Packing (Plastic) Bottles of Water

[SantaAna,CA]

I saw a cruiser mention something about bringing bottled water on the ship. I assume you would probably have to pay (outrageous) prices for bottled water when you are cruising, since it doesn't look like it's included. I do tend to drink alot of water, what does anyone think about it? Do they allow it, bringing your own I mean? And does anyone know the typical charge for a coke or a bottle of water, this is only my second cruise. Thanks.

[dakrewser]

You can bring water, no problem. But the tap water on the ship will most likely be purer than that in the bottle you carry on.

[ruthiegirl]

The large bottle of water in our refrigerator in our cabin, we were on the Westerdam, was $2.50. You can bring as much bottled water that you can carry aboard ship, only thing they weigh a ton. I drank their water, it seemed alright to me.

[jaguarstyper]

I agree with the others, the water right from the spigot tasted way better than the water I drink everyday here at home. What did we drink 10 years ago, before bottled water? :confused: I pretty much only drank scotch, but what about the rest of you?

 

Tim

[gaylenhazel]

We had 2 cases of water we just slapped a luggage tag on and sent with our luggage at the pier. They have extra tags and were happy to do it. They didn't limit us on how many "pieces" of luggage we could have. It was nice to have our own bottled water.

[jhannah]

I agree with Dave. The ship's water goes through a reverse osmosis process. We have an R/O system in our home for drinking water, so that's what I'm used to. Never had any bad taste or qualms about the ship's water. It doesn't seem worth it to lug that much weight onboard when there's no real problem with the ship's water, IMO.

[Ziggy7]

I agree with Dave. The ship's water goes through a reverse osmosis process. We have an R/O system in our home for drinking water, so that's what I'm used to. Never had any bad taste or qualms about the ship's water. It doesn't seem worth it to lug that much weight onboard when there's no real problem with the ship's water, IMO.

I too agree, I actually thought it tasted better than the bottled water , also my crystal lite tasted so much better, and had to becareful, it also tasted stronger so more water had to be added, which meant the water was tasteless as it should be :)

[wendyparmer]

My husband owns a bottled water distributorship and we always carry a case or two with us. Even on the airplanes. They will tag them just like luggage and it is so convenient. Especially when you go to the ports. We carry a bottle off the ship each port and do not have to buy any when they are selling it by the gangway. We went with a large group (40 people) on our last cruise, and they all thought we were very smart bringing our own since they had to pay $3.50 - $4.00 each bottle.

[ron46936]

It's interesting the number of people who think that bottled water is "purer" than tap water. The water on the ship has to conform to much stricter standards. On some of the older ships the purifying chemicals did sometimes leave a unpleasant taste. We used to carry a small Brita filter unit to improve the taste, but the water on the newer ships tastes just fine.

 

I do only drink bottled water when staying at hotels in Mexico.

[cruzincurt]

Bottled spring water is usually hard and full of calicum since it's pumped from the ground. Great for those kidney stones. Processed water like Aqufina comes from the canned beverage plant and is soft. Costs more than gasoline.

 

I would guess that ships water produced through RO is also soft. I'll have to take my test stips next cruise.

[TinaLee]

The only reason to bring bottled water onto the ship, in my opinion, is so that you'll have the bottles to carry back off with you in the ports. While on the ship, the water is fine. They R/O and purify the stuff until it is, well... tasteless!! LOL! and isn't that the whole point?

 

We usually bring our mugs with us to fill with ice and water while we're out on the deck in the sun (to fill the breaks between the umbrella drinks) and then we bring a 16 oz bottle with the sport top for each of us to fill and take off the ship in ports. We just refill them on the ship before each stop. The whole luggage/water/soda/wine thing gets totally out of hand weight-wise after a while.

 

TinaLee

[pboedeker]

We've taken a case of Dasani water with us, because my husband is addicted to it! However; be advised --

 

Next time I'll use packing tape and completely wrap the case of bottled waters I'm checking, so that the porters don't help themselves to 1/2 of the water. Pretty crappy to get the remaining bottles delivered to my cabin with the shredded packing!

[sail7seas]

I agree with those who are very pleased with the taste and purity of the ship's water.

 

 

Most of us have seen the various exposes showing laboratory analysis of bottled water and it is shocking the impurities present in those expensive bottles many folks buy.

 

We buy a bottle or two so that we will have the 'empty' to refill from the ships tap to bring ashore with us.

 

Way to much bother to lug cases of water to a ship that provides more pure water than the vast majority of what is being carted aboard. IMO :)

[cvillehf]

I found that taking one of those water bottles that has a filter in it worked great for carrying water with you when in port. I would fill it with the crushed ice on lido deck and I'd have cool water all day

[dakrewser]

We've taken a case of Dasani water with us, because my husband is addicted to it! However; be advised --

 

Next time I'll use packing tape and completely wrap the case of bottled waters I'm checking, so that the porters don't help themselves to 1/2 of the water. Pretty crappy to get the remaining bottles delivered to my cabin with the shredded packing!

 

I can't imagine porters stealing bottled water - there's so much more "interesting" stuff to take! Isn't it more likely that the packaging was breached and some bottles broken?

[sail7seas]

Of all the things a porter (stevedore) would 'help themselves to', I find it hard to believe they drank a pax water. I would be far more apt to think the packaging was not as sturdy as it should have been for the rough handling all cargo/baggage gets.

 

 

Sorry you lost some water......but I hate for you to ASSUME it was stolen by anyone. That's a rough charge IMO

[sbgood]

We had very BAD water on the Galaxy. I'm not talking about in the dining room, which had good water, but the water that the room steward gave us in the silver water container, it smelled like cigarette smoke, it made me gag. We later thought that maybe the steward just never changed the water from the previous cruisers. That was our third cruise, and the first time we had that problem.

[sail7seas]

We use water right from the tap on HAL ships and have never had any displeasure from it at all.

[sandij]

I aways pack a couple empty bottles to fill on the ship for shore excursions. The ships water taste fine.

[cruzincurt]

I use the water from the tap, not from a container that probably never gets cleaned. I also don't use ice from ice machines anywhere, but hopefully the ship takes better care of the inside of the ice machine than the local 7-Eleven.

 

People say they don't drink the ship's water, where do they think the ice tea, coffee and ice comes from?

 

The up side of people packing water is that when they break in the luggage bin the rest of us just get wet clothes, can't say the same for people that pack booze in plastic bottles in their luggage.

[Stevesan]

I also don't use ice from ice machines anywhere, but hopefully the ship takes better care of the inside of the ice machine than the local 7-Eleven.

 

We have a local curmudgoen of a TV personality who does restaurant "sanitation" reports (it's Marvin Zindler, the guy who had to travel from Houston to LaGrange to find a "house of ill repute").

 

Your comment recalls his battle cry: "Sliiiiime in the ice machine!"

[zdude]

You can bring water, no problem. But the tap water on the ship will most likely be purer than that in the bottle you carry on.

 

I have heard that RO is used on ship, but with all of the possibilities for contamination on board a ship, it is very unlikely that onboard water is as pure as San Pallegrino. Sure all water may have impurities, but the possibilities of those impurities leading to a health issue are far greater on a ship than in a quality bottling process. I'd much rather drink direct from a bottle of SP than from a bathroom tap/ship sanitized glass, ice from the maker...

 

With that said, I will probably still drink the tap water, but I will not try to say it is more pure.

[dakrewser]

I have heard that RO is used on ship, but with all of the possibilities for contamination on board a ship, it is very unlikely that onboard water is as pure as San Pallegrino.

 

Believe what you want, I'll believe the reports from the sanitation inspectors that the on-board tap water is better than 99% of bottled waters.

[sail7seas]

Wouldn't it be great if all of the bottled beverages we buy (most particularly water) were tested as often and as stringently as the potable water aboard a cruiseship!

 

 

The USPH Inspections are incredibly detailed and rigid. I wonder how many hospitals or hotels could meet the standards cruiseships are expected (required) to meet.

 

Most of us would agree that U.S. standards for products to be consumed by humans are higher than most places in the world. Who knows what standards foreign countries place upon water bottlers???

[Majika]

We bring 2 large water bottles with us and when they are empty we refill them with tap water from the ship. I've never had bad tasting water on any ship we have been on so far. Last year, boarding the Carnival Triumph I had my 2 water bottles on the outside of my rolling backpack. One bottle was sealed and one had a few sips out of it, needless to say security took my open bottle but left me the closed one. Why they took it I really dont know, perhaps it looks too much like vodka, rum or tequila. So if you are thinking along those lines, put your 'water bottle' inside your carry-on.