MSC changed policy for N. American

Guests sailing in the Med and other overseas markets, regarding water, per the rep I just spoke to. They are no longer going to charge for sparkling or mineral water at the table for North American guests for lunch or dinner seatings in the main dining room. They mentioned it for American and Canadian guests who booked through the North American reservation system. Supposedly it'll be notated on documents when received.

Has anyone else heard this?

They did bring up how the policy used to be one liter per reservation previously. I asked about plain tap water and was told this new policy has gone into affect? I'm sailing Divina 26/September. I guess it'll be a wait and see game?

We are flying from the USA and sailing on Divina out of Barcelona in 3 days and indeed our travel documents indicate we will receive free water in the dining room.

We are flying from the USA and sailing on Divina out of Barcelona in 3 days and indeed our travel documents indicate we will receive free water in the dining room.

I would expect your cruise card to be pre-programmed to charge €0.00 for water.

i would also expect the card to carry a number or code on the front. AS shown below, underlined in blue on the two cruise cards. (the red markings were relevent in another post on a different thread)

431:- Allegrissimo package (one which we purchased and one which comes with the Aurea Experince hence 431EXP)

Pete

Thanks Skier for that information. I see my reservation on MSC USA site indicates this new change too! I definitely do not need sparkling water- give me tap water and I'm good to go! Lol

Thanks Skier for that information. I see my reservation on MSC USA site indicates this new change too! I definitely do not need sparkling water- give me tap water and I'm good to go! Lol

I don't think that is what you will get though. You'll be offered the choice of still or sparkling bottled water, not tap water..

It is likely that you'll not only have to show your card, that they may swipe it and ask you to sign a bill showing €0.00.

Do MSC not give you a bunch of cloakroom tickets - one per bottle of water! :confused:

I don't think that is what you will get though. You'll be offered the choice of still or sparkling bottled water, not tap water..

 

It is likely that you'll not only have to show your card, that they may swipe it and ask you to sign a bill showing €0.00.

Isn't still water just bottled water that's been filtered? We have water and what most would call sparkling...I don't know. I rarely ever see people drinking sparkling lol. It's definitely a European/other parts of the world thing!

Isn't still water just bottled water that's been filtered? We have water and what most would call sparkling...I don't know. I rarely ever see people drinking sparkling lol. It's definitely a European/other parts of the world thing!

I. Ever lay that much attention to how it is made or sourced. Basically you get 2 types of bottled water, one carbonated, one not. In the UK we use the terms still or sparkling to distinguish the 2. Onboard the ship the one you will want is called naturale as opposed to frizzante.

Drinking gap water is very common in the UK more predominate that drinking bottled water but getting iced gap water plonked in front of you automatically in a restaurant isn't. In other parts of Europe they oredominately drink bonly bottled water. All part ofq the fun of travelling, seeing and experiencing whatnother countries do!

MSC serves San Benedetto mineral water, as AmoMondo said, either either still or sparkling: http://www.sanbenedetto.it/en-eng/Our-products/Mineral-Waters/San-Benedetto/For-The-Whole-Family

"San Benedetto low mineral content water, with its unique balance of minerals and mineral salts, helps your body purify and regenerate itself on a daily basis. San Benedetto mineral water, a drink of life, every day for the whole family."

Isn't still water just bottled water that's been filtered?

Perhaps you're confusing it with 'distilled' water?

As AmoMondo says, the terms naturale (still) and frizzante (sparkling) are more commonly used by the waiters on the ships.

I think it's all just a matter of name differences at this point. Lol!

In the U.S. Bottled water can be purified, filtered or just left alone.

We just call regular old water, water. Lol. It's either tap water or bottled water for human consumption! Sparkling water in the USA is generally what we'd refer to as "carbonated flavored water" (to anyone I've ever known) and mineral water is your Pellegrino's etc. So the still, mineral, sparkling to me is just a difference of region and how its described in each place. :ovOr as in Italy "gas or no gas?" And I was like "well no gas I guess?" Lol.

I think it's all just a matter of name differences at this point. Lol!

 

In the U.S. Bottled water can be purified, filtered or just left alone.

 

We just call regular old water, water. Lol. It's either tap water or bottled water for human consumption! Sparkling water in the USA is generally what we'd refer to as "carbonated flavored water" (to anyone I've ever known) and mineral water is your Pellegrino's etc. So the still, mineral, sparkling to me is just a difference of region and how its described in each place. :ovOr as in Italy "gas or no gas?" And I was like "well no gas I guess?" Lol.

Mineral water is a defined term in the EU. Purified or filtered water would not meet the requirements: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV:co0008

Mineral water is a defined term in the EU. Purified or filtered water would not meet the requirements: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=URISERV:co0008

But SPRING water can be any old water,,,In fact the water company serving Manchester bottled their own domestic water and marketed it as Spring water for a long time.

It is only Mineral water that is strictly controlled in the EU

The more calcium and magnesium ions that are dissolved in water, the harder it is said to be; water with few dissolved calcium and magnesium ions is described as being soft.[4]

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration classifies mineral water as water containing at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids (TDS), originating from a geologically and physically protected underground water source. No minerals may be added to this water.[5] In many places, however, the term "mineral water" is colloquially used to mean any bottled carbonated water or soda water, as opposed to tap water.

 

In the European Union, bottled water may be called mineral water when it is bottled at the source and has undergone no or minimal treatment.[6] Permitted is the removal of iron, manganese, sulfur and arsenic through decantation, filtration or treatment with ozone-enriched air, in so far as this treatment does not alter the composition of the water as regards the essential constituents which give it its properties. No additions are permitted except for carbon dioxide, which may be added, removed or re-introduced by exclusively physical methods. No disinfection treatment is permitted, nor is the addition of any bacteriostatic agents.

Pete

We are flying from the USA and sailing on Divina out of Barcelona in 3 days and indeed our travel documents indicate we will receive free water in the dining room.

I just made a reservation for a Med cruise via their North American office. And free water was not mentioned in my reservation documents. Would you mind letting me know if the travel documents that you are referring to is the online check in documents or it is the reservation documents.

I'm curious if they have changed the policy again. Many Thanks!

I recommend you call MSC to get this clarified. Based on our experience MSC seems to have some technical issues with their reservation system. We had a problem on the ship where my wife's keycard had the code on it indicating we get free water and my keycard did not. I presented my card to the waiter in the dining room and he was charging us for water. We were able to get this resolved - they issued new cards to us on the ship.

And MSC also took care of crediting back the $10 or so worth of water that we had purchased. When MSC sails out of Miami do they serve ice with tap water in the dining room along with free iced tea or is it the same as when sailing from a port in Europe?

And MSC also took care of crediting back the $10 or so worth of water that we had purchased. When MSC sails out of Miami do they serve ice with tap water in the dining room along with free iced tea or is it the same as when sailing from a port in Europe?

Iced tap water on US sailings.