11 Foods Experts Say You Should Skip On A Cruise

There are two types of vacationers in this world — those who've fallen for the all-inclusive, immersive magic of a cruise, and those who haven't. Those in the former category can attest to the fact that cruise ships are bountiful when it comes to food options. Between the buffets, room service, burger bars, and, in many cases, actual bars, the vast majority of vessels are equipped to tackle any appetite.

Tempting though it is to dive into these all-you-can-eat offerings with reckless abandon, seasoned cruise passengers will tell you that there's one caveat worth bearing in mind: Food-borne illnesses can spread fast on a cruise ship. A year rarely goes by without a handful of gastrointestinal outbreaks. While the vast majority of cruises are smooth sailing, some foods are riskier aboard a ship than others. Not only that, but while most meals aboard a cruise are top-notch, if the quality does slip, it's often with specific food and beverage items.

We're not here to scaremonger because, like we said, most cruise cuisine is excellent. However, if you prefer to err on the side of caution, it's worth knowing which foods carry the highest risk. To find out more, we asked two experts — food safety academic Darin Detwiler, founder of Detwiler Consulting Group, and Chris Gray Faust, executive editor of Cruise Critic — to weigh in on which foods are best avoided, or at least warrant a second thought, on your next cruise.

This shouldn't come as the biggest surprise. Shellfish has sat at the heart of multiple norovirus outbreaks over the years, with oysters posing one of the biggest risks. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, oysters are also prone to the bacterial infection vibriosis, which can also cause gastrointestinal symptoms.

While shellfish is a common feature on cruise ships, food safety academic Darin Detwiler recommends overlooking this section of the buffet if you're trying to exert extra caution. "Seafood requires strict temperature control to remain safe," he explains. "Cruises may source ingredients from different ports, and supply chain inconsistencies can heighten the risk of contamination." He also points to the popular appetizer shrimp cocktail as another tasty but risky choice.

In general, Detwiler recommends casting a wary eye on the seafood on offer at a buffet. Shellfish should, theoretically, be kept chilled. If you can't see proof of that — such as shellfish that sits nestled in ice — then that's a major red flag at the buffet. "One of the biggest risks at a buffet is improper temperature control," he says. "Food sitting too long in the 'danger zone' between 40 F and 140 F allows bacteria to multiply rapidly."

Consisting of multiple kinds of cubed fish marinated in citrus juices, ceviche is refreshing enough to constitute the perfect summertime lunch in our eyes. That's true both on and off a cruise ship — even if chowing down on the Peruvian dish wields a greater risk at sea in the eyes of Darin Detwiler, just like other kinds of raw and undercooked seafood. But that doesn't necessarily warrant going ceviche-free on your cruise. Instead, Chris Gray Faust recommends ordering seafood at a ship's sit-down restaurants. "It's a good idea to stick to sit-down restaurants where you can be confident that the dish was prepared to order, versus a venue like the buffet where it's more mass produced," he explains.

The same can be said for other kinds of raw and undercooked seafood, including sushi. This often sits in abundance at cruise buffets — sometimes for questionable amounts of time. "Some people prefer to stay away from dishes like sushi at buffets because they don't know how long it's been sitting out," says Faust. Another thing worth considering is the number of hands helping themselves to maki and sashimi during the lunch rush. "With hundreds of people using the same tongs and ladles, it's easy for bacteria to spread from one dish to another," says Detwiler. "If utensils are being mixed between different foods or are visibly dirty, it's a warning sign that food safety protocols may not be strictly followed."

Soft cheeses — those that are easier to spread and melt – are undeniably delicious. They're also relatively easy to serve, which is likely why you'll often find a range of said cheeses somewhere near the salad section of a buffet. As per Darin Detwiler, however, you may want to think twice before helping yourself to soft cheeses aboard a cruise ship. If they're not stored properly, there's a chance they're harboring some not-so-nice pathogens.

"Soft cheeses like Brie, feta, and blue cheese can harbor listeria, particularly if they have been sitting at unsafe temperatures," Detwiler says. "Even desserts like cheesecake and custard-based pastries can become breeding grounds for bacteria if they are left out too long." Being cautious doesn't mean skipping cheese completely. Instead, Detwiler advises being selective with your dishes. "Passengers should opt for items that are either fresh, steaming hot, or properly chilled," he adds, "avoiding anything that appears to have been sitting at room temperature."

Chris Gray Faust has similar advice. If you're having second thoughts about the safety of a dairy-based dish, he suggests skipping said dishes on the buffet line. "Stick to consuming those in a served dining venue like the main dining room or a specialty restaurant," he recommends, instead.

Some cruise lines, including the Disney Cruise Line, make you pay more for alcohol. Others such as Carnival Cruise Line and MSC Cruises actually include alcoholic beverages in select all-inclusive packages. Combined with the vacation mindset, that makes it all too easy for passengers to overindulge, with experts claiming that alcohol is a common factor in overboard incidents. In fact, according to The Washington Post, alcohol plays a role in up to 60% of cases. "The biggest thing to keep in mind is [the] overindulgence of alcoholic beverages," warns Chris Gray Faust, "just as you would on land."

Darin Detwiler has another reason for exercising caution with alcohol on a cruise — particularly during shore excursions. "Some tourist-heavy bars may serve unregulated alcohol, raising the risk of methanol poisoning," he notes. Of course, bootleg booze isn't a risk factor that's exclusive to the spots you visit on a cruise. However, it's easy to fall into a sense of security on a cruise where everything is provided for you, meaning you may need to remind yourself to be extra vigilant when you hop off the ship.

If you're prone to seasickness, that's also a good enough reason to go easy on the alcohol, if not to skip it altogether. Considering the fact that alcohol alone can trigger both dizziness and nausea, you definitely don't want to mix the two.

Nothing screams a hot summer vacation quite like indulging in juicy fresh fruit. If you manage to overlook the all-you-can-eat croissants and waffles during breakfast and reach straight for the healthy stuff, then first of all, kudos to you and your willpower. However, it is also worth approaching the fruit section of a buffet with a little caution. "While seemingly healthy, [fruits] are another common source of contamination, as they are often handled by multiple people and may not be washed thoroughly," explains Darin Detwiler.

This call for caution isn't just limited to the pineapple, grapefruits, melons, and oranges that populate breakfast buffets. As Detwiler highlights, you can often find fruit in the sweet and colorful cocktails that pad out the drink menus of cruise ship bars. "While a lime wedge in a cocktail may seem harmless, if the fruit hasn't been properly washed or is handled without gloves or tongs, it can introduce bacteria into drinks," he says. "Frozen or blended drinks made with unwashed fruit pose a similar risk, as contamination can be blended directly into the beverage."

If you're concerned about cross-contamination during your cruise, the best solution is to only eat fruits that you have both washed and peeled for yourself. For added peace of mind, you may also want to request your cocktail (or mocktail) sans fruit garnishes. Just in case.

It is rare to hear advice to skip salad, but we are not just on a mission to sabotage your five a day, we promise. Just like fruit, Darin Detwiler explains that the risks posed by a salad on a cruise ship come down to the fact that the vegetables are often handled by multiple people by the time they hit the buffet bar. Even once they hit the buffet, salad's exposure to cross-contamination increases as there's a high chance of other passengers coming into contact with the lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, and other veggies before you have the chance to dole out your own lunch.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) itself has flagged salads — particularly those containing cut or shredded raw veggies — as a high-risk item for travelers. "They may be contaminated with human or animal waste that even clean water can't wash off," the CDC warns. You may also want to avoid salads made with veggies that appear wilted, as that's a surefire sign that they've been sitting out for a while. That's advice worth applying to any buffet, whether you're on a cruise or not. Food poisoning via salads is more common than you may think, with multiple salad recalls affecting millions over the years.

The USDA is extremely loud about the fact that beef and pork should be cooked to 145 F — the temperature that produces a medium-cooked steak — and left to cool for three minutes to minimize the risk of food-borne illnesses, such as salmonella, listeria, and E. coli. That same logic applies whether or not you're aboard a cruise ship, as per Chris Gray Faust. "Eating rare meats on a cruise comes with the same risks as it would any other dining venue on land," he says.

Darin Detwiler, however, recommends exerting caution over undercooked meats at sea. "Grilled or roasted meats must be cooked to a safe internal temperature," he says. "Some cruise kitchens may rush service, leading to undercooked poultry, beef, or pork." Raw meat dishes, such as steak tartare, are also best avoided if you want to be über cautious as they are more likely to be riddled with illness-inducing pathogens.

Few things are quite as indulgent as a hefty bowl of fettuccine drowning in a decadent, rich Alfredo sauce. Sadly, it's this level of indulgence that makes these kinds of creamy dishes questionable choices for dinner aboard a cruise ship. Heavy foods high in fat run the risk of irritating your stomach lining, which may in turn bring on nausea.

Unfortunately, they also pose a potential food safety risk — especially if you piled up your plate with said Alfredo at the buffet. "Cream-based sauces, such as Alfredo and Hollandaise, can spoil quickly if not stored properly," explains Darin Detwiler. That doesn't mean you need to go cold turkey on dishes containing these kinds of sauces during your cruise. However, it does mean you may want to use a keen eye at the buffet to judge whether the sauce is good to eat. If it looks like it's separated, the texture appears to have turned grainy, or the color looks slightly off, that's a good enough reason to stroll on by and pick up something else for dinner.

In addition to creamy sauces, condiments containing vegetables can also be problematic. These should ideally be kept in cool conditions to prevent bacteria growth. Before going OTT with the salsa or relish at the buffet, it's worth a quick check to see if the bottle or container feels cool to the touch. If not, there's a chance it's heated up to an unsafe temperature while sat out at the restaurant.

An unlimited supply of soft-serve ice cream sounds like something you would demand from your vacation at the age of eight, and yet it is a reality on many cruise ships. On the Disney Cruise Line, for example, kids and kids at heart can customize soft-serve ice creams to their heart's (and stomach's) desire. Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean serves up all-you-can-eat soft-serve poolside aboard its fleet.

Whether or not you want to indulge in these sweet treats, however, is up for debate. Darin Detwiler isn't overly optimistic about the quality of soft-serve available on many cruise ships, citing them as one of the foods you may want to avoid to reduce your chance of contracting food-borne illnesses such as norovirus and listeria. "[They] require thorough daily cleaning," Detwiler explains. "If not maintained properly, bacteria and mold can build up."

We have seen proof of the link between food-borne illnesses and soft-serve ice cream in the past, with a listeria outbreak leading to soft-serve recalls in New York, New Jersey, and Ohio in 2023. It goes without saying that this risk isn't limited solely to the ice cream you pick up on a cruise ship. However, combined with the sheer number of passengers — including young children, who are notoriously less stringent with hand-washing hygiene — whose hands frequent soft-serve ice cream stations, it's still worth being cautious when helping yourself to a frosty sweet treat.

There's a fairly obvious reason why some advise against filling up on fountain sodas at buffets in general: They're packed with sugar. But, just like soft-serve ice cream, Darin Detwiler has a very simple reason for specifically advising against drinking fountain sodas on a cruise ship, and this is the fact that the machines dispensing these beverages get dirty very quickly and require a fair amount of maintenance to keep clean.

This is true at fast food restaurants, too. A 2023 study by researchers at Loma Linda University published by the International Water Association found that a whopping 42% of samples tested from soda fountains were contaminated with coliform bacteria. With cruise ships inspected twice per year — roughly the same frequency as fast food restaurants — it's safe to assume that the same issues are rampant in the soda fountains at sea, too.

Luckily, there's an easy way to circumvent this problem: sticking to canned or bottled sodas. While this may require paying for your soft drinks out of pocket, it's also relatively rare for cruise lines to actually include soda in their inclusive packages in the first place. The likes of Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian Cruise Line charge daily premiums to upgrade your dining package to cover soda. However, if you're cautious when it comes to hygiene, you may want to simply skip taking on the extra cost.

Deli meats have gained a bad rap for food-borne illness in recent years, thanks in no small part to the Boar's Head listeria outbreak that hospitalized dozens and tragically killed 10 people across the U.S. in summer 2024. Cold cuts like salami, ham, pastrami, and chorizo fall under Darin Detwiler's list of foods that are best avoided on a cruise ship for that very reason.

"Deli meats, pâté, and smoked fish pose a risk because they can carry listeria, a pathogen that thrives in refrigerated environments and can be especially dangerous for pregnant women and those with weakened immune systems," Detwiler says. As history has proven, listeria has the potential to spread like wildfire on a cruise ship. In early 2024, for example, it worked its way through the Queen Victoria, a ship operated by Cunard Cruise Line, where it infected over 150 people on its way to Hawaii.