Tap Water on Cruises

[odydnas]

I'm going on my first vacation since DE hit almost 2 years ago. I'm taking a weeklong cruise to Mexico, so I'm super excited about the tropical weather and high humidity and what comfort it may bring me that week =)

I've never cruised before and there are a couple things I am worried about:
1. Is it really dry on the ship and in my cabin? Will I need to bring a humidifier? I'm trying to pack as light as possible.

2. How clean is the tap water on a cruiseship? I do Dr. L's eye spa daily, so I express my MGs and clean my eyelids with a q-tip dipped in hot tap water normally. Is the hot tap water on a cruise ship clean enough to do this? I really don't want to get an eye infection this way. If it's not clean enough, what should I do instead? I seriously cannot go a single day w/o doing a wet warm compress followed by MG expression and eyelid cleaning using hot water.

Thanks everyone!

[gz9gjg]

I think you need to call the cruise company to get answers to these questions. The cruise ships / operators may be different.

[lisiamc]

What cruise line/ship are you on? Many cruise ships make their own tap water from desalinated and purified seawater, and it's very clean and pure and nicer to drink than bottled water. Some older and smaller ships take on water at specified ports, and while it is safe to drink, it doesn't always taste very good, and you may not wish to put it near your eyes. However, they will almost certainly sell bottled water on board. If you have a kettle in the room, you can use bottled water for your compresses, if you have doubts about the tap water.

Even though cruise ships are air conditioned to the maximum, and even though I regularly seem to drink like a fish on board ship, my eyes always seem less dry on a cruise.

Lisa

[bassfan]

I've been on three cruises since my DES started. I have no idea about the tap water but you're probably safer getting a big bottle and just carrying it on. It can't be great sitting in a ship.

As far as the air quality in the ship goes, it always really sucks for me. It is rather cold and very air conditioned and there are a lot of drafts. It's pretty much exactly the recipe for my eyes to be terrible. I would wear my wiley-x's to and from the room usually and I spend most of the time outside (which is fine with me, I can sit in my room at home). Dinner/meals are obviously tougher but I just dealt with it. The rooms are small enough where you might benefit some from a humidifier in there...

Cruises are still my favorite vacation. Lots of sun and warmth and it's hard to beat for the money. Have fun! Check out the forums at cruisecritic.com if you want ideas of things to do and places to go at each port. It's a pretty active forum with cool people.

Daren

[odydnas]

Thanks for the responses. I guess I should bring a humidifier just in case. I'm traveling with Carnival...it is a new ship, just one year old. I think I"m going to lean on the safe side and bring an electric kettle (great idea!) and boil my own bottled water. Its kind of tedious, but hey, better safe than sorry. At least now I know the water is purified and desalinated and should be pretty clean, I won't freak out if I get it in my eyes by accident. Yeah...I've gotten to be pretty paranoid about anything getting near my eyes since DE hit

Thanks again!