Bringing water on board

[3Shelaghs]

13 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I’m pretty sure cbd water will not make it on the ship and you could find yourself in a bit of trouble.  You are supposed to carry it on not slap a luggage tag on it.

Yikes!!! Between my makeup and shoes, that will be another 100 pounds….lol

[3Shelaghs]

13 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I believe it has a higher salt content.  While I don’t drag on water I mostly drink bottled on the ship to keep from blowing up like a puffer fish 🐠 when I’m on a hot cruise.

Exactly!

[POA1]

19 hours ago, wdw1972 said:

Nope - it's just as good as water people pay for a small fortune for in stores.  It makes no sense to bring water onboard.

 

Sue/WDW1972

We each carry a 30 oz insulated tumbler (stainless steel) with a lid and straw. I fill them with ice and use the water fill stations in the Lido. Or, we'll get ice from our room steward and fill them from the sink. We like to stay hydrated and this seems to be the simplest and least expensive way. I estimate that each of us goes through roughly two liters of water per day.

 

In the past, we'd bring on cases of water or use our beverage package allotment for water, but the cup & ice thing works just as well.  We'll typically have our mini fridge emptied and keep some beverage package water in it. But that's so we can have cool water in the morning.

[horseymike]

On 6/24/2023 at 6:10 PM, colin v said:

 What’s wrong with water from the ship? Is it filtered through dirty socks?

I will tell you that when I drink only the ship water my ankles swell.

When I drink bottled water, ( plastic bottles ) they do not swell.

Maybe that’s just me.

[Seacruise]

I just returned last month from the Noordam 39 day TP cruise

Because of this policy we bought water days before the cruise to be in the cabin. It was suppose to be in cans but was in glass bottles. The problem came that the bottles had a high salt count which we tried to find out prior to leaving what the contents of the water was they were selling.

Having said this the bottled water with the salt was horrible.

The water on the ship also tasted "off" even from the water fountain in the Lido.

Since the Noordam was last inspected was July 2019 it was interesting when we arrived in Hilo we were due for Coast Guard inspection and the CDC inspection at the same time. The Food and Beverage Manager managed to have the CDC inspection put off until the next day in Honolulu.

The Noordam scored it's lowest score ever at 90. While I would not normally be bothered by this score it was what the fails were. They were related to dish-washing and water.

What was interesting was going up to the Lido that morning brought a few surprises such as paper plates, paper coffee cups. The reason turned out that the lido dishwasher was not up to the task of dish-washing. All dishes had to be rewashed by another dishwasher.

The other thing that was noticed all the water being sold at the gangway when we were in port was in plastic bottles. This wasn't left over water because of the policy change, as we were told that it is very hard to get water in cartons, tins or bottles in some countries.

Having said all this a few years back I listened to a presentation here in Canada about bottled water. There is almost no jurisdiction North America that regulates bottled water. There are no rules on how often filters should be changed and what amounts of salt and other minerals can be added to bottled water.

What I am saying you are dammed if you do and dammed if you don't try and look after your health bringing water on-board. It is also a simple money grab for some cruise;lines like HAL.

[Miles Davis]

I don’t drink just any water.  I am also environmentally conscious when it comes to plastic bottles.  So this creates a dilemma for me.  I will make an astute decision and see what happens.  
 

[CruisingGrandmaW]

On 6/25/2023 at 7:17 AM, 3Shelaghs said:

Yikes!!! Between my makeup and shoes, that will be another 100 pounds….lol

 

Edited June 27, 2023 by CruisingGrandmaW
wrong receipient

[CruisingGrandmaW]

On 6/24/2023 at 8:32 AM, Balsam12 said:

Hello Good People,

 

Doing our first HAL cruise from Vancouver in September, and not sure about the process for bringing water on board. We know it must be in cans or cartons, and there is a limit on the amount you can bring. The question is about how you bring it on board?

With some cruise lines it must be carried on, is it the same with HAL? If so, how early do you have access to your cabin to drop it off? We don't want to have a case of water that we have to carry around for hours on boarding day...

 

Finally, does anyone know the approximate cost of buying said water in Vancouver prior to boarding?

 

Cheers,

 

Balsam

@Balsam12

My husband & I bring our own metal thermos type refillable bottle.  Then we order Gallons of Distilled Water ($2.95) from HAL.  You'll find them in your booking.  Go to the Beverage Packages - scroll down to bottom - there you'll see them.  We pre-order ours before hand and select our delivery dates before boarding.  We order less than we think we'll need & order any other gallons we need while on board.  Much easier than trying to bring water on board.

[OlsSalt]

23 hours ago, Miles Davis said:

I don’t drink just any water.  I am also environmentally conscious when it comes to plastic bottles.  So this creates a dilemma for me.  I will make an astute decision and see what happens.  
 

 

 

You can always cancel the cruise, now that you know the in-house parameters.

 

A chief engineer (ChengKP), who from time to time offers his very knowledgable experience in these matters, reported a while back the ship's water production system "is not too salty", but in fact just the opposite since they take out too many naturally occurring "electrolytes".  (Sodium, calcium etc)

 

According to Chief Engineer it is the lack of the "electrolytes" in the purified ship drinking water that causes the changes in body homeostasis, including swelling. Maybe a search of this forum can dig up his explanation. This is the best that I remember on this topic. 

 

Ordering bottled mineral water puts a more normal amount of "electrolytes" into one's daily drinking water.  Or one could add packets of "electrolytes" to the ship's drinking water, and see how that works out. 

[ski ww]

I guess I'm lucky I drink ships water out of the taps, from the bar or in the Lido. Save my money for other things.

[POA1]

Don't overlook changes in diet when it comes to swelling ankles and overall puffiness. If you greatly increase your carbohydrate intake above what you normally consume, you will retain water. I can only speak for myself, but I consume more carbs on vacation than I do in real life.

[Haljo1935]

Back to OPs question of how to bring water (or any consumable liquid) onboard: it is to be put in carry-on and scanned through at security.

When we take drinks this way, we go direct to our cabin to drop it off. Even if the cabin isn't ready yet, we simply leave it along w/any other carry-on then head to lunch.

[SFO Peter]

We buy imported still water on board such as Acqua Panna or Evian on board.  You can get it at the Coffee bar and it is usually in glass bottles.   We do not buy purified water.   If you are drinking the Ships brand of water - you are drinking purified water.  Read the label.  We do not drink alcohol so imported water is a treat for us.

 

Peter

[Tedw]

On 6/24/2023 at 5:28 PM, Florida_gal_50 said:

I always take my extra water back.  I drink a lot of water daily, 2 to 3 litres.  I know some drink a tsp or 2 a day so it does make a difference.  I rarely drink bottled water at home and I never get to puffer fish status so there has to be a difference.  I definitely drink the tap stuff in the restaurants on board.

HAL takes sea water and uses reverse osmosis to get what is essentially distilled water. They then add a variety of minerals to the water to give it taste. 
 

This is the exact same process that Nestle’s proposed for a bottled water plant I was involved with that was to be located on the Columbia River in Oregon.