Food and drink

Every time you book a cruise, you have one very important decision to make: “Should I get the drinks package or not?”

Cruise drinks packages can cost anywhere between £25 and £106 ($30 to $129) per day for all-inclusive alcoholic drinks. The price depends on which cruise line you sail with and which package you choose.

What Makes Me the Expert on Cruise Drink Packages?

I’ve worked in the cruise industry since 2015, and I’ve taken a lot of cruises. Although I do love a drink (or seven), I’m also pretty frugal. Every time I book a cruise, I do the maths and work out whether to buy the drinks package or not. So far, I’ve bought one on 50% of my cruises.

This article will help you to work out whether the drinks package is worth it for your cruise. You’ll find information on drinks prices, package prices, and what different drinks packages do and don’t include.

I’ve also built a free Cruise Drinks Package Calculator, to help you work out whether to buy one or not.

Plus, find out how I once saved over £400 by bringing my own drinks on board (and no, I didn’t break any rules!).

Are Cruise Drink Packages Worth It?

If you like to drink a lot on holiday, then drinks packages are almost always worth it.

But what if, like me, you spend a not-inconsiderable amount of time with one eye on your children, making sure that the little angels don’t take off their armbands and jump into the deep end? Then you might not be able to drink as much as you want to. So, what’s a parent to do?

Of course, with late-night kids’ clubs and babysitting, it can be fabulous to unwind with a few glasses of vino or a cocktail in the sun. And if you’re lucky enough to have a balcony, a nightcap is a lovely way to end the night once everyone’s tucked up in bed.

Even if you’re teetotal, there are soft drinks packages which can be great value for money. So, don’t write off the idea of a beverage package just yet.

How To Decide if Your Cruise Drinks Package Is Worth It

To do the maths on your drinks package, you’ll want to know four things:

1. What different drinks packages are available on your cruise? Some cruise lines offer up to five different packages, with different things included.
2. How much are drinks packages? Some cruise lines have fixed prices, while others vary on each sailing and can go up or down before the departure date.
3. How much are drinks on your ship? Some cruise lines charge pub prices, but others charge more than double that.
4. How many drinks do you plan to have each day? You’ll drink more on sea days than days spent ashore, so this should be factored in.

Now, if all this seems like a bit too much maths, don’t worry! That’s where the drinks package calculator will come in handy. Just enter your email in the form below and I’ll send it to you.

There are a couple more things you need to consider:

1. What drinks are free on your cruise?
2. What drinks aren’t included in the drinks package?

If you like to drink tea, coffee, fruit juice, squash, ice tea, milk and water, it’s possible that you won’t spend a penny on drinks even without a package. Certain drinks are always free of charge.

Drinks packages don’t cover everything. Don’t get caught out by ordering bottles of wine if your package only covers glasses. And don’t raid the minibar unless you know it’s included.

Cruise Line Drinks Packages

The details of drinks packages are different for each cruise line. For that reason, I’ve written detailed guides to drinks packages for each of the following cruise lines.

For the other cruise lines, you’ll find all the drinks package information on this page.

Cruise Drink Package Price Comparison

The following table shows the price of the standard drinks package (when booked pre-cruise) for each cruise line.

Note that many cruise lines offer a choice of packages, so there may be cheaper packages (such as wine and beer only packages) as well as more expensive packages (which include premium drinks).

Disney Cruise Lines and Virgin Voyages are some of the few cruise lines that don’t have a drinks package.

MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean have variable pricing. MSC Cruises’ pricing varies with the destination. Royal Caribbean’s prices vary depending on many factors, and prices also go up and down in the period between booking and sailing.

Which Cruise Line Has the Best Drink Packages?

If you like to drink alcohol on holiday, you might want to know which cruise line has the best drinks packages. Of course, that depends on your definition of ‘the best’.

The Cheapest Drinks Package

Fred. Olsen Cruise Line offers the cheapest cruise drinks package, at just £19 per person per day. That’s less than a quarter of the price of Norwegian Cruise Line’s package. So, why is it so cheap?

For one thing, they attract very different crowds. Fred. Olsen Cruise Line attracts British pensioners who tend to enjoy half a bitter or a small sherry, then head off to bed at 9pm. (Yes, these are stereotypes, but that’s often how it is!)

At the other end of the scale is Norwegian Cruise Line. This trendy line is popular with millennial cruisers, who love to drink cocktails all day and stay up late in the onboard bars and nightclubs.

As well as attracting different clientele, these cruise lines also have large differences in the prices of individual drinks. On Fred. Olsen cruise ships, drinks when bought individually are around half the price as on NCL ships. You’re looking at £4.35 for a glass of wine rather than $10.

So while some drinks packages are cheaper than others, to work out which drinks package is the best value, you have to think about how many drinks you need to ‘break even’.

The Most Inclusive Drinks Package

Most cruise beverage packages have limits, whether that’s a limited number of drinks per day or a limit on the types of drinks you can have. For example, it’s common to exclude bottles of wine and instead request that guests order wine by the glass.

The table below shows the drinks package limitations for each cruise line.

What if You Order a Drink That Costs More Than The Maximum Drink Price?

In most cases, you’ll pay the extra. So if your package covers drinks up to $12, but you order a glass of champagne for $15, then you’ll pay $3.

However, in this scenario, Holland America Line and MSC Cruises would charge you for the entire drink, so you would pay $15.

When Does the 24-Hour Period Reset?

For cruise lines which have a limit on the number of drinks per day, the new day starts at 6am. Non-alcoholic beverages aren’t included in the 15-drink limit.

Although most cruise lines don’t set limits, if you’re visibly drunk, you’re unlikely to get served more alcohol.

How Much Are Drinks on Cruise Ships?

Cruise ship drinks prices vary depending on the cruise line, and sometimes depending on the ship. The most expensive drinks are on Norwegian Cruise Line, where beer or wine will cost $8 to $10. The cheapest drinks are on P&O Cruises, where beer or wine will cost around $5 (£4).

As a general rule, the drinks on British cruise ships (P&O Cruises and Fred. Olsen Cruise Line) and European cruise ships (Costa Cruises and MSC Cruises) are cheaper than on American-owned ships.

Cruise Line Drinks Price Comparison

The following table shows the prices of drinks on all cruise lines in 2023 in both US Dollars ($) and British Pounds Sterling (£).

Cruise Drinks Menus

Whenever I go on a cruise, I take photos of the bar menus. I know that people often like to look at these to see the bar prices, as well as to note which drinks are available.

So far, this blog has detailed info on bar prices for the following cruise lines.

I will add more cruise ship drinks menu photos as I take more cruises.

Should You Buy the Drinks Package?

Now, the million-dollar question…

To decide if you should buy the cruise drinks package or not, you’ll need to estimate how much you would spend on drinks if you didn’t have the package.

If you would spend more on drinks without a beverage package, then the package is worth it. However, it could be the case that you drink as much as you like and still don’t break even on the drinks package cost.

I created a handy drinks package calculator tool, to help you work out how much you would spend on drinks per day with no drinks package. You can then compare that with the cost of the all-inclusive package, to see if it’s worth it or not.

Cruise Drinks Package Calculator

Which Cruise Lines Offer Free Drink Packages?

A cruise with a free drinks package can seem like a great deal. Always remember though, there’s truth in the old saying ‘nothing is for free in this world’.

Cruise lines and travel agents regularly have promotions offering cruises with free drinks packages. It’s quite possible to book an all-inclusive cruise with drinks included, but these drinks are by no means free.

The package price for a cruise with drinks will always be higher than if you booked just the cruise. It’s all just clever marketing.

That’s not to say that you should avoid an offer of cruises with free drinks. Far from it. It could still be a great deal, and it’s likely to be a better price than if you paid separately for the cruise and drinks package.

Cruises offering free drink packages include:

• Azamara – always
• Celebrity Cruises – sometimes
• Holland America Line – sometimes
• Marella – always
• MSC Cruises – sometimes
• Norwegian Cruise Line – sometimes
• Princess Cruises- sometimes

Eligibility for Free Drinks Packages

For some of these offers, to get the free drinks you need to book an oceanview or a balcony stateroom, rather than the cheapest inside cabins. These cruises are often cold-weather cruises, where people are less bothered about having a balcony. Cruise lines use ‘free drinks with balcony cabins’ as a way to entice people to go for the cabin upgrade.

For others, you can book an upgraded ‘experience’. This gives you perks such as the best cabin locations, first choice of dining times and free room service, as well as free drinks.

Cruise promotions change all the time, sometimes as often as every few days, but certainly every couple of months. For this reason, I won’t list the exact free drinks promos that each cruise line is offering.

I will mention NCL’s Free at Sea promotion though, because it is an interesting one. And also, as I’ve highlighted, the standard drinks package with NCL is one of the most expensive options. So this is worth pointing out.

NCL typically runs the Free at Sea promotion all year round. You can get drinks included along with other benefits, such as speciality dining, shore excursion credit and free Wi-Fi.

Normally you get to choose one or two of these benefits, depending on your cruise/stateroom choice. But sometimes the promotion lets you enjoy all of them at once, if you pay a relatively low upgrade fee.

These upgrades can sometimes be as cheap as £99 per person, depending on the sailing. And that’s for the entire cruise (up to five nights – longer cruises cost more). That’s a lot less than paying over $100 per day for your drinks package!

If the offer is limited to one or two of the benefits, you can choose the free drinks but you’ll still have to pay the 20% gratuity for the package. And if you choose one of the other benefits, you’ll pay the full price for the drinks package.

Can You Bring Your Own Drinks on a Cruise?

There are many reasons you might want to bring your own drinks on a cruise ship.

The first is to save money. If you’re on a budget, you could bring your own drinks instead of getting a drinks package. We brought a litre of gin, a litre of rum and a lot of lemonade in our luggage on P&O Britannia. This saved us around £400, compared to buying these drinks at the bar.

Sadly, P&O Cruises changed their policy in May 2024 to stop guests from bringing spirits onboard, although you can still bring wine. Many other cruise lines allow you to bring bottles of wine. This varies by cruise line, so click the link below to see exactly what you’re allowed on each ship.

Read more: Can you take drinks on a cruise ship

If you have a drinks package, should you bring your own drinks too? Ordinarily, no. But perhaps you have a special bottle of champagne that you’ve been saving for your anniversary? Maybe the ship doesn’t stock your favourite tipple? You may also have dietary requirements, and are concerned about getting vegan wine or gluten-free beer on the ship.

How To Sneak Alcohol on a Cruise Ship

Many cruise lines are very generous in allowing guests to bring a certain amount of alcohol on board, but some people still want to know how to sneak booze on a cruise.

Smuggling alcohol on a cruise ship is not allowed. Cruise lines use scanners to X-ray your luggage to look for prohibited items. Cruisers have been coming up with seemingly ingenious ways to sneak alcohol onto cruise ships, but nothing is foolproof.

What will happen if you’re caught? The best-case scenario is that your alcohol is confiscated and returned to you at the end of the cruise. However, some cruise lines retain the right to refuse boarding to anyone attempting to smuggle drinks on board. Would you take the risk?

Read more: How to sneak alcohol on a cruise ship

Pros and Cons of Cruise Line Drink Packages

Still unsure whether you should buy the cruise drinks package or not? Let’s weigh up the pros and cons…

Pros

No unexpected bill at the end of your cruise

With a drinks package, you pay for it before you cruise. It’s a great feeling to know that everything’s already paid for, and you’re free to enjoy yourself.

Without a drinks package, you’ll receive a bill at the end. You can check your bar tab mid-way through your cruise, either by using your stateroom TV (on most cruise lines) or by asking at guest services. It can be pretty depressing to see, so I wouldn’t recommend checking unless you have to!

If you don’t like your cocktail, you can get another

If I spent $12 on a cocktail and didn’t like it, I’d be furious with myself. So without a package, I’d probably only stick to tried and trusted drinks.

Having a beverage package gives you the freedom to try new things. If you don’t like it, you can always order something else.

It’s so convenient

When you have a drinks package, you can relax without caring about the drink prices on the menu. You don’t have to pack your own wine in your suitcase and worry about it breaking all over your clothes. In fact, all you have to worry about is your hangover!

Drinks packages work on some private islands

In most cases, drinks packages only work on the ship. However, some cruise lines own private islands in the Bahamas, and allow you to use your drinks package while on the island.

Cons

Some drinks are free without a package

The free drinks vary by cruise line. You can generally expect water, tea, coffee, milk and flavoured water (cordial or squash) to be on offer with no charge. Fruit juice is also available at breakfast time.

On river cruises, you may also get wine and beer included at lunch and dinner. Luxury cruise lines like Azamara also include a range of alcoholic drinks with no extra charge.

The flavoured water and lemonade available free of charge on Royal Caribbean cruises are actually really nice, and I prefer these to fizzy drinks most of the time.

As you’re leaving the ship, you’ll often see bottles of water available to take ashore with you. These can be handy to grab, if you have a package. If you don’t, then save your pennies (and the environment) by using your own refillable water bottle.

You have to get a package for everyone in your cabin

In most cases, everyone in the cabin has to have the same package. Sometimes, this can even extend to separate cabins on the same booking.

This means that if one person doesn’t drink alcohol – even if they’re pregnant, or have a medical or religious reason to avoid alcohol – they still have to get the package. It’s very rare that an alcoholic drinks package would be worth it if you don’t drink alcohol at all.

Some cruise lines also make you buy a drinks package for children as young as two or three years old, if the adults have a package. My three-year-old drinks nothing but water (his choice, not mine), so a drinks package would be completely wasted on him.

P&O Cruises give a free children’s drinks package when you book an adult drinks package. This deal can offer great value if you have older children who like to drink a lot of fizzy drinks and mocktails.

Not all drinks are included

If you’re an aficionado who will only have Hendrick’s with your tonic and wouldn’t ever consider a house wine, a package might not be for you. If you order a drink that’s not included in the package, you might have to make up the difference or even pay full price for it.

Many cruise lines do offer premium packages or wine packages, which include more than the standard package. If you’re somewhat of a connoisseur in the wine and spirits department, you may want to buy a deluxe package if one’s available.

Other drinks that are unlikely to be included in your drinks package include:

• Drinks served in souvenir glasses
• Wine by the bottle
• Buckets or pitchers of beer
• Room service drinks
• Minibar drinks
• Duty-free shops
• Drinks which cost more than a certain price

You must buy the package for every day of your cruise

Some days, you’ll be off the ship from early in the morning until the evening. On those days, you might not have any drinks at all until your evening meal (as most breakfast drinks are free anyway).

It’s much easier to break even on your drinks package price on sea days than on port days. So if you plan to explore ashore most days, factor that in when making your decision.

How To Buy a Cruise Drinks Package

There are three ways to book a drinks package:

1. Over the phone with your travel agent or direct with the cruise line
2. Using the cruise line’s ‘cruise planner’ website or app
3. At guest services on board the ship

Unless your cruise includes drinks when you book it, the easiest way to add on a drinks package is via the cruise planner. You should log on to your cruise planner before you cruise anyway, to add passenger details and submit preferences such as dining times or bed configuration.

When To Buy Your Drinks Package

Should you buy your drinks package when you book your cruise, before you sail or once you’re on the ship? You’ll probably see that different prices are available depending on when you purchase the package.

The best time to buy your drinks package is after you book your cruise but before you sail. Buying it on the ship is almost always more expensive.

After you book your cruise, you may receive emails with special offers on drinks packages which can include a discount of up to 30%. Cruise lines may also offer drinks package promotions to encourage you to get one, particularly at times such as Black Friday.

When you board the ship, you may see offers such as ‘buy one get one half-price’ on drinks packages. But look closely at the original price. You’ll see that it’s much higher than if you pre-book before you cruise. So even with these offers, you’ll still get a better price if you buy the package before you set sail.

Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

Read more about me

I’ve been vegan for many years and have taken over 40 cruises with almost all of the major cruise lines.

On some ships, I’ve enjoyed the most incredible gourmet meals with ever-changing five-course vegan menus. And on others, I’ve had little more than French fries, salad and bread rolls.

How well cruise lines cater for vegans can mean the difference between enjoying a fantastic cruise, and barely surviving the week.

In this guide, I’m rating every cruise line I’ve sailed with from best to worst based on their plant-based offerings. I’ll also let you know about any secret off-menu vegan items I found.

Let’s start with the creme-de-la-(soya)-creme…

SeaDream Yacht Club offers boutique yacht-style cruising on small ships with around 100 guests and a crew-to-guest ratio of 1:1. This small scale enables the cruise line to go above and beyond to accommodate everyone’s dietary needs, with plant-based people being especially well catered for.

The owner of SeaDream Yacht Club, Atle Brynestad, has been vegan since 1991 and also owns an organic vegan farm and two vegan restaurants in Norway.

Aboard SeaDream ships, I enjoyed the most delicious and healthy food I’ve ever had. Each evening, there is a five-course plant-based menu. But if there’s anything you don’t like on there, the chef will be happy to veganise any of the other dishes.

During the cruise, Chef Tomas came to find me regularly to ask how I was enjoying the food. He would discuss his plans for the next day and ask if I had any suggestions. He’s so lovely and it’s clear that he loves his craft.

I think it’s great that there’s no separate menu for vegans on SeaDream – it’s just a section highlighted on the main menu. This eliminates any hassle or embarrassment of having to ask for a special menu, and it also encourages every guest to give the plant-based options a try. Which Tomas said that they frequently do.

Raw vegan options are available for every meal too, for those who prefer food that has not been heated above 49°C.

Breakfast and lunch are always served outdoors with a combination of a set menu and a buffet loaded with the freshest fruit, salads, nuts and seeds. For breakfast, I highly recommend the tofu scramble and the hash browns.

On the buffet, nothing is labelled, but that doesn’t matter because there are so many crew members just waiting to help. They’ll greet you by name and even carry your plate from the buffet area to your table for you!

SeaDream yachts carry all the vegan alternatives you could wish for, with all of the different milks, margarine and vegan cheese readily available. I was even given a choice of different cheese for on my burger!

If you like mock meat, you’ll love Chef Tomas’ vegan burger which he handmakes with his own recipe using chickpeas and beetroot. It tastes more realistic than even a Beyond burger and I had to double check it wasn’t meat. He also cooks with ‘prawnz’, which are really nice.

When it comes to snacks, plain Pringles, pretzels and nuts are always available at the bar. But really, you can have whatever you like. Every crew member will go above and beyond to make you happy.

If you want to enjoy the very best in vegan cuisine and avoid putting on weight during your cruise too, the SeaDream Yacht Club is the best cruise line for vegans. I adored the food and would return in a heartbeat.

Read more about SeaDream Yacht Club.

2. Disney Cruise Line

Disney Cruise Line is my second favourite cruise line when it comes to vegan food. And if you’re cruising with children, it’s a better option than SeaDream, which is orientated towards adults.

Disney has a rotational dining system, which means that you move between three different themed restaurants. As you do, your waiter moves with you, so they really get to know your family as well as everyone’s dietary requirements.

Disney Cruise Line doesn’t offer separate vegan menus, but you’ll find vegan options on every adult menu, and the food is delicious.

There are sadly no vegan options on the kids’ menus. But kids are welcome to order from the adults’ menu too or if they want something simple like pasta with tomato sauce, that’s not a problem.

One thing to know when you cruise with Disney as a vegan, is that you can always ask for what you want, even if it’s not on the menu. And I definitely recommend that you do this!

At breakfast in the main dining room, I was able to order vegan sausages and the most incredible vegan omelette made with ‘Just Egg’, although these weren’t on the menu. Even the Mickey waffles can be made vegan on request!

In the buffet, nothing is labelled with ingredients or allergens, which is a little annoying. I love it when buffets have labels!

However, the buffet staff are really friendly and will help you. They sometimes also offer to make you other things too, and they even brought me an avocado that wasn’t on the buffet.

You’ll have no problem getting any kind of alternative milk, butter or cheese on a Disney cruise.

As well as the three main dining rooms and Cabanas buffet, there are lots more places you can eat in the food court on the pool deck too. Most stations have vegan options, so if you fancy a burger, hot dog, tacos or pizza for lunch, this is the place to go.

Disney Cruise Line is great for families, of course, but it’s also great for adults too. The speciality restaurants, Palo and Remy are both adults-only. If you dine here, be sure to let them know that you’re vegan the day before and the chef will make something special for you.

If you’re considering a Disney cruise, I recommend that you head over to my Disney Cruise Line Vegan Guide next.

3. P&O Cruises

I’ve cruised on all of P&O Cruises family-friendly ships and I’ll start this section of the review by saying that some P&O ships have much more to offer for vegans than others. Arvia is the best, followed by Iona.

Every P&O ship has a vegan option on the menu in the main dining room. Sometimes you may have a choice, but it’s usually just one thing.

The food is pretty good, but I find that they can sometimes be a little low in protein, which is something to consider if you like to be mindful of that. If you’re a bigger eater, you may find the portions to be on a small side.

The main dining room is a great place to go for breakfast as you can get the most delicious avocado on toast with chillies, as well as vegan sausages and bacon to make a fantastic full English breakfast.

The buffet is always very good on P&O ships and the line does a really great job of labelling things as vegan and also labelling allergens like eggs and milk.

There’s also a section where you’ll find vegan butter, any kind of milk you would like and sometimes there’s even vegan cheese.

If you choose to cruise on one of the newer and bigger P&O ships, Arvia or Iona, you can also eat at The Quays. This venue has three different food outlets and you’ll find a changing menu of burgers, wraps, curries, noodles and the like.

Arvia also has two extra restaurants that are free to dine at – 6th Street Diner and The Olive Grove. Both of these have good vegan options on the menu.

Also unique to Arvia is Green & Co, which is the only fully vegan restaurant at sea. There’s an extra charge to eat here, but if you sail on Arvia you absolutely must. The food and service are both incredible.

Wherever you eat, be sure to look out for the vegan meringue. It’s made using aquafaba and even the omnivores say it tastes great!

Every P&O ship also has poolside dining venues where you can grab a veggie burger, just be sure to ask for no cheese. If you’re lucky, you can also get a pizza with vegan cheese. Not every ship will have this, but it’s worth asking because even if they do, it won’t be on the menu. It’s a secret menu item!

Every P&O ship also offers a variety of speciality dining restaurants that are available for an extra charge. Sindhu is a good one for vegans and the curries are lovely.

If you’re on a budget then P&O Cruises is definitely one to consider. The best ship is Arvia as it has the biggest choice of dining venues, but you’ll be well catered for on any of their ships.

For more info, take a look at the P&O Cruises menus here.

4. Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Cruises is another cruise line that has a fantastic offering for vegans. When I cruised on Celebrity Apex I ate so much food!

In the main dining rooms, you’ll find a separate vegan menu with a choice of delicious options. Make sure you ask your waiter for it.

If you can’t decide what dish to order, I recommend you order both. The waiter won’t bat an eyelid and the food is so delicious that you’ll have no problem finishing it.

Celebrity Cruises ships have the best buffets I’ve ever experienced as a vegan. There’s always a fantastic vegan corner that changes every day. It has some really interesting and exotic options such as steamed yucca.

The rest of the buffet is huge and everything is clearly labelled making it really easy to know what you can have.

I recommend that you walk around and take a look before making your choices. Even then, everything is so good that I always ended up with a plate that looks like this… (haha)

In the buffet, you’ll also find a pizza station. Vegan cheese is available on request, and the pizza is incredible.

Celebrity Cruises’ ships also have a variety of speciality restaurants that you can enjoy for an extra charge.

If you sail on one of the Edge-class ships, I recommend that you try the seven-course plant-based tasting menu. It’s pricey at $110, but the food is incredible so it’s worth the splurge.

Celebrity Cruises does a fantastic job of catering for vegans. Even the chocolates on your pillow are vegan-friendly!

If you’re considering a cruise with Celebrity, I have lots more guides here for you. Enjoy!

5. Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean does a pretty good job of catering for vegans. In the main dining room you can ask for a vegan menu which has a couple of choices each day. There may also be things you can have on the main menu too, so take a look at both.

The food in the main dining room is very tasty, and the crew members are very knowledgeable and happy to help with any questions.

There are some decent options in the speciality restaurants too. Izumi sushi is a good option and the vegan sushi is very nice. I also ate in Wonderland but was a little underwhelmed by some of the food compared to the main menu versions.

I found the buffet to be quite frustrating on Royal Caribbean ships. Nothing is labelled so you have to ask and the servers never seem to know what the ingredients are. They can go away and find out, but that means a lot of waiting around.

The buffet is huge though, so if you don’t want to wait, you can just select the things that are obviously vegan and avoid anything you’re unsure about. There is a vegan corner, but it’s very small.

You do have to order some of the dishes too, and then wait for them to be cooked. By that point, the rest of your family are probably onto their desserts.

I would rate Royal Caribbean as average when it comes to vegan-friendly cruise lines. Adding labels to the buffet items would make things so much better for people with all kinds of dietary requirements.

6. Windstar Cruises

I was really excited to try the food on Windstar. This is a luxury cruise line that’s know for having excellent food.

On the menu, there’s always a plant-based option…

Windstar Cruises is the Official Cruise Line of the National Health Association. This means that all of the plant-based dishes are also free from salt, oil, sugar and gluten.

While this is wonderfully healthy, it’s clearly a challenge to cook within those limitations. The food was very nice, but I found some dishes to be a little lacking in flavour given the lack of salt and sugar.

On a Windstar Cruise, you’ll enjoy breakfast and lunch in the restaurant with a combination of buffet and a la carte choices. I found the options to be a little limited compared to other cruises I’ve been on.

This breakfast would have been lovely with some vegan sausages, avocado, tofu scramble or mushrooms.

I must praise the room service on Windstar which is free of charge and always excellent. This veggie chilli was particularly delicious.

If you love to eat super-healthy food all of the time, then I have no doubt that you’ll love the food on Windstar. But, if like me, you like a pizza with vegan cheese or a veggie sausage on occasion, it comes in at average in the list.

Read more: Windstar Cruise Review

7. Princess Cruises

I’ve cruised with Princess Cruises a few times and I was SO excited to hear that they’d launched a dedicated vegan menu. When I sat down in the main dining room on the first night of my cruise on Sun Princess and was handed the menu, I was even more excited!

The menu wasn’t clear which dishes were vegan and which were vegetarian as some had leaf symbols, but then some without symbols mentioned vegan cheese. The waiter assured me that I could have anything and they would make it vegan.

I placed my order. After 90 minutes, no food had arrived. I asked the waiter and he said that there had been some confusion and actually we couldn’t have anything on the menu at all!

He said that everything must be pre-ordered so we could only order for tomorrow. Tonight, we could have only plain salad and pasta. This was pretty disappointing, especially given how long we had waited.

Princess Cruises ships have so many different dining venues. This makes pre-ordering the main dining room very difficult as you may not eat there two nights in a row.

We did eat in the main dining room again, but the food wasn’t great. I hope that you have a better experience than me when ordering from Princess Cruises vegan menu as on paper, it looks great.

I feel that Princess Cruises’ redeeming feature is the buffet, which is so good that I would happily eat there for every meal. The buffet is huge and everything has labels. There’s even a vegan pasta station with a choice of sauces on Sun Princess!

I particularly loved the buffet at breakfast time. You can have avocado, hash browns, and lots of delicious fresh fruit including things like strawberries and raspberries which you don’t often see on a ship.

The buffet has some great options for lunch and dinner too with cuisine from around the world. Outside the buffet and up on the pool deck there are stalls with vegan hot dogs, burgers, tacos, nachos and other dishes. The choice is incredible.

If you purchase the Princess Plus or Princess Premier package, you can also dine in some extra venues. I loved Alfredos on Sun Princess. You don’t need to book, just turn up. They have vegan cheese and the pizzas are lovely.

On the whole, Princess Cruises is pretty good for vegans. And I hope that when you eat in the main dining room you have a better experience than me. If It wasn’t for my bad experiences there, Princess would be one of my favourite cruise lines for vegan food. I’ll definitely try it again.

Suggested read: 7 Reasons Princess Cruises Are Great For Families

8. Cunard

The vegan food on Cunard was surprisingly good. In the main dining room on the first evening, I was told that there was a meal being prepared for me already.

The waiter explained that on the following evenings, if I would like to pre-order, then I could have anything from the vegan menu. This was great communication.

Cunard’s vegan menu is huge, and it was great to have so many choices. However, I’m not a fan of pre-ordering as I don’t like to eat in the main dining room every night and I don’t always know what my plans will be for the next day.

Cunard’s main dining room food is very well-presented and tastes great. My only complaint is that the portion sizes are usually quite small. If I ate at 6 pm I would be hungry again by 9 pm and there’s nowhere that you can get food at that time as the buffet is closed.

I particularly loved the main dining room breakfast – the avocado on toast was lovely. The British cruise lines always do the best English breakfasts.

The buffet on Cunard is good too. It’s pretty big. On Queen Mary 2 I found it to have a very strange layout with hidden sections, so be sure to look around it all before you decide what to have.

There’s a sushi station every day at lunchtime – the vegan sushi is excellent.

You’ll have no problem getting any kind of plant milk. It’s not advertised anywhere, but you can also get vegan sausages and bacon at breakfast in the buffet. Mine were rock hard though so I only had those once.

Read more: Is Cunard Too Posh For Me? I Cruised on Queen Mary 2 To Find Out

9. Ambassador Cruise Line

Ambassador Cruise Line is a British cruise line offering regional departures from ports across the UK. It also has a pretty good offering for vegans.

The food in the main dining room is excellent. You do need to pre-order, though. You’ll have several options that change each day.

When you write your name and room number on the paper, just remember to write VEGAN so they don’t serve you the vegetarian option.

On one night of your cruise, you’ll enjoy a seven-course Gala dinner. There’s a vegan version for every course and the food is incredible.

After dinner is the baked Alaska parade. While you can’t have the baked Alaska if you’re vegan, you can opt for vegan ice cream.

The buffet is fairly small, but then so are Ambassador ships, so that’s to be expected. Everything is clearly labelled though and you can get plant-based butter, milk and most things that you need.

The vegan sausages aren’t very nice, but they’re there, and you don’t have to ask for them to be cooked especially, so that’s not bad at all. I would definitely cruise with Ambassador Cruise Line again and I love their main dining room.

10. MSC Cruises

Like most cruise lines, MSC Cruises has got much better at catering for vegans over the past few years and on my latest MSC cruise in 2024, I was thrilled to see that they have now introduced a vegan menu.

The menu shows a few days at once, and it’s not clear which are starters and which are mains, or how many you’re supposed to order. I just ordered everything and this is what arrived…

What I received didn’t match up to the menu. I’m pretty sure that’s not ‘mango coconut cream’, but the waiter just said ‘that’s the vegan option’. So I ate it.

The service on MSC sometimes leaves a little to be desired. I find that the crew members often lack both the time and the language skills to help with any slightly complex questions, which is shame. That’s not their fault, they still work really hard.

MSC’s buffet is pretty good. There’s a decent selection and meat alternatives are used in some of the dishes, which is great.

Unfortunately, the labelling can be inconsistent, with some items marked as vegetarian that are actually vegan and no allergen labelling.

You can get a pizza with no cheese on request and all the plant milks are available.

If you’re planning a cruise with MSC Cruises, I have a more detailed guide to eating vegan on MSC for you.

11. Star Clippers

Star Clippers offer cruises on the world’s largest square-rigged sailing ships. With only around 200 guests on each ship, the dining options aren’t as varied as they are on larger ships.

Breakfast and lunch is served buffet-style in the dining room. Here’s what that looks like…

There isn’t a whole lot of choice, and nothing is labelled. However, the staff are helpful so you can ask if you’re not sure what something is.

At lunch, the chef came over to ask if I would like anything else. I requested penne arrabbiata and he made it, which was very impressive.

Dinner is a three-course meal where you’ll dine in the company of your fellow guests. There are no vegan menus – special diets are catered for on an individual basis.

In the main dining room, I was never given a menu. Instead, the waiter would deliver me a surprise dish. I had no idea what it was until it was in front of me, and sometimes not even then!

The food was very nice and always fresh and colourful. I was always given at least two whole avocados in every meal, which made me a little concerned over the calories! Although I’m sure that if I had asked for no more avocados that could have been accommodated on future evenings.

Star Clippers is another cruise line that offers the baked Alaska parade, with an alternative dessert for people who don’t eat dairy.

If you like vegan cheese, margarine and meat alternatives, or are anything like a picky eater, then this probably isn’t the cruise for you. But on the whole, I was very happy with the food.

12. Celesytal Cruises

Celestyal Cruises caters mostly to a European market, and it feels as though they haven’t put too much thought into their vegan offering.

I last sailed with them in 2022 and will be sailing again in late 2024, so I’ll update this guide with any new info after my next cruise. Perhaps things have improved?

The menu in the main dining room does have vegan labelling, although it’s not 100% accurate, which made me wonder if the head chef fully understands what vegan means.

There aren’t always options for vegans. But what you can do is request to see the menu for the next day, then discuss how any of the dishes could be modified to suit your needs. For example, I asked for the Gigantes dish without honey.

The food in the main dining room is Mediterranean-themed and is very tasty. Although the starter is a plan salad and the dessert is fruit a little too often than I’d like.

Breakfast is served buffet-style and there’s not a whole lot of choice. There is soya milk and margarine though.

There’s also another buffet on the top deck for lunch. Nothing is labelled here and as you serve yourself, it can be hard to find someone to ask. But, the food is very nice and the chips are some of the best ever!

If you cruise with Celestyal you certainly won’t go hungry. You just need to be prepared to discuss your requirements with the crew members and possibly also explain what vegan means and what you want to avoid.

13. Fred.Olsen Cruise Lines

I’ve cruised with Fred. Olsen twice. The food that they offer for vegans is very nice, but it’s not always easy to know what’s available.

In the main dining room, the menu is labelled, but it doesn’t always have vegan options. If you speak to the waiter they will let you know what they can come up with. They’re very helpful.

You can request to see the menu for the next day. But if there’s nothing vegan on there then it feels like it’s up to you to come up with ideas! And as you’re discussing this with a waiter rather than a chef, they don’t know what’s possible.

For that reason, I ate in the buffet most evenings. The buffet on Fred. Olsen ships isn’t like a normal buffet. You’ll be shown to a table by a crew member and served drinks at your table so it doesn’t feel too casual for an evening meal.

The buffet team are really friendly and are happy to modify dishes where possible.

For example, one night there was Pad Thai with chicken and prawns, and they made me one with tofu which was great. Not what you would usually expect from a buffet at all!

At the Poolside Grill, there’s nothing vegan on the menu aside from French fries. But when I asked, they said: “Yes, we have vegan burgers!” The burger was really good.

I have no idea how many of these burgers they make, but since it’s a secret menu item, it can’t be many as people just won’t know to ask for it. This is a shame as some meat-eaters and flexitarians will order a veggie burger if its there but won’t go out of their way to ask for one.

At breakfast, there are also secret vegan sausages and secret vegan bacon, so be sure to ask for those if you want them!

I thought the food on Fred. Olsen Cruises was great. My only wish is that they would make it easier for people to know what they have by putting it on the actual menus.

Suggested read: Fred. Olsen Family Cruise Review

14. Costa Cruises

Costa Cruises are the cheapest you’ll find with prices often as low as £30 per day, including food! But even though the cruise line obviously has a low budget for ingredients, vegans won’t starve. But, you may become protein deficient though, so pack protein shakes. (I’m not joking).

I love how the main dining room works on Costa Cruises. Solo travellers are seated together, so you can easily make friends. And you always get four courses rather than the usual three. Which is needed, because the plates are quite small.

Each day you’ll be given a vegan menu with some choices for the next day. It’s great that there are choices, but it can be a little annoying if you don’t want to eat in the main dining room every day.

The buffet on Costa Smeralda was pretty big. But nothing is labelled and most of the buffet attendants don’t speak enough English to help. Most guests on Costa Cruises speak Italian, French, Spanish or German, so expecting English as well is a big ask.

There’s not much that looks vegan aside from salad and bread. There’s a fantastic pasta station though, and I had the pasta every day. I added chillies. There was no option to add vegan protein or even vegetables, only meat and cheese.

By the pool on Costa Smeralada, there’s an interesting-looking food outlet called Green. I was disappointed that it remained closed throughout my whole cruise. It costs extra, but I would have gladly paid for a poke bowl.

One speciality restaurant that was open was Sushino, which does some lovely vegan sushi for an extra charge.

The menu says there are take-away boxes, but I was told I must sit in the restaurant. This was a little embarrassing for me as it was formal night and I was wearing jeans, hoping to grab a takeaway to enjoy in the privacy of my cabin.

Costa is the only cruise line I have ever sailed with that doesn’t have refrigerators in the cabins. If you like to bring your own supplies like cheese, milk or butter and keep them in there, this could be an issue.

You can get soya milk in the buffet. You might have to ask around a few people who send you from one person to the next until you find someone who knows and they open the secret fridge for it.

The food on Costa is mixed – ranging from fantastic to inedible. But one thing’s for sure, vegan protein is pretty non-existent. You get what you pay for and if you get a good deal, Costa Cruises aren’t awful. But you’ll definitely want to pack some trail mix for emergencies!

Suggested read: The REAL Reasons Costa Cruises Are So Cheap!

Other Cruise Lines

There are a few cruise lines missing from this list. Carnival, Marella, Norwegian Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Virgin Voyages and Azamara are some of the cruise lines which I would love to review the vegan options onboard.

I haven’t included these either because I was vegetarian when I cruised with them rather than vegan (I’ve only been vegan since 2019), or because I have only visited for a day rather than taking a full cruise, and so I haven’t had a chance to fully experience all of the dining options.

It’s certainly not the case that any cruise lines missing from this list are bad. I’m sure many of them are very good. I have a Marella cruise booked for 2025 and will be updating this article once I’ve sampled their cuisine.

If you’d like to see real examples of vegan food on cruise ships then I recommend that you follow VeganCruiser on Instagram. In her stories, Sanna shares photos of all of her meals along with her opinions, and she doesn’t hold back!

If you have any experiences that you’d like to share, please add them in the comments below.

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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.

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