Which Cruise Lines Serve Coke Products vs Pepsi?

When it comes to Coke vs Pepsi, people can be very opinionated! If you’re planning a cruise, you probably want to make sure the cruise line serves your preferred brand of soft drinks: Coke products or Pepsi products.

Some cruise lines offer Coke products, while others serve only Pepsi brands. Cruise lines tend to have an exclusive relationship with one soft drink company, so you usually won’t find a mix of both brands on a cruise ship.

Before you book your next cruise, find out which cruise lines serve Coca-Cola products and which cruise lines offer Pepsi.

I’ve included all the major mainstream and premium ocean cruise lines in this soda brand guide. Luxury and ultra-luxury cruise lines tend to be more all-inclusive and will cater more to individual guests’ preferences if you let them know ahead of time.

But what if you’re already booked and you find out your cruise doesn’t serve your favorite soda (or pop, fizzy drink, coke—whatever you call carbonated soft drinks in your part of the world)?

Some cruise lines do allow passengers to carry on a limited amount of soft drink cans when you board the ship. I’ll note which cruise lines let you carry on soft drinks in the line-by-line guide below.

Read on for an overview of which soft drink brand each line offers, or use the table of contents below to jump to a specific cruise line!

Carnival Cruise Line

Carnival used to serve Coca-Cola products, but that changed in 2020. Since January of that year, the line now offers Pepsi products on all Carnival sailings.

The Pepsi product selection on most Carnival ships includes:

• Pepsi
• Diet Pepsi
• Sierra Mist
• Sierra Mist Zero
• Mountain Dew
• Mug Root Beer
• Orange Crush

Check out my page of Carnival Cruise Line menus for menu photos (with prices!) and detailed info about which drinks various onboard bars and restaurants serve.

If you’re a diehard Coke fan, Carnival allows passengers to carry on up to one 12-pack of cans (not bottles) of soda per person on embarkation day.

You may also like: Carnival Cruise Line Drink Packages: The Ultimate Guide

Celebrity Cruises

Premium cruise line Celebrity Cruises serves Coke products aboard their ships. Coca-Cola soft drink choices include Coke (obviously), Coke Zero, Caffeine-Free Diet Coke, Sprite, Sprite Zero, Fanta Orange, and Barq’s Root Beer.

Don’t like the selection? Celebrity doesn’t publish a specific policy around carrying on soft drinks, but many cruisers report there are no restrictions.

Costa Cruises

Over the years, Italian cruise line Costa has served both Coke and Pepsi products. However, recent cruisers report that it’s all Pepsi right now. Along with many cruise lines (like many land-based restaurants and bars), Costa seems to go with whichever soft drink company offers the best prices.

Costa prohibits passengers from carrying any beverages on board (if you buy souvenir beverages in port, security will hold them until the end of your cruise).

I don’t have any Costa cruises booked right now, so if you’re just off a Costa cruise I’d love to hear from you in the comments—was it all Pepsi products?

Cunard

British cruise line Cunard is a bit of a rarity—they have both Coke and Pepsi on their ocean liners.

Cunard offers fountain Pepsi products at their bars, including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, 7-Up and Diet 7-Up. You can also order Coke and Diet Coke in bottles. Additionally, they serve R Whites Lemonade and Britvic Indian Soda Water and Tonic Water on their ships.

If your favorite sodas aren’t part of the selection, Cunard does allow passengers to carry on limited quantities of soft drinks at embarkation.

Disney Cruise Line

Coca-Cola products are served on all Disney ships—they even have 24-hour drink stations to get your soda fix, and they’re free for all passengers!

The soft drink selection on DCL includes:

• Coca-Cola
• Diet Coke
• Coke Zero
• Hi-C Fruit Punch
• Hi-C Pink Lemonade
• FUZE Iced Tea
• Sprite
• Sprite Zero

Disney also lets guests carry on their preferred soft drinks at embarkation, in original sealed containers.

Read more: How to Bring Your Own Drinks on a Cruise

Fred. Olsen

British cruise line Fred. Olsen offers Pepsi products on their sailings, including regular and Diet Pepsi. They also serve ginger ale, lemonade, diet lemonade, and diet and regular tonic water in their bars and restaurants.

Fred. Olsen doesn’t have a specific policy around carrying on non-alcoholic beverages, but many cruisers report having no problems taking on sodas at embarkation.

Holland America Line

Holland America serves Coca-Cola products on all of their ships. Bar and restaurant menus don’t specify soda choices, so availability of specific Coke products may vary.

Some of HAL’s ships, including Konigsdam and Nieuw Statendam, have the Coca-Cola Freestyle program with over 100 soda choices!

Holland America doesn’t let passengers carry on any soft drinks, except for a small allowance of water per stateroom, so Pepsi fans are out of luck.

Marella

UK-based cruise line Marella (formerly Thomson Cruises) does serve Coke products in cans, including:

• Coca-Cola
• Diet Coke
• Fanta Orange
• Diet Fanta Orange
• Sprite
• Diet Sprite

The complimentary fountain sodas listed on recent Marella menus have generic names like “cola” and “diet cola”, so YMMV.

Marella doesn’t allow guests to carry soft drinks aboard their ships, so if you can’t cruise without the promise that you’ll have access to Pepsi products, this might not be the cruise line for you.

MSC Cruises

Italian-Swiss MSC Cruises is another line that sometimes serves Coke products, and sometimes Pepsi. The most current MSC menus list “sodas” without specifying a brand.

Recent MSC cruisers report having either Pepsi or Coke (and sometimes both!) on board. Some guests mention that Pepsi seems to be served more often on European cruises, and Coca-Cola products are more often seen on MSC cruises from US ports.

Let me know in the comments if you’ve been on a recent MSC cruise and if they served Coke or Pepsi!

If you’re picky about your soft drink brands, unfortunately MSC has a very strict policy that prohibits guests from carrying any soft drinks aboard their ships.

Norwegian Cruise Line

NCL has exclusively served Pepsi products for over a decade on all of their ships. But with the arrival of Norwegian Prima in August 2022, the company has begun to make the switch to Coca-Cola.

NCL plans to serve only Coke products fleetwide by the end of 2022.

Norwegian Cruise Line‘s Pepsi soft drink selections include:

• Pepsi
• Diet Pepsi
• Sierra Mist
• Mountain Dew
• bubly sparkling water (lime, mango, or grapefruit)
• Gatorade

As new menus are released, I’ll update this space with the Coca-Cola products on offer.

You may also like: Ultimate Guide to Norwegian Cruise Line Drink Packages

Norwegian also has a very strict policy prohibiting passengers from carrying on soft drinks at embarkation or from cruise ports.

P&O Cruises

Cruise line P&O has a UK branch as well as an Australian branch, and there are often differences between the two. And yes—when it comes to soda brands, the British and Aussie versions of the line offer different products.

The UK’s P&O primarily serves Pepsi products (but you’ll often find bottles of Coke and Diet Coke as well), while P&O Australia serves Coca-Cola.

Pepsi products on P&O UK include:

• Pepsi
• Diet Pepsi
• Pepsi Max
• 7-Up Free

Coca-Cola products on P&O Aus include:

• Coca Cola
• Diet Coke
• Fanta Orange
• Sprite
• Lift

P&O UK lets cruisers carry on an unlimited amount of soft drinks, while P&O Australia is a bit more strict. They allow passengers to take up to 12 cans (not bottles) of soft drinks in their carry-on luggage.

Princess Cruises

Premium cruise line Princess serves Coca-Cola products in all their ships’ bars and restaurants. Coke products include Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and Sprite.

But if you’re a Pepsi fan, you’ll be happy to know that Princess doesn’t restrict carrying on non-alcoholic beverages—but they do restrict the size of drink coolers to a max of 12″x 12″x 12.

You may also like: 21 Princess Cruise Tips You Need to Know

Royal Caribbean

RCI carries Coke products on their ships (fun tip: if you buy the fountain soda package for your cruise, they give you a branded Coca-Cola souvenir cup you can use for unlimited refills).

Coke products on RCI include:

• Coca-Cola
• Diet Coke
• Coke Zero
• Sprite
• Fanta Orange

If you can’t cruise without Pepsi, don’t worry! Royal Caribbean lets you carry on up to 12 cans, bottles, or cartons (up to 17 oz each) of your favorite soda per stateroom.

Virgin Voyages

New cruise line Virgin Voyages has set out to reinvent cruising, and they definitely do things differently! I haven’t had the chance to sail with them yet (their inaugural season was pushed back several times during the pandemic), but I’ve been looking at every menu I can get my hands on.

And—I don’t see any Coke or Pepsi products on any menu! I do see lots of artisan soft drinks like London Essence ginger beer and YAYA kombucha, which fits in with the modern crowd they’re looking to attract.

But if you can’t live without your favorite fizzy drink, Virgin allows Sailors (their cute term for passengers!) to carry on soft drinks in your hand luggage. They do have a ship-wide ban on single-use plastic bottles, so boxes and cans only.

Viking Ocean

Perennial river cruise favorite Viking launched its first ocean-going ship in 2015. Viking Ocean cruises serve a limited selection of Coca-Cola products, including Coke, Coke Light, and Sprite.

Viking Ocean has no restrictions on taking soft drinks on board their ships. You can carry on unlimited quantities at embarkation as well as in port.

Soft Drinks by Cruise Line: Coke products or Pepsi products

I get it—that was a lot of info to take in, especially if you’re in the very first stages of planning a cruise! If having access to Coke vs. Pepsi products on a cruise is important to you, here’s a quick chart that breaks it down so you can easily rule out cruise lines that don’t have your fave drinks.

Cruise Line	Coke Products	Pepsi Products
Carnival		✔
Celebrity	✔
Costa		✔*
Cunard	✔	✔
Disney	✔
Fred. Olsen		✔
Holland America	✔
Marella	✔
MSC	✔*	✔*
Norwegian	✔†	✔†
P&O	✔*	✔*
Princess	✔
Royal Caribbean	✔
Virgin‡
Viking Ocean	✔

How much does it impact your vacation if the cruise line only carries Coke (or Pepsi) products? Is it a dealbreaker if you can’t get your favorite soft drinks on a cruise? Let me know in the comments below!

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