10 Cruise Lines With Food That's Actually Worth Eating

Some cruise lines are known for their incredible entertainment, while others are renowned for state rooms that feel otherworldly. Our favorite cruise lines are ones that put culinary creation at the forefront of the experience. If your favorite traveling experiences revolve around eating delicious food and beautiful environments, you no doubt agree.

We recognize that not all cruise cuisine is created equal. In fact, there are some lines that have notoriously subpar food, which would certainly lead to disappointment and hungry bellies. To help you choose the absolute best cruise line to create a delicious and memorable vacation, we've assembled ten options with food that's actually worth eating. In fact, some of the food is so delicious, you'll find yourself longing for another morsel long after you've discovered it. Cruising may take you to beautiful destinations, but there's nothing stopping you from having a culinary journey along the way. So while you're studying biggest etiquette mistake to avoid in cruise ship dining rooms, let's find the perfect cruise line to leave you forever spoiled for other cruise lines.

For some of the most magical dining at sea, the Disney Cruise Line is a fabulous choice. It takes the experience of the Disney parks and makes fine dining with Disney on the high seas possible. Complete with Disney-style entertainment, characters, and touches of that Disney magic everywhere, the dining experience is no different.

Rather than simply having a central dining hall with restaurants you could visit, Disney's ships have rotational dining. In these experiences, you and your traveling party will move throughout three main dining restaurants throughout the ships. On each ship, you'll find different restaurants with theming and experiences. The Disney Magic, for instance, has Animator's Palate, Lumiere's, and Rapunzel's Royal Table. Outside of these rotation dining experiences, adults can enjoy an adults-only dinner at Palo and kids can experience tea with princesses at Royal Court Royal Tea. There's also buffet-style dining at Cabanas for breakfast or lunch, pizza by the pool from Pinocchio's Pizzeria, or quiet bites at Duck-In Diner. Plus, stop by for sweet treats from Eye Scream Treats and Frozone Treats.

These dining options create an experience curated to families and Disney fans. If you love dining that is more of a show and full of entertainment, we love the Disney Cruise Line. Cruisers agree, with one Reddit user stating, "Our dinners on Disney were always 9.5-10 out of 10."

For a much more private experience, the Swan Hellenic Cruise Line has two ships. The SH Vega, where Martha Stewart famously used iceberg chunks to chill her cocktail, only holds 158 guests, and the SH Diana is a little larger with just under 200 guests. The ships are so small, in fact, that the ships do not offer interior cabins. Every room has at least an ocean view or a balcony. Throughout the experience, there are little touches that make it a truly elevated journey, like the fact that all rooms come with Nikon Prostaff 3S 10X42 binoculars for easy sightseeing, right from your stateroom window or balcony.

Around each ship, you'll find four dining spaces: Swan Restaurant, Club Lounge, Pool Bar & Grill, and Room Service. The SH Vega and SH Diana both have these restaurants, where, according to The Luxury Traveller, "The quality and variety of food were extremely impressive. I don't think that I saw many a la carte dishes repeated over the course of the entire 11 day cruise!"

The Swan Restaurant has menus containing international and regional foods that celebrate the specific destinations you'll enjoy throughout your cruise. For a more tapas-style experience, the Club Lounge will suit you well. It's a lovely place to grab tea and pizza with a view. Over at the Pool Grill & Bar, grab cocktails and bites outdoors with stellar sights. Of course, if your room is just too good to leave, room service is always an option.

For some major names in the culinary world, Holland America has delicious offerings across its fleet of 11 ships, including Eurodam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Nieuw Statendam, Noordam, Oosterdam, Rotterdam, Volendam, Westerdam, Zaandam, and Zuiderdam. These ships have trips to many destinations around the world, from Alaska to Tahiti. In fact, the Alaska cruises feature something Holland America calls an "Alaska Glacier Guarantee," a promise to see a glacier, or the company will give you a credit for your next cruise.

The sights are beautiful, but your daily meals are just as enjoyable. Cruiser Karen Hosier traveled aboard the Noordam and shared that she was pleased with the experience and that "the food selection was varied, which catered well to guests with different taste buds. Holland America is known for its great food, and on our voyage, it certainly lived up to its reputation." The dining room, Lido Market, Dive-In, and room service dining options are included across the whole fleet. You can also add on other dining experiences, like Pinnacle Grill on every ship or others that vary across the fleet. Morimoto By Sea, for instance, is exclusive to Nieuw Amsterdam, but it shows up as a pop-up on nearly every other ship.

One of our top picks for some of the best cuisine on the water has a massive fleet of 17 ships. Even though it's such a big cruise line, Marcus from Sparkx states, "Princess Cruises has some of the best specialty dining at sea and frequently wins awards for the quality of its offering." In fact, in 2024, The Sun Princess won the World Cruise Awards for World's Best Cruise Ship for Dining, even while the cruises are discounted and don't cost nearly as much as other cruises with excellent cuisine.

Princess offers four types of dining categories across the ships: casual, complimentary, experiential, and specialty. Possibly the most obvious of the complementary dining options are the main dining rooms with walk-in dining, flexible options, or more traditional cruise dining with options that are closer to the typical cruising experience. For those Reserve Collection guests, they can enjoy a complimentary Reserve Collection Restaurant. For those with a Sanctuary Suite, Sanctuary Mini-Suite, or Sanctuary Balcony booked, there's The Sanctuary Restaurant, a dining experience with chef-curated menus.

For casual dining experiences, cruisers can seek out the comfort of pubs, tasty sushi restaurants, pizzerias, or even BBQ. Experiential dining options during dinner offer a highly curated and memorable experience. Specialty dining options focus on specific foods, like gelato, wine, fish, and a Brazilian steakhouse, among others.

Celebrity ships have all the feel of a swanky evening nightclub. The experience is also one you and your traveling party can curate for your most ideal of experiences. In fact, simply looking between the different ships, you'll see the sheer number of dining experiences. If you've traveled aboard a Royal Caribbean ship, you may notice that Celebrity feels a little more elevated, even grown up. In fact, Megan duBois, of her experience aboard Celebrity Ascent, writes that "The food on the ship is a step above most other major cruise lines, and the number of dining options is great, especially for longer sailings."

On Celebrity Accent alone, there are 32 different dining opportunities, consisting of 14 lounges, eight more focused specialty restaurants, four total main dining spaces, four complementary restaurants, and two that are more exclusive. Celebrity Apex has similar numbers, though they're a little smaller in comparison with 29 dining experiences, 12 lounges, several specialty-style restaurants, and the same number of complementary, main, and exclusive dining.

For a cruise line that offers afternoon tea and a whole lot of elegance, you just know the experience is going to be special. With four ships (Queen Anne, Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, and Queen Elizabeth), Cunard isn't the smallest cruise line with great dining, but it surely is on the smaller side. Cruiser Karen Hosier shares, "I found Cunard restaurant food outstanding. There were plenty of choices, especially for those with food allergies." Though the fleet is smaller, the options are great, and if we're honest, less confusing than other cruise lines.

Cunard makes it a little more simple with a restaurant assigned based on your stateroom: The Britannia, Britannia Club, Princess Grill, and Queens Grill. For different options, consider The Lido and Kings Court, and even room service, all part of the cost of your cruise. For an additional fee, you could also book Dinner at the Lido (a more substantial experience than the included option) and Steakhouse at The Verandah. There are also some more particular restaurants across the four different ships.

For something completely different, adults traveling without kids may consider Virgin Voyages, especially for a vibrant, technology-forward experience. While some cruise lines can be a little hit and miss in the technology world, Virgin knows what it's doing here. And when it comes to food, Virgin is pulling some ultra-unique levers to make the experience memorable.

At the time of writing, Virgin Voyages had four ships: Scarlet Lady, Valiant Lady, Resilient Lady, and Brilliant Lady. These ladies are unlike most cruise ships you've experienced, and food plays a big role in the difference you'll feel every day. While many cruise lines rely on main dining halls and buffets, Virgin Voyagers uses restaurants instead. The best part is that the restaurants are included, having all the feel of an all-inclusive vacation on the water. The difference doesn't go unnoticed. On Sarah Seeks Adventure, Sarah shares, "Virgin Voyages' Scarlet Lady ship has over 20 restaurants and eateries, and NONE of them are traditional buffets, which I really appreciated. Yes, they still have food available whenever you want it, but it's just in a nicer atmosphere."

Oceania Cruises has a registered trademark "The Finest Cuisine at Sea," and you know it's delivering with reviews like Justin Nelson's: "You know you're having an elevated cruise experience when the ship's buffet is like eating at a specialty dining restaurant. Lobster tail on the buffet? Yes! Caviar-laced canapés on the buffet? Yes! Every conceivable pasta and sauce cooked to order on the buffet? Yes! Yes! Yes!" Oceania has gone to great lengths to have its cuisine be not just a perk of its ships but a prime feature.

Oceania proudly boasts two Executive Culinary Directors, Chef Alexis Quaretti and Chef Eric Barale, brand ambassador Giada de Laurentiis, and Executive Culinary Advisor Master Chef Jacques Pépin, all part of its Culinary Advisory Board as the cruise line continues to grow and contribute to some of the best bites at sea. Clearly, cruise ships are attracting some big-name cooks. Aboard its ships, Oceania boasts The Grand Dining Room and a host of specialty restaurants, some of which require reservations, though many do not. To take the cuisine experience on shore with you, several of Oceania's ships offer Culinary Discovery Tours full of insider dining, tours, and even cooking demonstrations.

Cruises are built around the idea that the journey is just as fabulous (and delicious) as the destination, and Viking leans into that philosophy while bringing the intrigue of the destination into the journey itself. Through learning opportunities aboard that lead right into exploration once you dock, the cruise line also offers meals matching the regional offerings.

Many cruise ships offer limited outdoor dining opportunities, but Viking brings your surroundings in, even claiming to offer "the most al fresco dining on any waterway." Luxury travel blogger Laura dispels any of our concerns about limited offerings on smaller ships like those Viking offers: "For such a small ship with less than 100 passengers on board, you really can't help but be impressed with the amount of choices on offer at meal times." Of course, like many other cruises, there is a main dining center Viking aptly calls The Restaurant. But it doesn't stop there. The dining options abound: Italian cuisine at Manfredi's Italian Restaurant, The Chef's Table with curated pairings, World Café featuring live cooking, Aquavit Terrace for dining outdoors, Norwegian dining at Mamsen's, afternoon tea in The Wintergarden, and even a cooking school in The Kitchen Table.

That said, Viking is much more for a lover of exploration than those loving the nightlife. You won't find umbrella drinks, casinos, formal nights, or even art auctions. All told, it's quite different from many cruise lines.

We've found that cruise lines can, well, go a little overboard when naming their ships. We love Explora Journeys' style for naming its three ships: Explora I, II, and III. Taking a look at the stunning, all-oceanfront rooms might just sell you on Explora, and that's before you even get a look at the stunning dining options.

Explora, like other cruise lines, does not feature a dining hall, but rather has several distinct culinary experiences. The Emporium Marketplace is an elevated buffet with wine and drink pairings with marble as far as the eye can see. Crema Café is a coffee lover's dream with barista-prepared drinks and pastries. For afternoon tea, check out the Explora Lounge for tea and treats served from a delightful trolley. Gelateria & Creperie offers crêpes and gelato for a tasty lunch. Get your fill of French cuisine with an international feel at Fil Rouge. For sea views and a celebration of sailing, Med Yacht Club offers Mediterranean flavors.

There are a few restaurants that recommend reservations, like the Steakhouse Marble & Co. Grill. Sakura also recommends a reservation and is a beautiful restaurant named after the cherry blossom, hosting a variety of Pan Asian dishes. Room service is a possibility if you prefer a more private experience. Nicole Barrett states, "Whether you're a seasoned cruiser or planning your first voyage, these restaurants promise a culinary adventure you won't soon forget." In short, enjoying the food on Explora is one of the great joys of this cruise line.