what is the hot water situation like on the ships?

[adSimba]

does it take a while to warm up? does it run out at certain times? could you, theoretically, take a 3 hour shower and not run out?

 

[Shanti]

could you, theoretically, take a 3 hour shower and not run out?

I doubt if anyone knows that as no one in their right mind would try it. I also doubt that I could get 3 continual hours of hot shower time in my own home. On the Magic, we had no problem taking the same types of showers we take at home when we wanted to take them, with the same water temperatures we'd use at home. No issues.

 

[dclpluto]

The only problem I have had has been on disembark morning. You got the whole ship waking up about the same time almost and taking a shower.

 

[DisneyWonder'09]

The water is heated by using the excess heat generated by the ships engines so theoretically as long as the engines are running and the ship has water available there will be hot water. As dclphuto said if everyone is using the hot water at the same time and in port when only one engine is running then the water may not be as hot as the rest of the tume. it would be a huge waste of water to have a 3 hour shower though. Why do you ask?

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I've never had any issues getting as much hot water as I wanted for a shower, and I didn't have to let the water run long to get it hot. While I haven't tried a 3 hour shower, I have been the last of 3 to shower, following a teen girl and a tween girl who both liked long, hot showers.

 

[adSimba]

lol, no I wouldn't actually have a 3 hour shower, but if you have 5 people in one room and a few of them are known for taking long showers, 3 hours cumulatively over the course of a morning isn't that crazy of a stretch.

It was just a ridiculous example to make it easy to understand my question.

 

[Weedy]

On our Alaska cruise a few years ago we had a problem. I called Guest Services it was fixed and didn't have a problem again.

 

[adSimba]

The water is heated by using the excess heat generated by the ships engines so theoretically as long as the engines are running and the ship has water available there will be hot water. As dclphuto said if everyone is using the hot water at the same time and in port when only one engine is running then the water may not be as hot as the rest of the tume. it would be a huge waste of water to have a 3 hour shower though. Why do you ask?

not that I'm trying to defend the idea of a 3 hour shower, but I think, that since the water is desalinated (it is right?), that it would be a waste of energy, but not one of water.

 

[DisneyWonder'09]

not that I'm trying to defend the idea of a 3 hour shower, but I think, that since the water is desalinated (it is right?), that it would be a waste of energy, but not one of water.

From the little knowledge i have from reading posts by the chief engineer on cruise critic it is either desalinated or they use flash evaporation to make fresh water and sometimes they take on water from ports. Obviously there is testing and treatment of the water before it is used and after it goes down the drain the waste water has to be treated with chemicals and tested again before they can discharge it back into the sea so yes the water ultimately is returned to where it came from but at the same time there is a cost of labor to make and treat the water and the upkeep of all of the machinery and pumps to push the water to your cabin and suck it away using electricity to consider. Much in the same way that if you left a hose running in your driveway uncessilsairly the water used is being wasted but it ultimately drains into the earth and or city drains and returns to rivers and or the sea or evaporates and becomes rain clouds before falling back to earth. on a ship they have to make fresh water and treat it before it can be used and treat it again before it can be put back from where it came from.

 

[OKW Lover]

does it take a while to warm up? does it run out at certain times?

The supply of hot water on board the ship is essentially inexhaustible. You won't have a problem at any time of day. We've found it only takes about 10 seconds for the hot water to come out of the shower head.