When Margaritaville at Sea launched in 2022, it offered a quick, two-night budget cruise with one port of call on a 30-year-old ship.
Now with new ownership by the same private equity firm that owns Azamara, the south Florida-based cruise line has embarked on a new chapter.
It includes sailing a spruced-up second ship, the Margaritaville at Sea Islander; cruising up to seven-day itineraries next year; and offering $99 day passes for Bahamas-bound cruisers to the Margaritaville Beach Resort in Nassau.
“I’m under no false conception that a two-night cruise product is going to get a travel advisor super fired up,” CEO Christopher Ivy said during an interview on the Islander in early November between appearances at fam events for several trade groups. “We’re really building the brand and building the business from scratch.”
Ivy, who leads the brand under Sycamore Partners, which quietly acquired the line in late 2023, said Margaritaville at Sea has made the trade a “significant focus” with the launch of its second ship in June. He said October was the line’s best month for trade bookings, although direct bookings still dominate its sales.
The line had a rocky start during its 2022 launch, falling victim to supply chain problems, plumbing issues and missing elements tying the ship’s theming to the Margaritaville brand — such as lacking an eatery tied to Buffett’s famous “Cheeseburger in Paradise” song.
The Islander’s atrium features a chandelier made of margarita glasses and the brand’s signature giant flip flop. Photo Credit: Andrea Zelinski
For the second ship, the line refurbished the 25-year-old Costa Atlantica and reintroduced it as the Islander in June. Decked out with parrots and nods to Margaritaville and Jimmy Buffett culture, the ship nearly tripled the line’s capacity and added Tampa as a second homeport.
The Islander will sail 13 itineraries come 2025. At the core will be four- and five-night cruises to Key West, Cozumel and Progreso, but it will also mix in six- and seven-night cruises calling in Belize, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Key West, Costa Maya and Cozumel.
Meanwhile, the line’s short cruises on the Paradise out of Palm Beach, Fla., will shift a significant number of calls from Grand Bahama Island to Nassau, where cruise guests for the first time can buy a $99 day pass to enjoy the beach and water park at the Margaritaville Beach Resort in Nassau.
Ship product evolutions
To achieve an “end-to-end Margaritaville experience” on the Islander, the line gutted the suites down to the steel and rebuilt them with roomy, modern designs while incorporating Margaritaville and Buffett ambience, like the musician’s lyrics and ingredients for a make-your-own margarita on a bar in the room in the Signature Grand Suite.
The upgraded suites showcase the ship as a product that travel advisors will be excited to sell, Ivy said. Suite guests also benefit from an included daylong cabana rental, reserved seating in the theater and dining in the Islander, the restaurant open to suite guests only.
Ivy said the line’s seven-day itineraries are its best sellers, and he hinted about ambitions to develop a more premium ship in the future.
An airplane on the Islander is another nod to Buffett, who was a pilot. Photo Credit: Andrea Zelinski
Improving tools for advisors
Samantha Pollack, a Cruise Planners franchise owner from Tampa, began selling Margaritaville this summer when the line launched the Islander.
Pollack said she would rather sail on the Islander over her other favorite, the Carnival Paradise. She likes the product’s rooms, found the service “absolutely phenomenal,” and the food at the steakhouse was “amazing.” “I could cut my steak with a butter knife,” she said. About the Islander, she said, “I love it, absolutely 110% love it.”
So do her clients: Since hosting a group of about 28 people on the ship a few months ago, she is getting repeat business. She had eight clients on the same four-day, weekend sailing as Ivy’s fam trip, and seven more are booked for later this month.
What Pollack doesn’t like is the booking system. The cruise line cannot hold a booking unless she has the full deposit and all of her guests’ information, including for groups, she said. The system also randomly chooses cabins, which means she has to call in to have those assignments changed manually.
“It’s not very easy and not travel agent-friendly yet,” she said. “I think their business would skyrocket. I think they could get up to 80%, 90% full if they could become travel agent-friendly.”
During an early-November cruise on the Islander, the ship was far from full. The 2,650-passenger vessel was carrying fewer than 2,000 passengers, Ivy said. The ship felt roomy, although some people still had to hunt for lounge chairs on the pool deck.
Ivy told me the brand plans to roll out a new booking system that was in beta testing when we spoke. It has also introduced a post-booking guest portal, with plans to roll that out for travel advisors, as well.
“I think for year two of operation as the brand, we’re making a lot of strides, but we’ve got more to make,” he said. “We want to ensure that’s a really great experience for them, start to finish.”
