Ship water - does it contain salt?

[The_Answer_Is_42]

Good question pkrchkr. I would like to know the answer to that myself, as I am one of the ones who always swell on the ship.

 

And here's a little info for those who will immediately answer that "It's not the water.". ...

 

I have tried drinking only the bottled water on the ship, and had quite good results with that. The swelling was much less. I imagine the food is prepared with ship's water, so even staying strictly with the bottle water, you can't eliminate all ship's water from your diet. So I was not surprised to still get some swelling.

 

So if reducing the intake of ship's water, reduces the swelling, how can the swelling be totally unrelated to the ship's water?

The food served aboard has pretty high salt content, couple that with high water intake (Not to judge but alcohol intake is also responsible for swelling), low altitude, high humidity and heat.... there's a lot of reasons for swelling up, and pretty much as long as you're cycling the water out as well (urinating, sweating, respiration), you're set.

 

As far as the salt in the potable water, the reverse osmosis system Carnival uses drops the dissolved sodium levels to something less than your average bottle of water. I gave a cursory look but could not nail down their water quality targets.

[Little Elm]

I have kidney issues. In 2001 we sailed on Destiny. I can tell you I am not drinking the water again. I retained so much water, I could not fit into any clothes except my workout shorts and my husbands T-shirt. The only shoes I could wear were my flip-flops. I was miserable.

 

I plan to take a case of water on Destiny in a month. I am not going to take that chance again. I think it was just the fact that I drank so much of it. I filled my 32 oz cup at least 3-4 times per day. In April, we took an RCCL cruise, the only water I had from the ship was from coffee, ice, and brushing my teeth. I didn't have a problem.

[mafig]

The air around the ship is full of salt just from the sea so just by breathing you get salt in your loungs and your body through osmoses

 

 

Well then, all of us that live by the ocean (like we do) should have salt in our bodies. LOL.

 

Anyway, as I said, I live on a salt water canal in Florida, where it's also hot and humid most of the year. I don't have any problem with swelling. My first couple of cruises my ankles swelled terribly. They don't anymore. I do not drink the ship's water....only bottled water ... since I've started doing this on my cruises, I've had no problems.

[dawn_linnet]

But I have had a problem with water retention on every cruise but I think it is more from my food being cooked with salt( I never use salt at home)

I have HBP,Hyper uricemia and hemochromatosis so water is very important to me. I have to drink a minimum of 3 L a day to keep the crystal out of my kdneys and blood and to reduce the absorbtion of iron.

 

hi pkrchkr

I also have hemochromatosit, and this is the first time I've heard that drinking a lot of water helps reduce the amount of iron absorption...interesting. Oh, and I'm also in Manitoba, in Thompson. I drink a lot of water anyway, so hopefully it's doing me some good.

We are going on our first cruise in November and I plan on bringing bottled water just cause I drink a lot of it.

We went to a resort in Dom Rep last year and when we flew home my feet were swollen so bad I couldnt put my boots on when we landed in Winnipeg. Thats the first time it happened to me and we fly quite a bit. So I wonder if it was from the salt water. It took a few days after being home for the swelling to go down. I don't have any problem with high blood pressure though.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting to see someone else with HH, don't meet to many of us lol..

[bobandkelly]

G'ma, thanks for the posts. Unfortunately some will still think there is salt in the water. They will still go through the hassle & cost of buying and bringing on water. Me I will continue to drink large amounts of the ships water.

Hope everyone enjoys their cruise!

kelly

[popcorngal]

Another thing to keep in mind is, and I know this sounds weird, is that by upping your water intake, it will help immensely with the swelling. I didn't believe it until I tried it, but it really does help, both at home and while cruising.

 

Last year I drank only the ship's water and lots of it, and had terrible problems with swelling. It was miserable. This year, I stuck almost exclusively with the bottled water, and never had a problem. This is just my experience, but I know for sure what water I will be drinking on the upcoming cruise.

[UKCruiser_2008]

Well I am as confused as ever! :) I know that the reverse osmosis process is probably the best way of purifying water, yet people still suspect it causes their swelling ...

 

I flew across the Atlantic to Orlando in February this year, a long flight of about 13 hours. My feet were swollen by the third day which at the time I thought was due to the miles of walking we were doing.

 

Come to think of it, I was eating LOTS of food and most of it was salty. Maybe it was this and the long flight which caused it. I will be wearing some of those fetching flight socks this time round.

 

 

How should I ask Carnival about the low-soduim diet? Do I just tell the server on board? Are the SPA menu options low sodium?

[pkrchkr]

hi pkrchkr

I also have hemochromatosit, and this is the first time I've heard that drinking a lot of water helps reduce the amount of iron absorption...interesting. Oh, and I'm also in Manitoba, in Thompson. I drink a lot of water anyway, so hopefully it's doing me some good.

We are going on our first cruise in November and I plan on bringing bottled water just cause I drink a lot of it.

We went to a resort in Dom Rep last year and when we flew home my feet were swollen so bad I couldnt put my boots on when we landed in Winnipeg. Thats the first time it happened to me and we fly quite a bit. So I wonder if it was from the salt water. It took a few days after being home for the swelling to go down. I don't have any problem with high blood pressure though.

Anyway, just thought it was interesting to see someone else with HH, don't meet to many of us lol..

I have found alot of people that have HC lately I didn't know it was that common.If you drink a lot of water it helps flush the Iron you over load on out of your kidneys and keep your body hydrated. If you are in the maintanence level try and drinking as much water as possilbe and also don't forget black tea if you are going to eat anything over 10g of Iron as it helps inhibit iron absorbtion.I will be getting my results back Friday from my CT scan to see if I have any internal davage fomr the iron overload.They ahve not decided if I have HHC or AHC. I will keep drinking 3 L a day and drink Black tea and I have already notified Carnival of my sodium restrictions.I'll bring water on the cruise and hope for the best.

We are an Anemic persons best friend( we have a gift that can be shared with so many)

Take care and stay warm up there

[Gayle V]

Is that fair?

 

We who have never had ANY swelling are not allowed to say, "Its not the water." Because we do not know [and I admit, we do not].

Yet, you who have had swelling are allowed to say, "It is the water." Even tho you do not know either.

 

Swelling is VERY common on airplanes, therefore airplanes must use salt water???

 

I'd guess [and its only a guess] that the swelling or lack of it is a reflection of the individual's health condition subjected to a large change in lifestyle.

 

Dan

 

Dan, This is not a matter of fairness. I never tried to tell you what you could say. What I was doing was first offering further information so people would have all the facts and they could offer an educated answer.

 

 

Let me repeat my last line one more time, since most of you seem to have totally missed it:

 

If reducing the intake of ship's water, reduces my swelling, which it definitely DOES, how can the swelling be totally unrelated to the ship's water?

 

IMHO, you're not considering all the cause/effect parameters in your evaluation.

One I would consider, and give more credence, is all the time you spend ON YOUR FEET during a cruise compared with a normal week for you.

 

The weekly diet and lack of sleep (if that's the case) may also contribute to the "effect" you're experiencing.

 

Hello glrounds, None of those factors are variables. They are the same on every cruise, whether I drink the water or not. You have missed the one and only variable. If I don't drink the water. I have much less swelling. I was hoping for an explanation of that.

 

Remember, for me this is not a matter of comparing “life on a cruise to life at home”. I’m comparing several cruises: A few cruises that included only drinking bottled water, compared to several drinking ships water. Logic says that if the only variable amongst several cruises is whether or not I drink the ship's water, and if those cruises where I do not drink the water result in much LESS leg swelling, I was asking "how can the water NOT be part of the problem?"

 

I eat ship food on all cruises, walk a lot (both on all cruises and at home) and fly to every cruise. There is no lifestyle change between one Caribbean cruise and another Caribbean cruise. So diet, lifestyle, being on my feet a lot, and flying are NOT variables, and therefore none of those are logical explanations at all.

 

BTW, I also never said anything about it being the SALT in the water. I said it was the "water." Perhaps G’Ma is on to something when she says that OTHER things are removed from the water also. MAYBE they are necessary things, and it is their absence that is causing the problem.

 

Either way, logic says it’s the water.

[Dee777]

I didn't swell at all on our cruise in January, and I drank a LOT of ship water!