Margaritaville at Sea Islander

The Margaritaville at Sea (MAS) Islander was originally launched in 2000 as the Costa Atlantica, sailing for Costa Cruises (part of Carnival) before being acquired by MAS. It was refurbished in 2023-2024, transforming into the tropical-themed Islander. It features a layout similar to Carnival’s Spirit-class ships. In fact, it was a bit disconcerting, as I was on the Carnival Miracle in February, and the layout is the same, but the spaces are used differently.

The ship can carry around 2,600 passengers and has over 900 crew members. Features on this ship include a tattoo parlor, a water slide, a large theater, and a spacious lounge at the front. It also has a flip-flop atrium, a dance club, and the Tiki adults-only aft sun deck. There are two outdoor pools, one of which is covered by a retractable roof. 

There is no dedicated smartphone app for sailing, but you can look up activities online and use Cruise Control to add excursions and check in before the cruise. I found it annoying that every clock on the 5 O’Clock Somewhere deck was set to 5 o’clock. It was a cute idea, but it didn’t help when trying to figure out the actual time. 

The ship was mostly well maintained. The only exception was the fitness gym, which was small—maybe five machines—and was accessed through a creepy, poorly lit, and smelly hallway. The fun décor matched the Jimmy Buffet theme, featuring tropical beach and music decorations throughout. 

If you are a non-smoker, it was somewhat difficult to walk through certain areas without smelling smoke. The casino occupied quite a bit of space on deck 2. The starboard side of the pool on decks 9 and 10 also had smoking areas along the side.

We had a Breezy Balcony cabin on deck 6 midship. The balcony was very nice. The room size was decent, but like many of the older ships, there was only a single US outlet and one European outlet. However, there was one USB-A port near each bed that was helpful. The stewards on MAS do twice-a-day service, which was very nice, and we particularly enjoyed the creative towel animals.

Islander’s entertainment offerings were extensive. Most nights featured two main shows – at 7:00 and 9:00. Games were held between shows in the lounge below the theater. The production cast included very talented singers, dancers, and aerialists. Additional guest performers in the theater included singers, musicians, magicians, and comedians. The crew talent show was outstanding, and the audience was very enthusiastic. We enjoyed the shows and never had trouble finding good seats. Themed nights included Country, White, and Tropical, with dressing up being suggested but not required. 

The nightly games and karaoke turned out to be much more entertaining than I expected. The cruise director staff hosted a guest-the-song game in which they played snippets of over 20 songs, and the audience guessed. We only got 8 right, but it was fun. The sing-along pianist Blake was absolutely fantastic, but his venue was too small for the crowd. Music was played all over the ship in many different styles. I enjoy dance classes, so I attended the line dance sessions led by the cruise director’s staff. We're not into gambling, so we skipped the Bingo and similar activities, but we still found plenty of interesting things to do. 

  We took one ship-sponsored shore excursion, but we also found excursions through Viator or recommendations. With the ship keeping Tampa time, it was a bit difficult to figure out what time to book a local excursion.

Pre-Cruise:

· TAMPA: Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City – the oldest and largest Spanish restaurant in the USA. Check out the Flamenco show and the wonderful food.

On the Cruise:

· KEY WEST: Old Town Trolley tour plus a stroll around town and a little Key Lime pie

· BELIZE: Shark, Ray and Barrier Reef Snorkeling & Island Getaway excursion from the ship. This was an awesome day! We took a small boat to the island of Caye Caulker, where we snorkeled in the coral, swam with stingrays and nurse sharks, and had lunch on the beach. I did a similar tour in February through Viator, and this one allowed for more interaction with the rays and sharks, which I liked.

· COZUMEL: Snorkel and Beach Break in the Sand Beach El Cielito with Top Tours Caribbean Cruise. This was a small-group tour. It was a bit confusing to meet at the correct time, but we managed it. We enjoyed the small boat ride to snorkel at two spots, plus the included fresh lunch off a paddleboard in the beautiful water, which was amazing.

· COSTA MAYA: Blue Reef Beach Club. We enjoyed a relaxing day at the beach with wonderful service, food & drinks. The taxi rides to and from the port were a bit wild, and you need to give yourself extra time to walk through the port area to get back to the ship. The port area has a swimming pool and lounges, so you can stay nearby if desired. 

Post Cruise:

· TAMPA: Zoo Tampa is awesome, especially if you watched their “Secrets of the Zoo” series.