Paying for water?

[phatkittykat]

I'm a newbie, :rolleyes: this is my first post. :cool: Please excuse any fauxpas. :eek: Trying to decide if purchasing the beverage card is worth the price. We like bottle water and are wondering if one has to buy bottle water or are they free for the asking. :confused:

[D4]

You have to pay for bottled water.

[The4Cruisers]

On Carnival, there's free water available on the Lido Deck by the juice and coffee dispensers. Many people bring their own drinking containers and fill them from the water tap there. The ship also offers bottled water, but it carries a price.

[Curt Jerome Wild]

Bottled water you have to buy.

The ship tap water is good, so if you bring a bottle of water, you can refill at any point, otherwise bring your own.

The beverage card is for sodas.

If you drink a lot of sodas (like I do), it is worth it.

Otherwise if you're only concerned about water, like I said, bring your own in packed luggage or carry-on, or just refill from the taps or on deck (again it's really well filtered, so it tastes good).

Curt Jerome Wild

[JerseyGirl97]

I'm a newbie, :rolleyes: this is my first post. :cool: Please excuse any fauxpas. :eek: Trying to decide if purchasing the beverage card is worth the price. We like bottle water and are wondering if one has to buy bottle water or are they free for the asking. :confused:

 

Congrats on your first post! I remember my first post... only about 2 months ago. Now I am up to about 300+. Be warned-these boards can get very very addicting!!! :)

 

Oh. don't know about the card. I am an iced tea drinker. I hear that is free!!

 

 

Edit- CJW, you are too quick!! I thought I would be the first on the welcome wagon!

[GoinCruisin]

I don't think the soda card covers bottled water....

 

The ships water (not the tap in your cabin, but up on deck) is likely better than most bottled waters you can get... it's very good!!

[caprcorn28]

But as far as the ship water goes (i.e. like in the dining room in your drinking glasses) It is Really Good!! (I am very picky about drinking water and don't drink any kind of ANY tap water ever...but this water is really good!)

 

As far as bottled water goes - What we are going to do - we will likely be bringing on a bottle a pc at embarkation and just continue to refill it with ship water!! Just an idea!

[glrounds]

But as far as the ship water goes (i.e. like in the dining room in your drinking glasses) It is Really Good!! (I am very picky about drinking water and don't drink any kind of ANY tap water ever...but this water is really good!)

 

As far as bottled water goes - What we are going to do - we will likely be bringing on a bottle a pc at embarkation and just continue to refill it with ship water!! Just an idea!

 

There is a good reason its so good, caprcorn.

All drinking water is "made" on the ship by either distillation or reverse osmosis (can't remember which) and just can't be more pure. Probably purer than the bottled water one buys. :rolleyes:

[phatkittykat]

Wow, My question was answered so quickly. I would like to thank you all for the information.:p

[F5Loar]

Great filtered water is free on most all ships these days. Even the older ones have updated to highly filtered water. The last thing they need is an epidemic of sickness from drinking water. From what is hear on 20/20,PrimeTime,60 Minutes bottled water is not always as filtered and clean as you are lead to believe it is. We like the free iced tea. Although unsweetened they have several types of sugars you can add to it.

[Curt Jerome Wild]

To Cruise Critic!

Aren't all the people here so helpful?:D

Feel free to ask more questions.

I'm always surprised (as a lifetime cruiser) how many different questions and amounts of imformation that are provided by all of the wonderful people here.

CJW

[PACURN]

Hey kitty you did great for your first post. I took me a while to figure out stuff. And I have to say it's totally addicting. Just the other day I spent the whole day posting. It was raining cats and dogs here so no reason to go out. I usually check the boards on a daily basis. I guess you can see I have no life.:D

Thanks for asking about the water. I have always drank the water on the ship at dinner and stuff, but was never smart enough to refill bottles at the drink fountain. It never crossed my mind, dunno why. Thats the beauty of this forum. It reminds one of things that one has forgotten of not thought of. :o It's a fabulous source of info. Enjoy it.

[gfsmith]

Just bring something you can refill, you'll be fine

[caribbean dreams]

I can't believe how many of us California people are on the boards tonight, it must be raining all over, i know its pouring here.

[PACURN]

Caribbean Dreamer

You're whereabouts is a secret. Must be north of SD since we didn't get significant rain last night.

[cruisenk]

As the previous posters mentioned, water is available in the Lido restaurant 24/7 and it is very good. On our cruise last week, bottled water was available in the cabin. It was a 1.5L bottle of Crystal Geyser and it cost $3.50. We used this water to take with us when we got off the boat. The cabin steward replaced the water as needed.

[semala]

Oh, the iced tea is unsweetened? :( I'm born and raised southern and never even considered that might be the case. Oh well, I suppose I'll just stick to the water. At least I know it'll be clean!;)

[LornaT]

The Iced Tea on the Lido Deck is unsweetened, but I just splash some Lemonade into the glass, add a Splenda and it's great.

 

I even drink the water from the tap in the cabin, tastes great and is 100% better than the stuff coming out of my taps at home. We bring sports bottle that fit into the side mesh pockets our tote bags that we got in St. Maarten in 2003 and just refill them the night before getting to a port, pop them in the frig to chill and IT'S ALL GOOD!

[Ehpride]

Oh, the iced tea is unsweetened? :( I'm born and raised southern and never even considered that might be the case. Oh well, I suppose I'll just stick to the water. At least I know it'll be clean!;)

 

I guess that way us northerners who are used to unsweetened tea can drink it and those who like it sweetened can always make it sweeter! Pretty smart on their part because it caters to more people.

[jenjens1023]

I agree that the ship's water is great. And even better, it doesn't upset my system:eek: like some municipal water I've had when traveling.

[bucket_O_beer4john]

I guess that way us northerners who are used to unsweetened tea can drink it and those who like it sweetened can always make it sweeter! Pretty smart on their part because it caters to more people.

 

Nope - doesn't work that way. You cannot properly sweeten ice tea unless you disolve the sugar when the tea is still warm. Otherwise it just sinks to the bottom and swirls around.

 

Of course, to properly sweeten tea, you would need about 6 packets per glass. Artificial sweeteners just do not work.

 

Been down south long enough to know!

[perkyblue]

The Iced Tea on the Lido Deck is unsweetened, but I just splash some Lemonade into the glass, add a Splenda and it's great.

 

I'm not a big Splenda fan. Do they have Equal, or should I bring my own? (And I really can't stand Sweet n Low.)

[nalady98]

I didn't know on our 1st cruise last year about the water situation, so we each wore a backpack onboard filled with bottled waters, put them in the fridge in our cabin and had them for entire trip. it worked out real well for us as we used the backpacks in port to carry stuff we needed for the day and to put stuff we'd bought in there too. And we always threw a couple in there for the day too.

I am very glad to learn here today tho that there is really good water Lido that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. I'll remember that this time, thanks to all for the great source of info!!!

 

Martha:cool:

[Ehpride]

Nope - doesn't work that way. You cannot properly sweeten ice tea unless you disolve the sugar when the tea is still warm. Otherwise it just sinks to the bottom and swirls around.

 

Of course, to properly sweeten tea, you would need about 6 packets per glass. Artificial sweeteners just do not work.

 

Been down south long enough to know!

 

Luckily, they have hot water and tea bags then!

 

Odd, I'm pretty sure I ordered an iced tea at a restuarant in Florida and it was unsweetened. Maybe I got lucky?

[Astronomer]

I used to be in charge of the fresh water system on a ship many years ago. If it is still done the same way, then is a reason why the water is good, fresh and tastes clean.

What you are drinking is sea water, evaporated and re-condensed. It is the same as catching rain water in a clean glass and drinking that, and is in fact made almost the same way as rain.

A large container ( I mean really big ) is loaded 1/3 of the way constantly with sea water. As this water is depleted, more is pumped in. Inside this chamber the pressure is reduced until the boiling point of water is quite low. Then they run steam through tubes in the sea water and get it boiling.

The evaporation of this boiling process ( absolutely pure water ) is baffled away and condensed, tested, cooled and put into the fresh water tanks.

Saline counters are constantly monitoring the output, long before you can taste any salt, the system will be shut down, the system shocked ( run dry and brought to a very high temperature and then suddenly flushed with cold water ) to break up salt despots on the lower part of the tank and then the entire system is flushed, which is actually a much faster process than it sounds.

If the evaporators are running properly, I cannot imagine any spring water anywhere that would be more pure than water made on a ship.

At least that was how it was done years ago, and I can vouch for the water being better than almost anything you could find on land.