The cruise ship bar isn’t nearly as boring as it used to be

3 hours ago 5

Brian Johnston

October 22, 2025 — 12:24pm

There was a time when the cartoon version of cruising involved someone on the pool deck enjoying a fruity drink topped by a cherry and pink cocktail umbrella.

It didn’t matter about the quality of the spirits in the drink, since all you could taste was pineapple and coconut juice. Your most difficult choice was between rum or vodka.

Now it’s more likely to be happy days than happy hours, with cruise lines offering far more sophisticated drinks, and with far more choice of labels. Scenic’s ocean ships are the perfect example: they carry 100 premium wines and 130 whisky labels.

Whisky at the bar on Scenic Eclipse.
Whisky at the bar on Scenic Eclipse.

Not only that, but guest interaction with invited wine experts and celebrity mixologists has become common, and so, too, have speciality bars on cruise ships. If you want to indulge in interesting drinks at sea, there’s never been a better time.

The result is win-win. Collaborations with premium alcohol brands add pizzazz to cruise brands, and sourcing drinks from small producers results in a better profit margin.

Passengers are pleased because the wider trend towards boutique beverages on land has created an appreciation of niche beers, wines and spirits, and our palates have become more demanding.

Scenic Bar on Scenic Eclipse.
Scenic Bar on Scenic Eclipse.

The trend has been around a while. In 2016, for example, Carnival Cruise Line was first to launch an on-board brewery, RedFrog, which now appears on several ships.

Carnival Cruise Line has a decade-long relationship with Sydney’s Lord Nelson Brewery and a more recent one with Aussie gin producer Four Pillars. Norwegian Cruise Line has its own-label gin, pilsner and prosecco, and Royal Caribbean its Chilla Thrilla tropical ale.

Jazz bar on Carnival’s Mardi Gras.
Jazz bar on Carnival’s Mardi Gras.

But the tipping point seems to have been in 2023, which saw several companies launch exclusive spirits to celebrate anniversaries, new ship launches, or just because they could.

For Holland America, it was a special De Lijn gin, and for new company Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, premium rum Candela Mamajuana from the Dominican Republic. Cunard produced a special-edition gin for the launch of new ship Queen Anne under its Cunard 4 Queens gin range.

Oceania broke open an exclusive 20-year-old cask whisky by Chapter 7. It also started rum and whisky programs on its ships, which include mixology classes and chocolate and tea pairings with The Macallan, one of the world’s most expensive malt whiskies, and Brugal 1888 Doblemente Anejado rum.

This year Princess Cruises added MEILI vodka, created by actor Jason Momoa, to its range of one-of-a-kind spirits from well-known personalities, such as tequila by Matthew McConaughey, Irish whiskey by Liev Schreiber, and a non-alcoholic sparkling rosé by Kylie Minogue.

The trend towards more focused on-board bars is growing too. MSC’s just-launched ship MSC World America features three of them. Elixy Bar specialises in bourbon and bourbon-based cocktails, The Gin Project focuses on American and Canadian gins, and a British-style pub features its own microbrewery. Cheers to that.

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Brian JohnstonBrian Johnston seemed destined to become a travel writer: he is an Irishman born in Nigeria and raised in Switzerland, who has lived in Britain and China and now calls Australia home.

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