Is the water in the cabin safe to drink?

[MaineYachtClub]

I'm preparing for my first river cruise and cannot find information on one persistent question.

 

There are several excellent articles on the ocean cruise forums about how the sea water is desalinated and used throughout the ship.  Most of us have no concerns about drinking the water and find no reason to pay extra for bottled water.  On river cruises, it seems to be common practice that each cabin is provided a bottle of water each day in the cabin.  For myself, 1 bottle won't make it past breakfast.  Which brings me to the question about the quality of the water in the sink in the cabin.  Is it safe to brush your teeth with the tap water?  Are there places to fill up a Nalgene or to just get a drink of water during the day?

[doverboy]

Yes and Yes. Head to the bar for a refill. Wasn't an issue on Scenic because everything was included, including beverages of any kind. So if we wanted a bottle of water it was flat or sparkling, our choice

[steamboats]

Water on river cruise ships is "land" water from public city water systems. So it´s safe to drink.

 

steamboats

[MaineYachtClub]

That is good to know.  The idea of drinking filtered river water wasn't real appealing 😝

 

Thanks!

[Host Jazzbeau]

On our AMA cruises the cabin attendants put so many bottles of water in our cabin every day that it seriously started to back up.  We took a dozen bottles out and left them in a public place – so seeing the apparent 'usage' they started giving us even more water!  And there was always a table of bottled water as you left the ship each morning.  There is no shortage of bottled water on a river cruise!

[doverboy]

30 minutes ago, steamboats said:

Water on river cruise ships is "land" water from public city water systems. So it´s safe to drink.

 

steamboats

 

14 minutes ago, MaineYachtClub said:

That is good to know.  The idea of drinking filtered river water wasn't real appealing 😝

 

Thanks!

Uh, where do you think the town water comes from? But there was no shortage of bottled water on scenic

[dogs4fun]

No problem drinking the water on your ship - you will also provided with daily bottled water. If you require more than one bottled water per day, check with the bar or your cruise director - they are very flexible and accommodating.

 

[Daisi]

Our Avalon Rhine cruise provided us with 2 large (probably about a litre) bottles of water in the cabin.  We put them in the fridge when we checked in, and they were replaced by night time.  You can always ask your cabin attendant for extra if you need it.  There was always water to take out for excursions.  I drink a lot of water and never really ran out.  

 

[Capt_BJ]

On Viking they put and kept filled a large bottle of water in the cabin ... it wasn't labeled so I suspect it was just water from the on board supply, perhaps with extra filtering.  And at the coffee station there was an ice water tap so you could 'fill your own'

 

either way, same water they would be using for ice, cooking and cleaning so if you want to use the room tap .. go for it.

[MaineYachtClub]

2 hours ago, doverboy said:

 

Uh, where do you think the town water comes from? But there was no shortage of bottled water on scenic

Good point. 

[Ritabob]

Uniworld provides each guest a reusable water bottle that is yours to keep.   They are doing their part to eliminate waste plastics, etc. Water is available at the 24 hour coffee station for your bottle.  The water from the tap in your cabin is safe to drink.

RB

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, Ritabob said:

Uniworld provides each guest a reusable water bottle that is yours to keep.   They are doing their part to eliminate waste plastics, etc. Water is available at the 24 hour coffee station for your bottle.  The water from the tap in your cabin is safe to drink.

RB

 

But there is no way to safely cleanse the bottle during your trip.  So the water from the tap is safe to drink, but the reusable bottle may kill you.  Progress!

 

[steamboats]

12 hours ago, doverboy said:

 

Uh, where do you think the town water comes from?

 

Where do you think the bottled water comes from...

 

Actually along the Elbe river it´s pretty likely that town water is purified Elbe river water. That´s what Dresden does. But this is the same along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

On the Rhine water from the tap, i.e. what folks like me in towns drink is ground water. That means rain water basically, looking at the natural water cycle. Mildly treated only. The other way is indeed, also along the Rhine I guess, river water treated and purified. Either way, the water is heavily monitored. It should always be fine to drink on the European ships, unless there is a ship specific problem.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[dodger1964]

On 5/2/2019 at 9:21 PM, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

But there is no way to safely cleanse the bottle during your trip.  So the water from the tap is safe to drink, but the reusable bottle may kill you.  Progress!

 

they don't have soap on ship?

[Ritabob]

You can rinse the bottle out with the hot water from the dispenser for tea at the coffee station.