Cruise Guests Would Rather Give Up Alcohol Than Meat!

A lot of people have this idea of the stereotypical cruise holiday in their mind.

It usually involves some staples such as tropical destinations, lounging by the pool, amazing service etc. And for a lot of people, it’ll always include the idea of sipping cocktails and enjoying luxurious steak dinners throughout the cruise.

That’s despite the way society’s moving, with more and more people cutting down on the amount of meat and alcohol they consume in their everyday lives for all kinds of reasons.

So I wanted to answer the question – what would people miss more on a cruise, alcohol or meat?

Maybe the results will surprise you!

Explaining the data

To find out whether people prioritised meat or booze on their cruises, I simply asked my Facebook audience.

The question was – “Imagine you won a free cruise but it had to be either meat-free or alcohol-free – which would you choose?”

The post got hundreds of responses, and from that, I’ve been able to analyse the data to see which is the most popular answer!

Meat is way more important than alcohol!

Almost 60% of people surveyed said that they would rather have an alcohol-free cruise than one without meat.

Around 29% said that they would give up meat if it meant they could still enjoy a drink on their cruise.

Around 8% said that they would be fine with either of both if it meant they could enjoy a free cruise!

And finally, there were just under 4% of people who said that even if they were offered a free cruise, they would turn it down if they had to give up either meat or alcohol – they couldn’t manage without both!

A lot of the people who replied said that they would rather skip out on alcohol if it meant they could still enjoy their steak and lobster, which they felt was the best part of a cruise.

One cruiser said: “I would miss the alcohol, but not as much as I would hate rabbit food, or even worse, fake food, for the duration.”

Another said: “Alcohol free would be fine for me, couldn’t go without a steak.”

It’s not just the love of meat that’s caused people to vote that way, though. Part of it is considering the impact of the rules on other guests onboard too.

As one cruiser put it, they would prefer alcohol-free as “people that are drunk irritate me” and another said, “It would be great, no overbearing drunk kn*bs”.

Suggested read: The 8 Most Infuriating Cruise Habits (According to Fellow Passengers)

But not everyone voted the same…

There were still plenty of cruisers who said they would rather give up meat than alcohol on their cruise.

Many of these already live a meat-free lifestyle. There were quite a few who said similar to “I am a vegetarian anyway” so there wasn’t really a choice involved for them.

One cruiser explained how they just couldn’t give up their favourite drinks, saying: “I can go without meat, but I couldn’t go without my cocktails”.

Another said they “love the drink package” too much to consider giving up alcohol.

One person even said they would choose a meat-free cruise because “I need alcohol to get through it!”, which makes you wonder why they’re even cruising in the first place if they need booze to just get through the experience!

And as one cruiser put it, you don’t need meat to still enjoy the food onboard. He said “I can live on cakes and junk food all week long. Can’t live without alcohol.”

Cruising without alcohol

Cruises are definitely still tailored more towards a drinking crowd. Almost every cruise line offers an all-inclusive drinks package that you can pay extra for, and their menus are dominated by the wines, beers and cocktails you can buy.

But there are sober cruises, for those who just don’t like a drink, who prefer to avoid drunken crowds, or who are recovering from more serious alcohol-related conditions including addiction.

Sober cruises are rarely completely free of alcohol – they tend to be group bookings as part of a larger cruise – but they’re still a great way of surrounding yourself with others who aren’t drinking.

Read more: How To Cruise Alcohol-Free

Meat-free cruising

Many cruise lines have been embracing meat-free menu options for some time now.

Don’t get me wrong – steak and lobster and all the other usual favourites are still around, and likely always will be.

But most cruise lines now have at least a decent range of vegetarian and vegan options so you can avoid meat if you want to – or even just mix up what you’re eating during the week if you want to try some non-meat dishes during your cruise.

Even Carnival unveiled a new vegan menu towards the end of 2023, and Carnival’s long been one of the worst cruise lines for vegetarian and vegan food options. Up until then, I said I wouldn’t be able to cruise with them, but now it’s something I’d definitely consider.

Read more about cruise lines’ vegan menus here.

Final word

It’s interesting to see how many people would rather give up alcohol than meat on their cruise, considering just how much people seem to put value into their cocktails and drinks packages when they sail.

There are definitely advantages to cruising sober – not least just feeling refreshed and ready to go each morning before you tackle that full-day excursion.

But the important thing is that cruises really are for everyone, so whether you’re tee-total or you enjoy a drink; whether you’re vegan, vegetarian or an omnivore (or essentially a carnivore), you’ll find that you’re well catered for on a cruise ship.

And for now, you aren’t forced to give anything up when you want to sail 🙂

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