Where to get water at ports

[suisui]

Hi. We're planning to cruise to the Med in Aug. when it will be very HOT. Just wondering how you all went about getting water at ports. Do they sell bottled water on the ship. Please let me know the best way to beat the heat. Thanks

[sddsddean]

Yes they sell it on the ship, but for an almost extortianate price. What we do is buy 4 500ml bottles(easier to pack in the backpack) at home or near the port for a cheap price, then (as you are not allowed to fill them on the ship) take a few glasses of water from the ship down to our cabin to refill the bottles. Stick them in the fridge and bingo, cold water for your next days trip!

 

Simon

[nparmelee]

(as you are not allowed to fill them on the ship)

 

What? Seriously what cruise line doesn't allow you to fill up water bottles? If you don't want to buy fresh water bottles, we've always been able to refill them just fine on the ship.

[GSPLover]

As a previous post said: buy water before you board and refill the bottles on the ship before you leave to go ashore. This has worked fine for us - no problems whatsoever.

[cberge]

When you are in port there ARE stores, as in small grocery types, where they sell bottled water just as they do here in the US...water will not be a problem and it is very cheap in these stores.

[cruisemom42]

When you are in port there ARE stores, as in small grocery types, where they sell bottled water just as they do here in the US...water will not be a problem and it is very cheap in these stores.

 

Yes, just be sure to buy it from one of these stores and NOT from the tourist kiosks that are clustered around sights like the Colosseum. When I was there last year, they wanted 4 euro for a bottle of water. Across the street in a little deli/grocery you could buy the same bottle for 0.80 euro....

[suisui]

thanks you everyone. all of your ideas are really helpful!

[chipmaster]

Hi. We're planning to cruise to the Med in Aug. when it will be very HOT. Just wondering how you all went about getting water at ports. Do they sell bottled water on the ship. Please let me know the best way to beat the heat. Thanks

 

As OP mentioned you can bring your own bottle and fill it up. We brought a couple stainless steel bottles and filled them up every morning with ice and water during morning breakfast. We simply filled up in the buffet area at the same place the waiters filled up their water pitchers. Lots of other people did that every morning too, NO problems at all.

 

Of course, in every port the ship had a stand and staff selling bottled water, iced bottles and cooler jackets for a premium; at breakfast and a stand right at the gangway plank too

 

In port you can find water and drinks everywhere, but as mentioned price varies just like in any touristy area.

[the4ofusandallourfriends]

If you have any greece stops, the water in greece is very cheap. As long as your not right next to an attraction, big 1.5 litre bottles are about 1$ and it was very good water. Even in restaurants bottled water is cheap.

 

Just to shed some light on the water refilling....it's not the cruiseline being cheap. We always bring water bottles and have been told we are not allowed to refill them at those stations because of hygienic reasons. People drink from their bottles, leaving their personal backwash germs in them and then stick the bottle right in the spout (which I've seen) where it could contaminate the other water that comes out. When it was explained to me this way I understood why they didn't want people to do that, which people do anyway.....which really grosses me out now.....but hey....that is the life of buffet-ing.:)

 

Anyways, now that I know that we usually bring a small case of bottled water with us and replenish in port....

[Fishbait17]

I did the Med in August and it was during a major heatwave. We took small bottles of water onto the ship, then used the freezer section of our fridge to freeze them. Each day we set out with one bottle liquid and 3 frozen each. We still had to buy water in port, but not nearly as much. Refill and freeze as needed.

 

Robin

[PenelopeCorelli]

"Each day we set out with one bottle liquid and 3 frozen each. We still had to buy water in port, but not nearly as much. Refill and freeze as needed."

 

The frozen water bottle is a good idea. In warm weather they will melt slowly, and the water will be nice & cold!

 

I didn't read any comment here that all the ship's water comes from the same source, and the bottles can simply be filled from the sink! Much less risky, IMHO, than drinking the water in port. :):confused::)

 

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Cruise-Ships-Make-Fresh-Water&id=1781431

[MSMcDuffy]

I've refilled my small water bottles from the water spouts at the buffet before but to me it tasted like tap water (I've very sensitive to water taste). Sometimes even when it's labeled as filtered, it still tastes strange to me so I only do it now when I'm desperate. (By the way, thanks to the poster who mentioned why the cruise lines don't like people to do that-for sanitary reasons, I never thought of that. If I do it again I'll make sure to hold the bottle well below the water spout.)

 

What some of us did on our last cruise was buy 2 gallon containers of water in the port and refill our small bottles with it. You can usually fit a couple of those small bottles in the fridge in between the beverages already in there.

[tom_uk]

I agree that cruise lines charge a lot for bottled water, and that if you buy from grocery stores, etc, ashore you can get it a lot cheaper. We've done this at several places on cruises and it's always worked out OK. I especially remember getting very cheap water in Mykonos (about €1 for 1.5 litres compared with $3.50 or something for half a litre on board. Given that we were going to the beach we didn't mind carrying a large bottle around for a while.

 

One other tip: in Rome, you can use the public fountains to refill your bottle(s). The water from the fountains will be cool (not actually chilled) and I've always found it to be safe. You may be able to do this in other Italian cities as well.