Disturbing TikTok Shows Why You Should Be Cautious Of Water Bottles In A Cruise Cabin

In a controversial TikTok video, a woman who appeared to be relaxing in a cabin on a Carnival cruise ship shared her money-saving hack for getting as much bottled water as she wanted: Drinking the water herself, then refilling the bottles with free tap water so it looks like she never used them. To make her ruse even more convincing, she showed how she reattached the safety seal tag around the neck of the bottles with safety glue so that anyone unfortunate enough to open one after her would think it contained the original water.

@cruiseshiplawyer

Talk about a questionable TikTok trend... ban her for life, please 🛳️🚫 This woman's 'talent' of reusing water and sealing it with crazy glue is not only gross, but potentially dangerous 😷 Let's keep our sea cruises clean and safe! #banherforlife #waterthief #cruiseshipproblems #carnivalcruisescandal #tapwaterwoes #reusingbottles #questionablehealthrisk #gluesealed #hygienehazard cruiselawyer@

♬ original sound – Spencer Aronfeld

The authenticity of the TikTok remains unclear, as the creator later stated it was a joke and that she never intended to leave the used bottles in the cabin for unsuspecting future passengers to find. While it is safe to drink tap water on cruise ships, viewers were still reasonably grossed out by the idea of drinking it out of somebody else's used bottle, and commenters have stated that they'll be more suspicious of water bottles on cruises in the future.

While the TikToker presented the video as a money-saving hack and later claimed that it was just a prank, there was a swift backlash from viewers who didn't find the idea of someone messing with their water bottles funny. Some commenters stated that they would never drink the water bottles available for sale in the cabins on their cruises for this exact reason, with some even sharing that they had worried about the bottles being tampered with by previous passengers. Others were simply grossed out, with one TikTok commenter stating, "This upsets me because my family and I used those water bottles. Not using them again!"

Carnival did not find the video particularly funny either. Some of the concerned TikTok viewers contacted the company about the video, and according to a now unavailable Facebook post from Carnival Cruise Line's Brand Ambassador John Heald (via Cruise), the person who made the original video had been banned from ever taking another Carnival cruise because of her "hack."

Whether or not you're concerned that someone has tampered with the water bottles in your cruise ship cabin, there are a few reasons why you might not want to buy them. While leaving dirty bottles sealed with glue for future passengers is not a good solution, the price of water on Carnival Cruise Line cruises has spiked in recent years. As reported by cruiseradio.net, 12-packs of bottled water sold by Carnival have jumped in price from $4.95 in 2022 to $14.95 in 2024.

If you've gone out of your way to follow all of TikTok's sneaky hacks to get cheap cruises and waited until the perfect day to book your cruise, it can be extremely frustrating to watch those savings vanish as you get caught up paying high premiums for something as basic as water. Unfortunately, Carnival prohibits bringing your own bottled water on board. One option is to simply drink the tap water instead, but if you don't like the taste or don't want to take the risk, there is a filtered water machine available in the ship's marketplace where you can refill your water bottles.