Is the tapwater on Princess cruises ok to drink?

[thermal]

At home, I have a one litre Nalgene water bottle that I drink from.   I'll fill it up from the tap in the morning, and usually drink two litres per day. 

 

I'm wondering if the tap water (probably from the sink in the bathroom) is ok to drink?  Or is there a better source of water while on board?  

 

Thank you kindly. 

Edited September 19, 2022 by thermal

[Bobbiegentry]

The tap water in your cabin is exactly the same water that is served in the MDR and everywhere else on the ship 

So, yes. It’s safe to drink. 

[DallasGuy75219]

2 minutes ago, thermal said:

At home, I have a one litre Nalgene water bottle that I drink from.   I'll fill it up from the tap in the morning, and usually drink two litres per day. 

 

I'm wondering if the tap water (probably from the sink in the bathroom) is ok to drink?  Or is there a better source of water while on board?  

 

Thank you kindly. 

Yes, the water from the faucets is potable and comes from the same source as, for instance, the water and drink dispensers at the buffet.

[kiwimum]

Better quality than you will encounter at home.  No issues.

[cr8tiv1]

Water quality on the ships is very good.  It's the rusted/old pipes that they travel through that is my concern.   They have a great de-salinization process.  Once attended a lecture that detailed the process on the ship.  Fascinating. 

[SiliconCruiser]

The tap water on the ships is salt water, straight from the sea!  
That being said ... ships have desalination plants that convert salt water into potable drinking water (much the same as it does in Middle Eastern countries.)  The water that comes out of the tap from a cruise ship is probably as clean (maybe more so) than the water out of your tap at home.  While there will be some that will say they find tastes that do not suit their palettes, it is most likely cleaner than the bottled water that you pay for on the ship, or the stuff that gets delivered to your home or office.

 

[DallasGuy75219]

4 minutes ago, SiliconCruiser said:

The tap water on the ships is salt water, straight from the sea!  
That being said ... ships have desalination plants that convert salt water into potable drinking water (much the same as it does in Middle Eastern countries.) 

Not necessarily. It's expensive to desalinate water at sea, so ships will often take on potable water from the local water supply while in port.

Edited September 19, 2022 by DallasGuy75219

[chengkp75]

6 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Water quality on the ships is very good.  It's the rusted/old pipes that they travel through that is my concern.   They have a great de-salinization process.  Once attended a lecture that detailed the process on the ship.  Fascinating. 

There are almost no steel or iron pipe or fittings in the potable water systems, most are plastic, and have been for decades.

3 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Not necessarily. It's expensive to desalinate water at sea, so ships will often take on potable water from the local water supply while in port.

Actually, it is very cheap to desalinate sea water on a ship, as the heat source is the cooling water from the diesel engines.  If not used to boil sea water in the evaporators, this heat would just be transferred to sea water and sent over the side, so the heat source is "free".  Flash evaporators require minimal maintenance, since the evaporation temperature is kept low (in a full vacuum, water boils at 100-120*F) to reduce scale formation.  The reason ships take on water in ports is when the itinerary doesn't allow enough hours of operation for the evaporators to match the ship's consumption, i.e. port intensive itineraries tend to load water in port, while transatlantics will not.

[Coffeeluvr05]

I always drink the water served in the dining rooms and it always tastes fine to me.  For some reason I don't usually drink it coming from the bathroom faucet even though I know it is coming from the same place.  I know, I know!  It's just a mind thing.  I usually will pick up bottled waters and bring them back when we are out and about on the ship and keep them in our room.  I'm a water drinker so I must have water at all times.

[sloopsailor]

9 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

Not necessarily. It's expensive to desalinate water at sea, so ships will often take on potable water from the local water supply while in port.

 

You are thinking of reverse osmosis, which forces water through semipermeable membranes at high pressure to filter out all but the water molecules. The most common method on ships is flash evaporation, also known as steam evaporation, which uses waste heat from the engines. 

Edited September 19, 2022 by sloopsailor

[Rick&Jeannie]

As usual, @chengkp75 has given the most accurate and knowledgeable explanation!!! 🙂

[chengkp75]

49 minutes ago, sloopsailor said:

 

You are thinking of reverse osmosis, which forces water through semipermeable membranes at high pressure to filter out all but the water molecules. The most common method on ships is flash evaporation, also known as steam evaporation, which uses waste heat from the engines. 

Most ships will use both RO and flash evaporation to produce water.  The RO units allow the ship to produce water when steaming slowly (not much waste heat from the diesels), and when steaming at higher speeds, both RO and evaporators can be used.  Even RO water production is relatively cheap compared to the water price for loading in ports.  There are also restrictions on water from ports, where it cannot be mixed with other water onboard, or used, until a coliform bacteria test comes back negative, and this requires 18-24 hours.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I’m very picky about water, and I love Princess’s tap water! I don’t know how the bathroom sink water is, though, so I can only recommend the water you get from the buffet machines and any restaurant onboard. For sanitation purposes, you use one of their cups to fill your bottle with water. You can easily do that at any of the buffet water stations. 

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

don’t know how the bathroom sink water is, though, so I can only recommend the water you get from the buffet machines and any restaurant onboard.

The water in the buffet is the same as in your bathroom, as previously explained. 

[chengkp75]

25 minutes ago, wowzz said:

The water in the buffet is the same as in your bathroom, as previously explained. 

The only difference between the stateroom tap and the buffet, or any dining/bar venue is that these venues have carbon filters on the water dispensers to remove the chlorine from the water, as the chlorine can cause scale buildup in the dispensers.  This can change the taste for some folks.

[XBGuy]

What I think is a humorous story.

 

I took one of those "behind the scenes" ship tours towards the end of a Los Angeles-Alaska roundtrip cruise.  One of the most interesting parts was our visit to the Engine Control Room where the  presentation was made by the ship's Chief Engineer.  The chief was rightfully proud of the water quality on the ship, but he did mention that they did take on additional water during our stop in Skagway.  He did not think that the Skagway water was as good as his.   🤣

[rj59]

On HAL Captain's Q&A I remember the Captain would always have a glass of ship's tap water to emphasize how safe it is to drink. That doesn't stop different lines from trying to upsell you in the MDR by asking if you want bottled water as a default choice, or selling bottles of water in staterooms, with discreet price tags, or the people blocking the water stations to fill up large water containers, or the coffee station to fill up large thermoses of hot water. 

[Mike07]

10 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

 The reason ships take on water in ports is when the itinerary doesn't allow enough hours of operation for the evaporators to match the ship's consumption, i.e. port intensive itineraries tend to load water in port, while transatlantics will not.

 

 

I also heard from friends in the Navy that if the water quality was particularly poor, the captain could order water conservation measures to preserve the clean water that is generated.

 

Granted, a US naval ship and cruise ship are catering two different purposes. I do remember on Smithsonian's "Might Cruise Ship" show that I believe MSC (or one of the majors) described their desalination process and how much water they have to go through every day to keep the ship running... all the laundry, showers, food prep, consumption, etc. 

[sloopsailor]

5 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

I also heard from friends in the Navy that if the water quality was particularly poor, the captain could order water conservation measures to preserve the clean water that is generated.

 

Granted, a US naval ship and cruise ship are catering two different purposes. I do remember on Smithsonian's "Might Cruise Ship" show that I believe MSC (or one of the majors) described their desalination process and how much water they have to go through every day to keep the ship running... all the laundry, showers, food prep, consumption, etc. 

 

On Symphony of the Seas, they said they use about 50 gallons per person - both passengers and crew - per day. That's about 450,000 gallons per day at full capacity. An Olympic sized swimming pool takes 660,430 gallons for comparison. 

Edited September 19, 2022 by sloopsailor

[chengkp75]

1 minute ago, Mike07 said:

 

 

I also heard from friends in the Navy that if the water quality was particularly poor, the captain could order water conservation measures to preserve the clean water that is generated.

 

Granted, a US naval ship and cruise ship are catering two different purposes. I do remember on Smithsonian's "Might Cruise Ship" show that I believe MSC (or one of the majors) described their desalination process and how much water they have to go through every day to keep the ship running... all the laundry, showers, food prep, consumption, etc. 

Cruise ships are not allowed to have poor quality water.  With both the evaporators, and the RO units, if the water produced has a residual salinity above a certain limit (10ppm for evaporators, 20ppm for RO units), the water produced is automatically dumped to sea, until the salinity falls below that level again.  The water produced onboard is sent through a "rehardening filter" to neutralize the slightly acidic distilled water, where calcium carbonate (Tums) is added to the water.  The water is chlorinated before it gets to the storage tanks.  Then, when the water is recirculated around the ship, it is again continually monitored and chlorinated to maintain a residual chlorine level of 0.5ppm at the furthest point (typically the bridge) from the engine room.

 

Water that is loaded in port, must have a water quality certificate, taken at the hydrant at the dock, not just the generic municipal water test certificate, dated within a month of taking water.  It is tested prior to loading to ensure it has a residual chlorine content, then the hoses and fittings are sanitized in chlorine, and the water is chlorinated again before it gets to the tanks.  As noted before, it is then tested for coliform bacteria contamination, and cannot be used or mixed with other water onboard until that test comes back negative.

[waltd]

Just fill your water bottles the night before and put them in the refriigerator .  Better tasting when it gets cold.    Coming out of the bathroom tap it usually is warm.  

[chengkp75]

6 minutes ago, sloopsailor said:

 

On Symphony of the Seas, they said they use about 50 gallons per person - both passengers and crew - per day. That's about 450,000 gallons per day at full capacity. 

That's about 1700 metric tons of water, which I think might be a little low for a ship the size of Symphony.  I would expect closer to around 2000 metric tons.  But, most ships "save" on water by using the condensate from the AC system in the ship's laundry, so they may not be reporting that.  That can reach 200+ tons/day in the summer.  60-65 gallons/day/person is an industry standard.

[chengkp75]

12 minutes ago, sloopsailor said:

 

On Symphony of the Seas, they said they use about 50 gallons per person - both passengers and crew - per day. That's about 450,000 gallons per day at full capacity. An Olympic sized swimming pool takes 660,430 gallons for comparison. 

On the Norwegian Sky, we had two evaporators that produced 600 metric tons of water per day each, and two RO units that generated 200 metric tons per day, for a total production of 1600 tons/day.  Because they can't run all the time (can't make water within 12 miles of land, or slow steaming not allowing both evaporators to run), they will normally match the ship's consumption of about 1000 tons/day (counting about 150-200 tons of condensate).  That's a ship with 2400 pax and 900 crew.

 

And, every drop of that 1000 tons/day of water used, has to go through the wastewater treatment plant before it goes back to the sea.  Most cruise ships have "advanced wastewater treatment plants" that produce clear "near drinkable" water from the wastewater.

[XBGuy]

44 minutes ago, Mike07 said:

I do remember on Smithsonian's "Might Cruise Ship" show that I believe MSC (or one of the majors) described their desalination process and how much water they have to go through every day to keep the ship running... all the laundry, showers, food prep, consumption, etc. 

 

Don't forget any waterslides that might be on the ship.

[chengkp75]

15 minutes ago, XBGuy said:

 

Don't forget any waterslides that might be on the ship.

Recreational Water Features recycle their water, typically only draining and refilling once a week.