where to get water

I have been reading a lot of cruise reviews in anticipation of my upcoming trip on Navigator of the Seas. It will be my first cruise. I am a bit confused about the drinking water situation. Some people talk about bringing a pack of bottled water onboard (why?), and getting pushed to buy bottled water in the main dining room (is free water not available there?). Also, during the day do you have to go into a bar or the buffet to get drinking water? Do they have drinking fountains? Should I plan on bringing a refillable bottle with me?

Thanks in advance,

Chris

I have been reading a lot of cruise reviews in anticipation of my upcoming trip on Navigator of the Seas. It will be my first cruise. I am a bit confused about the drinking water situation. Some people talk about bringing a pack of bottled water onboard (why?), and getting pushed to buy bottled water in the main dining room (is free water not available there?). Also, during the day do you have to go into a bar or the buffet to get drinking water? Do they have drinking fountains? Should I plan on bringing a refillable bottle with me?

 

Thanks in advance,

Chris

Personally, I've never seen the need to bring water onboard, but water taste is highly subjective. There is free water available in the MDR, but the wait staff will try to sell bottled water, as this is another revenue stream for the line. There are generally no drinking fountains onboard, as these are focal points for disease transmission. Water is available at any bar or the buffet all day and night. You can drink the water from the taps in your cabin as well, but it won't be cold, tepid at best.

A refillable bottle is a good idea, just know that you cannot fill it directly from the water dispensers, as this is a violation of USPH regulations. You must take a clean glass, fill it from the dispenser, and then pour it into your refillable bottle. This is to prevent any possible contamination of the dispenser nozzle or push bar from your bottle, which has not been sanitized between uses.

As I've posted many times in the past, the water from the MDR and the bars/buffet may taste different from the water in your cabin, and this is due to the carbon filters on the drink dispensers/ice makers that remove the chlorine from the water. This is not for taste reasons (just a side effect), but because the chlorine will scale up the machines, and result in additional maintenance.

There are water dispensers on top deck near pool plus of course windjammer and bars

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I take a 2 cup thermos with me all day on the ship. I fill it with ice from the cabin ice bucket or later the buffet. We also drink the melted ice water from our ice bucket. It is usually cold with melting ice. I also get a BIG glass of just ice from any bar. It becomes water soon enough so just get ice!

Water on the ship is fine ..

The water on ships is perfectly good and safe to drink. We have never bought water on board (it's a money maker) and had zero issues. We take water bottles with us and fill them with ice water (from our ice bucket or a glass at the dispenser). Generally we have never drink water in port (especially in the more tropical locales) and we take ours with us from the ship since it's safe. However in the Mediterranean we found the water on shore to be safe and good so if we ran low we were ok filling up at water fountains.

However, if you only drink bottled normally and are used to that, there is nothing stopping you from taking it on with you. I would just avoid the expensive on board purchases of bottled water.

I have been drinking the water on the ships for many years now. There is nothing wrong with the ships water. I've never understood why people have to carry a case of bottled water with them or buy bottled water on the ship. Yes, water is free all over the ship including the dining room. Selling water on the ship is just a money making scheme.

Water in your cabin is safe...if you want ice just ask your cabin attendant to bring you an ice bucket. They will refill it twice a day.

I have been reading a lot of cruise reviews in anticipation of my upcoming trip on Navigator of the Seas. It will be my first cruise. I am a bit confused about the drinking water situation. Some people talk about bringing a pack of bottled water onboard (why?),

They are nuts.:rolleyes:

I bring 4-6 bottles of water on board and just fill up the empties and leave them in the fridge so that I have cold water when I want it. I'm perfectly fine with using the tap water in our room--I've never bought the bottled water sold by the ship; it's overpriced.

We also just order regular water at dinner and use the water in the buffet areas. I am a big water drinker and this works for me. The steward will also leave a pitcher of ice water and/or a bucket of ice in the room.

The ship's water is FINE!! You can have as much ice water as you want. The food, drink and ice on the ship is made from the same water you get from your bathroom faucet....you will need to add ice, as it won't "run cold" from your tap. There are dispensers for water in the WJ, and you can get a glass of ice water from ANY bar or eating venue.

There is NO NEED to lug bottled water onto the ship.

No way are we going to lug water on a ship!

The tap water is perfectly fine and quite safe to drink. :)

LuLu

Ships water is fine for drinking .

I often take note of where water fountains are located around the ship .

Saves carrying anything .

75+ cruises , never brought water onboard .

Once in a while purchased water for shore tour .

The ships water is way better than what we get at home. Even the tap water in your cabin's bathroom is great.

Thus we never lug cases of bottled water onto any ship.

We do bring our own collaspable water bottles that we fill when we are going on a shore excursion.

As for the ships trying to get you to buy bottled water in the dining room -- just another gimmick to get your money.

bringing bottled water seems ridiculous to me but to each his own. the ship's water is fine. we drink plenty of it.

Interesting to see people bringing up staff trying to sell bottled water to you instead. We never experienced that at all on our HAL cruise.

Once a waiter asked a tablemate if she wanted the bottled water he held. She said yes and he said, I need your sign 'n sail card. She said what for then, NO THANKS!

I would never lug cases of bottled water onboard. I have never fallen victim to the bottled water hype. I think that many people feel bottled water is some way better for them, though a large percentage of bottled water comes from local municipal water supplies. Most "spring" water really comes from a city water tap somewhere. That said, there are times when I think that having bottled water on hand is a good idea - in places where water quality may be questionable, or during a municipal water supply contamination concern. As far as day to day regular use of it? No thanks. It's funny that many people cringe at paying $3.75 of more for a gallon of gas, but don't blink an eye at paying over $5.00 for a gallon of water when there are so many free, safe sources of drinking water available to them.

Get yourself a couple of bottles and refill them aboard ship. If you use the tap in the cabin bathroom put the bottle in the refrigerator to cool off and leave the cap off so any chlorine taste/smell disperses.