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Cpap and the distilled water


Leighq

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I have sent an email prior to our sail date to special_needs@rccl.com with our reservation #, room #, name and that my husband uses a CPAP machine and would need distilled water and an extension cord in the past.  They have always responded that these items would be in the room upon arrival. And… they have been there.  Full unopened gallon of distilled water and an extension cord.  No problem at all. 

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I've used a CPAP for years on several different lines and ships.  I always contact the cruise line in advance and find a half gallon of distilled H2O and an extension cord waiting at embarkation.  If not, tell the cabin steward immediately.

Some notes:   

Often, ships will confiscate extension cords brought from home as they do not meet ship's standards.

The cruise line cords are THICK and tend to curl in places causing a tripping hazard--they have to route them all around the cabin--and in front of the balcony door.

On my recent Celebrity Apex cruise, my Sky Suite had an outlet next to one side of the bed--so no cord needed.  I've found many ships have a hidden EUROPEAN outlet behind the bed for the nightstand lamp.  For this purpose, I travel with an adapter that plugs into a euro plug but has TWO outlets, one euro, one US...I unplug the lamp, plug in my CPAP to the US plug and the lamp back into the Euro plug.

I have recently purchased a ResMed AirMini Travel CPAP.  It's very small. lightweight...and has a humidifier that works WITHOUT water!!  I will first try it on my April cruise...

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6 hours ago, Leighq said:

My husband uses one and I am trying to figure out how do bring the water required for his machine on the plane and ship.  Anyone have an idea?  Thank you all for the help.

If you are in need of distilled water at a hotel for a night before the cruise there are a few options.  If your husband does not feel comfortable using tap water or bottled drinking water for one night, you can consider:

  • FIlling an empty water bottle (ie 16oz water bottle) with distilled water, vacuum seal it and pack in a checked bag.  My husband just did this for a flight last month as an experiment - it did arrive safely.  He recently bought a vacuum sealer and he just couldn't help himself. 
  • Distilled water can be frozen and frozen water can go through TSA screening.  Again use an empty water bottle or two and freeze (don't overfill bottle) - pack in a zip lock bag and put in carry on.  Just be sure to pour out any water from the frozen bottle before getting into TSA line.  Should thaw in plenty of time before bed.

My husband is ok with using non distilled water when absolutely necessary so these were just experiments he tried.

We never felt the need to fill out the special needs form for distilled water on the ship - just mention to the cabin steward and a gallon jug appears before you know it. 

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You can also buy distilled water in a 16oz bottle. My hubby has them and if we are flying early he will take one. We bought them on Amazon. I don't see the exact ones he got, but there are quite a few choices. 

We have never had an issue getting the water or needed extension cord, though life is much simpler on the newer ships with an outlet next to the bed!

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I agree with others that requesting distilled water for your CPAP is the preferred solution. 

I have a res-med mini CPAP that I usually travel with but on our last cruise I took my BPAP machine and used tap water.  After ten days of using tap water I had a fair amount of calcium build up in the watertank.  However upon arriving at home, a little bit of Lime Away in the tank cleaned it right out with little or no smell.    

Bottom line is if you can’t get distilled water, tap water can be used if you are willing clean your tank when you get home.

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For pre-cruise hotel stays, I keep it really simple...

I always travel with one of those insulated steel bottles--that I use, packed with ice from the ship and either buffet iced tea, coke zero or water, for use during the day when out on a tour or shore excursion.  Since I pack that in my checked luggage anyway, I just put in a little distilled water from home.  When I get to my pre-cruise hotel and set up my CPAP and pour the water from there into it.  Those things seal up pretty tight, don't crush, don't leak, don't break.

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