Onboard a cruise ship, having a cocktail by the pool is just the tip of the iceberg.
Imbibing options on cruise ships now skew unique through light shows, themed bars, and science-lab-like techniques. Sure, you can still get your pina colada or martini, but it’s also with a lot of fanfare, just as you’d expect at these floating hotels at sea. From a bar that emulates a science lab (and is literally smokin’) to a bar where the sofas vibrate in perfect pitch with the songs being played, here are the weirdest and coolest bars at sea.
Top Picks for You
Founders Bar
WHERE: Oceania Vista
If you’re a science geek craving a drink, there isn’t a better place than this cozy little bar on Oceania’s newest ship, which started sailing last year. It makes and serves 20-some specialty cocktails. For at least one of its cocktails (“Benevolent Dictator”), smokey accents are at play. The drink’s placed in a cocktail-smoking box for a spell, an experience akin to a show in the ship’s theater.
Sunset Bar
WHERE: Celebrity Beyond
It’s not every day an HGTV star gets to outfit a cruise ship bar, yet that’s exactly what interior designer Nate Berkus did with this two-story bar on the line’s second-newest ship. When this ship debuted in 2022, it rolled out this bar and its two open-air decks, as well as interiors that Berkus said were inspired by his time in Uruguay, California, Greece, and Mexico. Surrounded by water views that are unobstructed is exactly why cruise ships should host bars—and place them higher up in the ship, not on the lower decks.
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Spellbound
WHERE: Sun Princess
Princess Cruises’ newest ship—which started sailing passengers around the world earlier this
year—introduced a new four-room bar from The Magic Castle (yep, the exclusive private
clubhouse in L.A.). Surprise: it’s family-friendly as long as guests are 13 years of age or older. If
you go cuckoo for Copperfield or other magicians, this bar is for you. It’s also inspired by
Victorian times so feel free to don period apparel. A visit includes dinner (three different seatings
each night), the opportunity to watch magicians do magic tricks, and drinks prepared at
Spellbound’s six bars (no, that’s not a typo), which are definitely Insta-friendly.
Star Wars: Hyperspace Lounge
WHERE: Disney Wish
It shouldn’t be any surprise that Disney Cruise Line taps into Star Wars, but the secret here is that it’s done really, really well, mostly because a Walt Disney Imagineering Team was in charge. You can sip cocktails in a space inspired by Dryden Vos’ “First Light” yacht in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which just celebrated its second anniversary. The bar is entirely aimed at adults—obviously, because drinks are involved—but also as an alternative to kid-friendly Star Wars attractions in the U.S.
Blue Eye
WHERE: Ponant's Explorer Ships
There literally isn’t another lounge like this at sea—or anywhere in the world. You also might enjoy this multi-sensory lounge more after you’ve had a few drinks. Located below the hull (in other words, underwater), its amenities include “body listening sofas” that vibrate in perfect pitch with the music. The only catch is that if you like a sun-drenched bar, this isn’t it: because it’s below the waterline. And you’ll forget all about that once you take in the mesmerizing view of underwater species as seen through a window.
Bionic Bar
WHERE: Royal Caribbean’s Quantum and Oasis Class Ships
As the bar name implies, its two bartenders are bionic, as in they are Kuka robots. Sporting shiny-blue metal arms, they don’t just serve the drinks. They also make them. In addition to the robots, other eye candy includes the upside-down spirits bottles mixed with lights above the bar for a light fixture like none you’ve ever seen. And if you think you’ll have to wait while the robots get up to speed, don’t worry: they can make two drinks per minute.
The Red Bar
WHERE: Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady
Leave it to a brand associated with Virgin Group founder Richard Branson to be over the top. That includes The Red Bar, where wacky cocktails include “Popcorn Old-Fashioned,” prepared with bourbon, fig, popcorn, and bitters. The space is tucked within Razzle Dazzle Restaurant. Another drink—“Goldfish”—is served in a goldfish-shaped glass, and wine drinkers might like “Gym Bunny,” which pairs Sauvignon Blanc with passion fruit and sparkling Brut.
The District Brew House
WHERE: Norwegian Escape
For beer aficionados, the razzle-dazzle of cocktail menus on cruise ships can get old. That’s why this brew house, which serves 20-some beers on tap (about 50 different bottles of beer are also available), is a lifesaver. One beer that’s lesser known and featured here is from Wynwood Brewing Company in Miami and is exclusive to the ship. The bar also hosts a photo booth and live music.
Alchemy
WHERE: Carnival Cruise Line
For a veritable step back in time, think of the mixologist as the “pharmacist,” and don’t forget to note all the vintage pharmacy décor. Drinks here jokingly promote their healing and alchemy qualities, such as “Forty is the New Twenty,” “The Antioxidant” (orange juice is, fittingly, an ingredient), and “Restorative Basil Drop.” A newer addition is a menu of mocktails that are just as fun as their spiked siblings but without the alcohol, made instead with Lyre’s non-alcoholic spirits.
Paradiso
WHERE: MSC World Europa and MSC Euriba
If you’ve been to Paradiso, the wildly popular Barcelona cocktail bar voted number-one of the World’s 50 Best Bars in 2022, then consider this its cousin, operating as a pop-up. The bar debuted in April and will be on board until October, as part of a rotating line-up that features other bars voted among the World’s Best 50 Bars. The other bar is called Sips and also rooted in Barcelona. It was named the number-one bar on the World’s 50 Best Bars list in 2023.
S.A.L.T. Bar
WHERE: Silversea Cruises
This high-end cruise line extends that luxury to its menu at S.A.L.T. Bar, where concoctions riff on seasonal ingredients that are also local to the ship’s itinerary. For example, the “Symposia Spritz” as a nod to Greece’s drinking parties (called “symposias”) and folding a Greek spirit in with olive, prosecco, brine and lemon. Keep in mind this is a cruise line offering world cruises, so the cocktail menu’s diversity goes deep—because you wouldn’t want to be stuck with just a few cocktail recipes over several months, would you? On a recent 66-port World Cruise, the mixologists created 66 different cocktails.