Whether you’re an avid cruiser or a first-timer who’s in search of a taster voyage, Margaritaville at Sea is likely to be a solid fit if you’re looking for unpretentious, affordable fun.
I recently sailed Margaritaville’s Islander for the third time. So far, each voyage has been better than the last, with the line readily taking passenger feedback to heart while embracing Jimmy Buffett’s laidback style of feet-in-the-sand, drink-in-hand escapism.
Here’s what I absolutely love about this budget-friendly cruise brand and its ships, along with a few things that aren’t my favorite.
What I Love
Excellent Live Music
If there’s one thing Margaritaville at Sea does right, it’s music. Sure, you can catch playbacks of Jimmy Buffett concerts on the pool deck big screen, but the live stuff is where the line truly excels.
On Islander, the line’s second ship, you can expect to find both group and solo musicians in the atrium throughout the day (especially on sea days) and into the evening. Live acts also perform at the Hemisphere Dancer Bar stage, at the piano in the Bubbles Up Lounge, and on an outdoor stage near the Five O’Clock Somewhere Pool.
While onboard, at different times, I particularly enjoyed a phenomenal violinist and fiddler, a steel drummer, and a rock ‘n’ roll solo guitarist.
Friendly Crew Who Seem Genuinely Happy
When cruise lines have strong people-forward leadership, their crew are happy. When crew are happy, so are passengers, and that’s largely the way it feels on Margaritaville’s vessels.
Many of the line’s crew members work six-month (rather than nine-month) contracts, and they’re allowed to dine in passenger areas when they aren’t crowded. There are also additional days off and other rewards given to crew who earn high ratings from passengers, and the daily gratuities, which are split among the crew, are some of the highest in the industry — $21 per person, per day, for passengers in standard cabins and $24 per person, per day, for those staying in suites.
Throughout my sailing, the crew were helpful and quick to offer a smile and a hello. They also seemed to greatly enjoy their jobs, with several volunteering unprompted comments to that end.
Expanded Itinerary Options
In its infancy, Margaritaville at Sea had one ship that sailed two-night voyages from the Port of Palm Beach. Since then, it has acquired two additional vessels and expanded to offer Bahamas, Caribbean, and Mexico sailings of two to 10 nights from both Tampa and Miami in addition to Palm Beach.
New destinations for the line include Grand Cayman, Belize City, Ocho Rios, Roatan, Costa Maya, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, San Juan, and more. With new ports come new places to explore and, of course, new shore excursion offerings.
The line has added more than 200 new shore tours between Memorial Day 2025 and the time of publication. More are sure to be added as the brand fleshes out itineraries for the new ship Beachcomber, coming in early 2027.
Affordable Fares
Margaritaville at Sea’s ships are older, ranging from 22 to 34 years of age. That means cruisers can find some of the lowest fares in the industry, with suites on the line’s ships often costing less than inside cabins on the newest vessels sailing for other lines on voyages to the same places for the same number of nights.
Margaritaville Paradise runs cruises as short as two nights in length between the Port of Palm Beach and Freeport in the Bahamas. Because the ship is the oldest in the fleet and offers the shortest itineraries, fares are the lowest — reasonable enough for just about any budget.
That makes the ship great for quick weekend getaways, bachelor and bachelorette parties, reunions, family groups, and milestone celebrations for anniversaries, birthdays, and graduations. It’s also a fun way for new cruisers to see if they’d possibly enjoy a longer voyage without spending too much money.
Speaking of low-cost fares, last year, the line ran a promotion that allowed four people to hop on a two-night voyage for $100 if they shared a cabin. That’s not $100 per person; that’s $100 total (or $12.50 per person, per night, which is less than the cost of a decent lunch).
Additionally, Margaritaville at Sea offers free Paradise cruises for members of the military and first responders. (Note that there are limited cabins in both of these cases, and passengers still have to pay port taxes and fees.)
Vintage Ship Design
Because Margaritaville’s vessels come from a time when ships were built differently — sky-high atriums, hidden nooks and crannies, and quirky decor — think of a sailing with the line as a chance to experience a piece of the past.
All of the ships undergo extensive refurbishment and rebranding to elicit a beachier vibe, but Margaritaville has retained a lot of the vessels’ original charm. As examples, Paradise features a more boxy, faux-wood design throughout, which was typical of ships constructed in the 1990s. Islander, which was built roughly a decade later — when architect and interior designer Joe Farcus was still working with Carnival Corp. brands — features more rounded, flowing spaces.
Margaritaville chose to leave some of Farcus’ whimsical elements, including glass atrium elevators that resemble jellyfish, a giant chandelier at the entrance to what is now the Coral Reef Lounge, and gorgeous mosaic designs that adorn the walls in the main Stars on the Water theater.
Stuff You Won’t Find Anywhere Else
Want a tattoo as a memento of your cruise? You can find that on Margaritaville at Sea’s ships. The only other cruise line to offer them is Virgin Voyages, but there are some differences.
While Virgin has a dedicated tattoo parlor, the tattoo artist on Paradise currently operates out of the ship’s spa. Islander recently unveiled a tattoo parlor space, but it has room for two artists, while Virgin’s only house one apiece.
Then there’s QMN. I won’t say much about it because I don’t want to ruin the mystery, but it stands for Quietly Making Noise, an exclusive added-fee speakeasy experience that benefits Singing for Change, one of Jimmy Buffett's charities. Inquire at the shore excursions desk; I assure you it’s worth every penny.
Additionally, you’ll find souvenir blender cups for sale onboard; mystery drinks at the casino bar on Islander, where you roll a die to determine the cocktail or shot you’ll receive; lost shakers of salt, which passengers often hide instead of rubber ducks; and top-deck cornhole that involves obstacles instead of just standard boards.
Read more: 6 Margaritaville at Sea Experiences You Won’t Find on Other Cruise Lines
Holiday Festivities
Margaritaville at Sea is one of the few cruise lines — Disney Cruise Line is the other that immediately comes to mind — that offers holiday programming for a month or more leading up to the actual holiday.
Margaritaville recently implemented Haunted Seas sailings for Halloween, starting in mid-September and running through the end of October. The ship is decorated with skeletons, cobwebs, spiders, and pumpkins, and there are special spooky events, themed drinks, and even costume contests.
The line plans to do something similar for Christmas, too, as part of its Very Merry Margaritaville at Sea voyages. These sailings will feature holiday decorations, carol sing-alongs, themed food and drink menus, holiday films on the poolside movie screen, ugly sweater competitions, and more.
Several Pool Spaces
In line with the ship’s original design features, Islander offers two back-to-back pools on Deck 9 — the Land Shark Pool and the 5 O’Clock Somewhere pool. The former is also home to the Land Shark Bar, and the latter has a stage for live music, as well as a retractable roof for use in inclement weather.
To the left of the stage, you’ll find the Cheeseburger in Paradise burger stand; to the right, Mexican Cutie serves up tacos and breakfast burritos. All eats are complimentary.
Want to relax sans kids? There’s an adults-only tiki-style bar and pool at the very aft of the ship on the same deck. You can also snag for-fee seafood bites and other nibbles there.
What Needs Work
No Cruise Maps
One thing most cruise ships have that’s hard to come by on Margaritaville’s vessels is ship maps. Generally, there’s one on the wall of each elevator bank to help passengers determine where they are if they’re lost. They simply don’t exist on Margaritaville ships.
I tried going to the front desk to ask for a paper copy, but there was only one — a poster-sized one so large it took up the entire counter. I took photos of it and used them to navigate for the remainder of my sailing.
Also, unlike other lines, Margaritaville doesn’t have a cruise app. Instead, travelers can scan the QR code printed on their keycards for access to the “Cruise Control” section of the line’s website. That’s where they can view the daily schedule of activities, dining times, and ship deck plans.
However, the plans listed there are difficult to see on a phone screen; it would be really nice if signage were more readily available near the elevators.
Too-Loud Atrium Music
For a line connected to Jimmy Buffett, music is a natural fit. There’s plenty of it all over the line’s vessels at all times, and it’s truly great.
However, on Islander, the Flip-Flop Atrium is one of the main live music performance spaces onboard, and it’s located right next to the guest services and shore excursions desks and just one floor down from the concierge area.
The problem with this is that it’s often difficult to have a conversation at any of the desks while trying to shout over the music. Additionally, during my most recent sailing, the concierge called me with information I requested, but I was unable to hear anything she said due to the music.
Within five minutes, she arrived, huffing and puffing, at my cabin door to chat in person — something she shouldn’t have had to do.
One-Device Wi-Fi
When you sail, you’ll have the option to purchase Wi-Fi to use onboard. There are four tiers — connect, basic, premium, and business — each of which offers progressively more capabilities that range from mere messaging to social media use to streaming with super-fast speeds.
Pricing is on the steep side, but what’s frustrating is that there are no multi-device packages. So, unless you want to log out of one device to log on with another, you’ll have to purchase a separate, full-price one-device package for each of them.
It’s a clunky and costly experience for passengers who want (or need) to stay connected, and it seems like a missed opportunity for the line.
Announcements Before Noon
On some cruise lines, it's common for the captain to make a noon announcement about the weather and the ship's positioning.
But, starting at 10 a.m. each day on Margaritaville ships, the cruise director begins making announcements about activities and any relevant port information. While I appreciate being kept in the loop, that's what the printed daily schedules are for. Plus, the announcements don’t just reach the public areas. They’re piped into the cabins, too, and there’s no way to mute them.
With how affordable the line’s fares are, Margaritaville at Sea definitely relies heavily on onboard passenger spending to make a large chunk of its revenue; announcements play a key role in that. However, for those who like to sleep in, it would be nice if they started later in the day.
Lack of Traditional Loyalty Program
One interesting thing about Margaritaville at Sea is that it doesn’t have a traditional loyalty program like other cruise lines. That means you won’t be rewarded simply for booking several sailings with the brand.
Instead, casino loyalty is where the line chooses to focus. Passengers who spend money to play in the fleet’s onboard casinos can work their way up a four-tiered system by spending money to earn a certain number of points, either over time or in a single day. With each new tier comes new perks, such as free drinks and drink packages, priority theater seating, onboard credit, and even free cruises that can be gifted to other people.
It would be nice if travelers who sail frequently but don’t gamble could earn rewards, as well.
No Packages for Specialty Coffee
For passengers craving specialty coffee for an added fee, there’s a cafe onboard each ship in the Margaritaville at Sea fleet.
The problem, though, is that none of the available drink packages includes it in the price. So, even if you purchase a soda package or an alcohol package, you’ll still have to shell out Starbucks-level prices every time you order a pick-me-up.
Particularly as Islander prepares to add a fancy new Cuban coffee machine to its Havana Daydreamin’ Sports Bar, it would be great to see specialty coffees included with existing packages or the implementation of a punch card program for frequent coffee drinkers who stay away from soda and booze.
Ashley Kosciolek
Ashley boarded her first cruise more than 20 years ago and never looked back. Her experience encompasses nearly 100 sailings across every major cruise brand, as well as niche luxury, river and expedition lines. She has written thousands of cruise tip features; ship, port and shore excursion reviews; and industry news articles for The Points Guy, Cruise Critic and other publications. She has been quoted as an expert by outlets that include The New York Times, CNBC, Fox Business, Forbes, Good Morning America and others.
