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What did I think? Would I do it again?

Ok, I’ll be honest: I expected that I’d love my first Margaritaville at Sea cruise. I’m a huge Jimmy Buffett fan, and I also knew that the Islander was a clone of the Carnival Spirit-class ships, which I love. (The Islander was purchased from Carnival’s Costa brand and given a full refurbishment when it joined the MAS fleet.)

I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did.

There were a few things I especially liked about this cruise. I’ll talk about some of them more in depth in later blog posts and I’ll make sure to link to them here.

• I was a huge fan of the Islander’s fast-casual dining options. The buffett had good options, and the pizza at Frank and Lola’s was delicious. I enjoyed the breakfast burritos at Mexican Cutie Cantina, but my absolute favorite was – of course – the Cheeseburger in Paradise.

• This ship, to me, is the perfect size: With only about 2200 passengers, nothing felt busy or crowded, even the pool deck on sea days. While there was a technical problem on my embarkation day, every other time I got on or off the ship was fairly seamless.
• The craft cocktail program on the Islander is really exceptional. Bars have different drink menus and specialties, and I really enjoyed trying some new cocktails. (I did have a drink package, and I was glad that I did.)
• As many reviews have mentioned, the crew on this ship were superb. My friend and I found “our bar” on the first day of the cruise and the staff there became like our family.

• My interior cabin was absolutely perfect. It had been refurbished and themed, so it looked great. But it was incredibly functional, too: There was a refrigerator (that actually worked!), a shower curtain that didn’t drive you nuts sticking to you while you showered, and a tremendously comfortable bed.

In short, I’m already looking for my next opportunity to jump on board the Margaritaville at Sea Islander. As of March 2025, this ship does 4/5 night itineraries out of Tampa to Mexico (Progreso/Cozumel), as well as some longer itineraries to ports including Key West, Belize, and even New Orleans!

Send me an email if you’d like more information about booking this great ship!