There’s one thing Australians hate about cruise ships. Now it’s changing

Australians have long complained about the quality of the coffee on cruise ships, as well we might. Many of us would argue that the ubiquitous American-style drip coffee is barely coffee at all.

Coffee on ships is often served from a coffeepot with contents that have gone bitter and cold. Self-service coffee comes from catering urns or the types of push-button machines you find in hotel breakfast rooms.

But things are changing as cruise lines recognise that guests – especially Australians – are increasingly coffee savvy and expecting better-quality beans and a wider variety of coffee options on the high seas.

Baristas cafe on Oceania Regatta.

You can now get what cruise lines call specialty coffees on every ship, although at additional cost on budget ships from the likes of Carnival or Royal Caribbean, where even an espresso or latte is considered a specialty coffee.

Most budget ships now have coffee bars, among them Carnival’s Java Blue, Princess Cruises’ International Cafe and Royal Caribbean’s Cafe Promenade. MSC Cruises has added either Venchi Coffee Bar or Jean Philippe Cafe to its more recent vessels.

Both Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise Line collaborate with Starbucks, although Australians will have mixed opinions about whether Starbucks serves a decent coffee.

One of the biggest improvements over the last few years is the move towards better-quality coffee beans on budget and premium ships.

Italian company Costa Cruises partnered with coffee brand Caffe Vergnano in 2021 for that made-in-Italy flavour, and serves it up in Caffe Vergnano 1882 coffee shop on its ships.

Silver Muse cafe. Silversea

In 2023 Princess Cruises partnered with Lavazza which it says “expresses the essence of real Italian coffee”. And in 2024, Cunard opted for allegiance to Union, a London-based coffee company that supplies posh British supermarkets and the posh classes on British Airways long-haul flights.

Since it launched its first ship in 2020, Virgin Voyages has partnered with Chicago brand Intelligentsia, one of the “third wave” of coffee producers in America that emphasises high quality, single-origin beans.

The coffees in Virgin’s Coffee Grounds cafe tend towards the less elaborate, straight-up European types of coffee rather than traditional American styles with added cream and syrups.

Celestyal Cruises meanwhile partners with Illy. The company is adding Cafe Nation to second ship Celestyal Journey for its inaugural cruise season in the Persian Gulf from November 2025, where guests will have a choice of five single-origin coffee varieties.

Oceania Cruises and Silversea also serve Illy coffee and have excellent coffee venues Barista and Arts Cafe respectively. You won’t have much issue with your coffee on premium and luxury lines, and on ships such as those of Ponant, Scenic or Regent Seven Seas, you’ll find coffee machines in your cabin.

Seabourn uses Illy too, except in its French-press coffee, which comes from Miami-based boutique roaster La Rica. Seabourn’s Coffee Connection serves single-origin coffees from Columbia, Guatemala, Peru, Indonesia and Vietnam, and roasts its own beans. Enough to gladden the heart of any coffee-fussy Australian.

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