reading and following for a number of years about cruise protocol and etiquette etc. Something that I noticed now that we are getting into the nitty gritty and planning everything is this issue of drinking water.

 

As I understand it, after doing some reading up online, the tap water in all cabins on cruise ships is filtered and perfectly fine to drink. Further, there is water available at all of the buffets, bars, coffee shops, etc. So, to me that seems sufficient. We carry our own refillable non-plastic water bottles in our daily life to fill up with filtered water. We’d do the same on ship. Am I missing something? What would be the need of buying a package of plastic water bottles when we can get it anywhere on ship? 

First off, know that you are correct that cruise ship tap water is generally cleaner than what you’ll find in many municipal water systems. However, filling you own bottles from the cabin  tap may be a more difficult task than you realize (e.g., space under faucet. And, unless a water station is designed to be used for personal bottle filling, you may have to use a transfer glass from a dining venue when you use taps in those locations. 
 

Of course, this brings up another point. Not all cruise lines charge for bottled water (or any non-alcoholic beverage) and many of the ones that don’t charge for beverages also offer specially distilled water systems (e.g., Vero water) that use glass bottles refilled/replaced by staff and complimentary personal water metal containers for guests to refill from stations throughout the ship. 
 

Related to all this: When you compare lines, itineraries, et al., do the math and figure the true bottom line of all required, necessary and optionally desired expenses rather than just cabin prices. Yes, even airfares (or air credits) may be included in the price of seemingly “expensive” cruises on some lines - along with no extra cost fro internet, tours, specialty restaurants, etc. (You won’t find as much inclusive pricing on mass market lines as you will on premium and luxury lines).

 

 

 

[Essiesmom]

Some people drink bottled water at home and prefer it.  To me, it is a waste of money.  The only time you might want bottled water is on a very long cruise, like a world cruise.  You may notice crew members returning to the ship with packages of water.  This is because the distilled water the ship makes lacks the minerals in shoreside tap water, and the body needs this.  Since crew may be on for 6-10 months at a time, they need to replenish these minerals so buy bottled water.  EM

[davecttr]

As part of the drinks package on my other cruise line you get 1.5 litres of water per day delivered to your cabin. most of that gets passed on to the cabin steward or casino dealers with my permission. I can stand the tap water and there are lots of idiot proof water dispensers, also each cabin has a water carafe. Passengers are requested NOT to use them as flower vases.

[sparks1093]

I like the water on the ship and it's always just fine. We buy a small case of water every sailing to use when we go ashore.

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

As part of the drinks package on my other cruise line you get 1.5 litres of water per day delivered to your cabin. most of that gets passed on to the cabin steward or casino dealers with my permission. I can stand the tap water and there are lots of idiot proof water dispensers, also each cabin has a water carafe. Passengers are requested NOT to use them as flower vases.

Sorry - wrong forum

[SbbquilterUT]

Welcome to sailing on Celebrity - we have always cruises with our refillable water bottles and enjoy the water on the ship.  I have an issue with wasted plastic bottles so it is important to me.  At home I drink RO water and the tap water was fine.  

[Joebucks]

It's funny that we ban plastic bags and straws, but the bottled water cartel has held on. 

 

Bottled water is a waste of money. Even more importantly, all of that plastic you are consuming is horrible for you. 

[ldubs]

8 hours ago, CrimsonAndClover said:

Hi, 

 

My husband and I have booked our first cruise. It is with Celebrity. I have been reading and following for a number of years about cruise protocol and etiquette etc. Something that I noticed now that we are getting into the nitty gritty and planning everything is this issue of drinking water.

 

As I understand it, after doing some reading up online, the tap water in all cabins on cruise ships is filtered and perfectly fine to drink. Further, there is water available at all of the buffets, bars, coffee shops, etc. So, to me that seems sufficient. We carry our own refillable non-plastic water bottles in our daily life to fill up with filtered water. We’d do the same on ship. Am I missing something? What would be the need of buying a package of plastic water bottles when we can get it anywhere on ship? 

 

Just to reinforce what others have said -- in over 30 cruises we have never purchased a water package.   You won't have a problem filling your tumbler.  If not sure ask any staff.  

[mom says]

OP, as noted before, the ship's  drinking water is fine, and there is nothing wrong with refilling your own water bottle from the taps. However, I don't think Celebrity has specific refill stations for water bottles (maybe in the gym?); you would need to use a glass to transfer the water.  It's a small problem.

 

We don't need to buy water packages,  since water is included in the drinks package, but we will both refill our bottle and get additional water to take ashore for full day excursions. As a side note, Celebrity  has stopped using plastic bottles for water. It is now in recyclable cans, and the premium waters are in glass bottles.

[GeezerCouple]

8 hours ago, Joebucks said:

It's funny that we ban plastic bags and straws, but the bottled water cartel has held on. 

 

Bottled water is a waste of money. Even more importantly, all of that plastic you are consuming is horrible for you. 

 

 

Not all cruise lines still use plastic bottles for water.  Some use cans or "boxes" (probably somewhat similar to juice boxes, although we haven't used any).

 

GC

[navybankerteacher]

15 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

I like the water on the ship and it's always just fine. We buy a small case of water every sailing to use when we go ashore.

The ONLY reason to buy bottled water when cruising:

there are many ports where local tap water is questionable.

 

 The water bottling industry had pulled a massive scam on the American public:  somehow making them believe that bottled water is better than tap water — while many brands (Dasani, among them) are simply nothing but bottled tap water.

 

 I don’t particularly care if the suckers pay money for something they can get free, but I resent their littering my environment with the empty plastic proofs of their gullibility.

Edited August 25, 2022 by navybankerteacher

[donaldsc]

It is the same reason that some people always drink bottled water at home.  They are convinced that the tap water is not drinkable and bottle water is better.  Now I will agree that in some places the tap water does not taste good but in most places it is tonally drinkable.    

 

DON

[Toofarfromthesea]

18 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Some people drink bottled water at home and prefer it.  To me, it is a waste of money.  The only time you might want bottled water is on a very long cruise, like a world cruise.  You may notice crew members returning to the ship with packages of water.  This is because the distilled water the ship makes lacks the minerals in shoreside tap water, and the body needs this.  Since crew may be on for 6-10 months at a time, they need to replenish these minerals so buy bottled water.  EM

 

While ship water is purified I highly doubt that it is distilled water, as distilled water tastes bad.  I'd guess that they use some kind of reverse osmosis.

[donaldsc]

57 minutes ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

While ship water is purified I highly doubt that it is distilled water, as distilled water tastes bad.  I'd guess that they use some kind of reverse osmosis.

 

It is also possible that it is very well purified and they then add back some electrolytes to make it taste better.  Not in the same area but sort of related.  I use distilled water to make espresso in my espresso machine but I have a brew mix of electrolyte water that I add to the DW.  Distilled water is bad for the espresso machine and it also does not make good espresso.

 

DON

[Vexorg]

Indeed there is a need to add minerals to the distilled water in the system because if the water is too "clean" it will tend to try to strip the minerals and trace elements it lacks out of whatever it can find, which would typically be the pipes or storage tanks.  This can damage the system and cause much bigger problems than bland water.

[Flatbush Flyer]

15 hours ago, Joebucks said:

Bottled water is a waste of money.

......except when it comes to Pellegrino!!!

Soooo good! 

We always ask for the complimentary stock of non-alcoholic beverages in the cabin fridge to be replaced/replenished with the small glass bottles of Pellegrino (and a couple of Coke Zeros).

At home, a case (or two) of Pellegrino is always at the top of the Costco shopping list.

[sparks1093]

7 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

The ONLY reason to buy bottled water when cruising:

there are many ports where local tap water is questionable.

 

 The water bottling industry had pulled a massive scam on the American public:  somehow making them believe that bottled water is better than tap water — while many brands (Dasani, among them) are simply nothing but bottled tap water.

 

 I don’t particularly care if the suckers pay money for something they can get free, but I resent their littering my environment with the empty plastic proofs of their gullibility.

That's the main reason that we only use bottled water on cruises and then only when ashore. I am fine with drinking tap water, both on the ship and at home. DW on the other hand hates plain water, period, but she does drink the bottled water when we are ashore. If we can't find recycle bins ashore we bring the empties back to the ship. I've seen (and experienced) first hand what local water can do to a digestive system and I don't want to experience that ever on a cruise.

[sparks1093]

7 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

While ship water is purified I highly doubt that it is distilled water, as distilled water tastes bad.  I'd guess that they use some kind of reverse osmosis.

 

6 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

It is also possible that it is very well purified and they then add back some electrolytes to make it taste better.  Not in the same area but sort of related.  I use distilled water to make espresso in my espresso machine but I have a brew mix of electrolyte water that I add to the DW.  Distilled water is bad for the espresso machine and it also does not make good espresso.

 

DON

I've read many posts by Chengkp75 on the topic and the water is made by using water evaporators or reverse osmosis to remove the salt. Minerals are added back in to improve the taste, etc. 

[lisiamc]

6 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

It is also possible that it is very well purified and they then add back some electrolytes to make it taste better.  Not in the same area but sort of related.  I use distilled water to make espresso in my espresso machine but I have a brew mix of electrolyte water that I add to the DW.  Distilled water is bad for the espresso machine and it also does not make good espresso.

 

DON

I think it’s very much related! Our local water tastes so bad I flat refuse to drink it, and is so ridiculously hard that we can’t use it to make coffee, as it will destroy the rather finicky machine. Instead I use a particular brand of spring water that has the right level of minerals, and I test with little strips to make sure it stays in the right range. (We buy refillable filter packs for the water we drink, which tastes nice, but doesn’t filter out enough of the calcium to be able to use it to make coffee with.) The water on the ship is also augmented and tested in a very similar fashion to what you do to yours, and what I aim for with mine. I have many days when I wish I’d paid more attention in Chemistry class!

[chengkp75]

10 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

 

While ship water is purified I highly doubt that it is distilled water, as distilled water tastes bad.  I'd guess that they use some kind of reverse osmosis.

Most ships have both evaporators (that produce distilled water) and reverse osmosis units.  Typically, the evaporators are larger and produce the majority of the water, as they use the "free" waste heat from the diesel engine cooling water to heat the sea water, while the RO units use a lot of electricity (the sea water has to be pressurized to about 1000psi to remove the salt.).

9 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

It is also possible that it is very well purified and they then add back some electrolytes to make it taste better.  Not in the same area but sort of related.  I use distilled water to make espresso in my espresso machine but I have a brew mix of electrolyte water that I add to the DW.  Distilled water is bad for the espresso machine and it also does not make good espresso.

 

DON

 

8 hours ago, Vexorg said:

Indeed there is a need to add minerals to the distilled water in the system because if the water is too "clean" it will tend to try to strip the minerals and trace elements it lacks out of whatever it can find, which would typically be the pipes or storage tanks.  This can damage the system and cause much bigger problems than bland water.

There are only two things that are added to water made in an evaporator on a ship (distilled water is slightly acidic).  Those are:  chlorine for sanitation, and calcium carbonate (the active ingredient in Tums antacid tablets).  The calcium carbonate is added only to neutralize the the acidity of the distilled water.  It is the acidity that "strips" minerals into the water, as it tries to neutralize itself.  There is nothing added for the purpose of changing the taste of the water.  Most bottled water actually adds a trace of salt back into the water (along with some sketchy chemicals used in fertilizers and such) for taste, but ships do not.

[chengkp75]

3 hours ago, lisiamc said:

The water on the ship is also augmented and tested in a very similar fashion to what you do to yours, and what I aim for with mine.

See above post.  There is nothing other than a small amount of calcium carbonate added to the water.

[lisiamc]

3 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

See above post.  There is nothing other than a small amount of calcium carbonate added to the water.

Am I correct in thinking that I’ve seen someone with a test kit, checking to see that everything is right, and nothing has gone wrong anywhere, though? (Ph, Bacteria, salt, purification chemical, or other things? I’m definitely not a chemist!)

 

When they have Open Day on Azamara, and all the departments explain their things, I’m sure I’ve seen a kit with test strips with the explanations about how water is treated and tested for drinking water.

[chengkp75]

17 minutes ago, lisiamc said:

Am I correct in thinking that I’ve seen someone with a test kit, checking to see that everything is right, and nothing has gone wrong anywhere, though? (Ph, Bacteria, salt, purification chemical, or other things? I’m definitely not a chemist!)

 

When they have Open Day on Azamara, and all the departments explain their things, I’m sure I’ve seen a kit with test strips with the explanations about how water is treated and tested for drinking water.

Drinking water test kits are in daily use for pH and chlorine content, as these two things are dosed to the drinking water continually (I should have mentioned that acid is added to the water since chlorine works best as a sanitizing agent when the pH is within a narrow range).  Monthly, the potable water tank in use, and 6 locations around the ship (chosen at random), are tested for fecal coliform bacteria.  This requires the sample to be incubated for 18-24 hours, so is normally done in the medical center.  Salt content is only measured at the device making the water, where a salinometer will dump the water produced back to the sea if the total hardness gets too high (typically the alarms are set at 10ppm for evaporators, and 20ppm for RO units.  More commonly, you will see a portable test kit for pool water.

[2wheelin]

Do people not realize you do not need to buy water to take ashore? I would only do that if I thought I would need more than my reusable holds (has never happened) or want to drink all the water early on shore and don’t want to carry the bottle back with me.

I fill our insulated bottles with a little ice and cold water for the day.