A Slimming group were asked how they overcome cravings, these are some of there answers!

Have some fruit around.
Don't buy chocolate, biscuits, sweets etc.
Have some bread and jam or honey or lowfat spread in the house so if you have to give in to the craving it will be filling and not too bad.

I make individual pots of sugar free jelly and have a few of them in the fridge at all times. About 10 cals a pot and satisfy that sweet hit I sometimes crave.   If I feel like sitting down and working my way through a tub of icecream I go for a walk. If I still feel like eating a tub of ice cream after the run, then I do it without feeling guilty. Sometimes you need to binge.

I don't like chewing gum but some say "it gives me something to do with my mouth to distract myself!" I such sugar-free polo mints.
Also the WW cakes are delicious, individual portions and low in points.

What about saying to yourself: yes, I know I really fancy xyz (fill in name of whatever your weakness is) but I have decided to do this diet, it's really important to me because... (and here fill in why - keep your list of reasons somewhere handy - post-it notes are good for this) and so I am not going to go with my craving.

Until we learn to do this we will all stay at the mercy of our cravings, which is fine if you're a five-year-old and mummy won't let you over-indulge, but the downside of being a grown-up is that somehow you've got to do this for yourself. You think you can't, you feel you can't, but the truth is actually you can, and you will feel so much better about yourself when you learn to do this.

I think some of the craving thing is to do with habit and we have become used to eating between meals. The occasional indulgence becomes a regular thing and I suspect we enjoy it less when we do it more often.
I found two things that helped me: I started reading the labels and told myself that I didn't need to eat rubbish, and I also reminded myself that I don't do that any more. But I didn't allow myself to agonize over why I shouldn't snack because that made it worse. I made a point of being pleased with myself for resisting the temptation each time I walked away from temptation.

Now, you say it's different with alcohol, and I suspect that where for you it's different with alcohol may be similar to how for me it's different with chocolate or cake - we use these things for emotional purposes, they help us relax or cheer up, and so if we're going to get out of this dependency we need to recognise what need these things answer for us and find an alternative way of satisfying that need. Otherwise our good intentions won't last very long.
I don't know specifically what purpose alcohol serves in your case, so am not going to try and guess. I know for me chocolate is an emotional pick-me-up but there are other things that can make me feel better which don't involve an automatic waist expansion, like looking at flowers or the neighbour's cat, or praying, or hearing nice music, or getting a hug from my husband - all sorts of things. It's a question of recognising our needs and finding a way of meeting them.

I would highly recommend Paul McKenna's book. "I was a chocaholic but now I crave nothing", but the main thing Paul McKenna says is that you crave something - have it.
After reading the book and listening to the CD I have no cravings whatsoever, funnily enough I find it hard to decide what I do want to eat rather than trying to stop myself eating what I crave, but two brilliant tips are if you are craving food drink a glass of water first as you may be dehydrated and if you are still hungry after the water then have the food. Secondly my chiropractor says have a piece of fruit or veg before any snacks or meals and also If after these you are still craving/hungry then have what you want the only thing to remember is to adhere to Paul McKenna's rules.

Onward and downward,

Happy slimming

Joan