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Travel + Leisure

The Surprising Dining Trend That Cruise Lines Are Racing to Embrace

In February 2025, Windstar Cruises' Star Breeze set off on a seven-night sailing from Papeete, Tahiti, bound for five islands in French Polynesia, including Bora-Bora and Raiatea. The dreamy route is a specialty for the small-ship cruise line, but there was something different about this particular voyage: every meal served on the ship was vegetarian. The unique itinerary, which Windstar developed in conjunction with the National Health Association, an Ohio nonprofit that champions the benefits of a plant-based diet, was a sold-out hit. In addition to the onboard cuisine, shore excursions, like a visit to a vanilla plantation on Tahaʻa, were also on theme. The trip was atypical in its complete adherence to plant-based menus, but cruise lines are increasingly catering to this way of eating. It makes sense: more than 40 percent of Americans say they're now interested in plant-forward diets, according to Datassential, a market-research firm. 'These days, wellness concerns and healthy choices don't stop during vacations,' says Kristin Karst, cofounder of AmaWaterways, a river cruise line that recently developed plant-based menus. My own tastes are beginning to lean that way, too. On a recent Atlas Ocean Voyages trip in the Mediterranean, I bypassed the bacon and eggs served at breakfast in favor of a tofu scramble served with grilled mushrooms and toasted black bread, which quickly became my morning go-to. One evening I opted for an inventive version of beef Wellington, made not with prime filet but with beets wrapped in vegan pastry. Plant-forward 'dupes' like these have become fast favorites of many cruise-line chefs. 'One of our standouts is 'cashew e pepe,' a spin on the classic pasta made with a creamy cashew-based sauce,' says Colin Jones, fleet executive chef for the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. Peruvian operator Delfin Amazon Cruises has also foregrounded plant-forward dining, much of it drawn from the Amazon rainforest. Indigenous fruits such as cocona, shimbillo, and taperiba, as well as aromatic charapita peppers, often star on the menu. The use of these distinctive ingredients has helped make Delfin one of just a handful of expedition lines that are part of Relais & Châteaux, a hospitality collective known for culinary prowess. 'Every plate felt like it was telling a story, every meal like I was tasting a piece of the jungle,' says Carolina Blomberg, a Brooklyn-based graphic designer who traveled on the Delfin I . Other travelers see thoughtful vegetarian cuisine as a point of distinction. 'I've been on two cruises with Virgin Voyages and was really impressed,' says Anu Mandapati, an Austin-based executive. 'Every restaurant has creative, well-balanced vegan options that were actually good—not just an afterthought.' A version of this story appeared in the September 2025 issue of Travel + Leisure, under the headline "Vegging Out."