Margaritaville at Sea

Fort Lauderdale (Port Everglades)

Whittier

Port Canaveral (Orlando)

Miami

Bahamas

Caribbean - All

U.S.A.

Excellent

Terrible

Very Good

Poor

Average

Margaritaville at Sea Paradise

Pleasantly  Surprised 

We chose this cruise because of the short itinerary and the reasonable price.  Based on the cost, if you're an avid cruiser, you cannot compare this ship to the bigger cruise ships as it is much older and smaller than the majority.  But if you're looking for a short getaway, this is a good option. We were on deck 7.  The service by all staff members we encountered was very similar to the larger cruise ships.  Always smiling, always addressed us by name.  The buffet was a little lackluster, however again, this is basically the oldest ship sailing and the amount of space for the food was limited, but the food was not horrible as many critics state.  They always had a hot chicken dish, a hot beef dish and a hot fish dish as well as several vegan and vegetarian dishes.  Along with those choices were a salad bar, a station you can make your own cold sandwich, a carving station, panini station and a hamburger and hot dog station appropriately called "Cheeseburger in Paradise" buffet. This was in the very back of the ship, which we didn't know about until after we ate lunch on the first day.  I did have a bit of an issue with the size of the drinks at some of the bars.  Some bars served drinks in a 10-12 ounce glass whereas others served drinks in a 16 ounce glass.  We're paying the same price for the drink, they should all be the same size.  Another downside, they announce that vaping is not allowed anywhere on the ship except in designated smoking areas and I saw many vapers sitting at the bars puffing on their devices.  This was not being policed properly.  I don't have an issue with it, but I would assume, if you have respiratory issues, you might have a problem with it.  The muster drill was a little different whereas they wait until after you set sail to do it, but it is very similar to other cruise ships I've been on, you go to your muster station, wait for everyone to arrive, they show you how to put your life vest on, tell you what series of horn blasts to listen for and other important information, take count of everyone present then let you go on your way.   All in all it took about 15 minutes.  Please note:  If you're planning on going on this cruise, the do charge a fuel service fee as well as a service charge for each day which equated to about $110.00 in addition to the cruise fare and was billed on your sign and sail account.  Additionally, your only choice for parking was valet for $57.00 which wasn't a bad option, but having to wait for your car at the end of the cruise was a little inconvenient.  I also prefer the electronic version of Customs at the end of the cruise, Margaritaville still does this manually and it does take time.  In total, we spent approximately 30 minutes in the Customs line and waiting for the car. In closing, my husband and I would definitely go on this cruise again.

Nice 2 day cruise

Birthday cruise - second time on the ship and thought it would be better after remodel .. the breakfast buffet was the worst .. we have been on 25 cruises and never complain but this is the worst food ever . Waffles that were microwaved served with corn syrup . Coffee the chef had us get from his kitchen as he had none on the floor . Bacon that was raw . Sausage that was bland and inferior and rubbery . Everything was made ahead and soggy . Dinner in the dining room was adequate but overcooked and all desserts are store bought and vegetables are not seasoned . You can’t find staff anywhere . It’s not their fault . There just isn’t enough staff . We didn’t have irons in rooms and they charge you to have each piece of clothing ironed . They will charge you for everything from parking your car etc so your cruise will end up being twice as expensive as a much superior cruise . Overall the cruise is not worth the money . Getting off the boat takes forever too

Needs a lot of work 

Being a veteran I was initially attracted by the Heroes Sail for Free promotion so I booked a cruise for my girlfriend and I. After seeing many negative reviews about the ship I was left worried and rethinking my decision as this was my first cruise. Boy was I worried for no reason. We were completely blown away by the experience and left wondering how people could see this cruise as anything other than a great time. The events were fantastic, the shows were awesome and the crew went above and beyond for the guests. If you want to be entertained on a short getaway but don't have thousands to spend on a cruise this is the one for you. There was constantly something to do but was scheduled so that you could still relax. I will 100% be going again and will be bringing others with me. Thank you Margaritaville.

Three days of fun and entertainment 

This is my 3rd sailing for 2023 with Margaritaville and the 3rd time was definitely the charm. 

We did a last minute reservation to cap off my daughter's 25th birthday (literally 24hrs prior) and from booking to disembarking, everything was a breeze. 

My agent booked me seamlessly in 15mins with no errors, everything prepaid so we had no surprises, took the Brightline to Palm Beach from FLL to the port and walked right in to the counter, despite having approximately 1100 people sailing that Veteran's Day weekend, took our pics and confirmed our excursions and dinner reservations and birthday cake, room clean, ready and waiting with a birthday note which made my daughter feel special. 

Dinner at Fins was great, our servers Henry and Ben Hania were extra attentive and never left us for too long, they sang for us with some others and did an exceptional job. Maria made some awesome Watermelon Wave drinks and we didn't have to wait too long. 

Next was the entertainment, Terry from Jamaica and Vincent are always a joy! I've interacted with them on every sailing and they're consistent! Terry gave my daughter a nice birthday drink and was very attentive to our excursion needs and always said hi when we crossed paths on the ship. 

Next was the spa services, we both got massages and man those were well needed and kneaded! Lili was my masseuse and she was very good. 

Dinner and entertainment the next night was equally excellent and of course karaoke and the performances were amazing. 

Margaritaville is an older vessel but they've made alot of improvements and utilize the spaces very well after dry dock in June. 5 o'clock somewhere is a beautiful addition and the service there is on point. I really love the view from the aft back there. I have zero complaints, it was clean, safe, exciting, services were exceptional and I am sure ill be back for a 4th and 5th and 6th sailing. I feel welcomed and special and never a bother to anyone even if they were running to catch their 15 minute break. Margaritaville made my daughter's birthday even more special!

Excellent Service 

This was an amazing inexpensive cruise. Great staff, good food, highly recommend this quick getaway. So far this year we’ve been 5 times and all were great service. VIP package was amazing. Special thanks to JW steak house staff. The food again amazing and your staff deserves to be thanked for providing the service they give. Everyone is so happy and friendly which tells you they are very happy to be working on this ship and enjoy their jobs. The ship is an older retired costa ship so room limited with usb and plugs but brought a dual charger so had no problem charging phone and iPad. This is such a great quick getaway, we left Saturday and returned on Monday morning. Our friends went straight to work so they did not need to take anytime off work. We also just purchased the unlimited year pass which is an outstanding deal for a quick getaway , again HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS CRUISE

Great cruise

The staff was amazing! I celebrated my 50th and my friends and I had a GREAT time! 

The staff was very attentive and accommodating.   They really made sure we were ok and had a great time.

We enjoyed ourselves on the deck at night.  There was a full moon on both nights and the view from the top deck was breathtaking.The music and entertainment was so much fun. We enjoyed the bands they were do talented! The Bahamas was very beautiful. We went to the beach and had a great time. The water was so beautiful. The people from the bahamas were amazing. Honestly speaking, i didnt want to leave it was such an amazing time. Getting on and off the ship was quick and easy.

This was a great introduction cruises. My friend and I plan are  booking another trip as I write this review! We thank you for an amazing time!

Great first cruise

We live in florida and this is our second time sailing.  we really enjoyed everything the stage shows were so professional and amazing they are so talented   there are options to eat the first time we never ate in the dining room but this time we did the food was good  we had fun in the casino  what i liked unlike any other cruiseline you can buy a wristband for 10 drinks and the other person in the room doesn't you can share  the excursions were excellent we went to lighthouse point lacaya resort that was beautiful!!    i would highly recommend getting the package to priority boarding on and off leaving the lines get big and busy and they escort you pass every one to get to customs faster.   i lost my little blue purse which had my license money credit cards casino slip and an honest person turned it in with nothing missing   thank you margaritaville at sea. We will be back soon I give everything a 10,

Margaritaville at Sea 

This is a horrible cruise our room started smelling like raw sewage the last night and would not go away. When we got up Sunday morning it was even worse when you open the bathroom door. My wife called before we left and asked about bring a few things due to her being a type 1 diabetic and they told her to eat and she would be ok. The food at the buffet was very basic and not the best. The burgers were good and the JWB restaurant was good. Drinks were ok. The comedian was borderline racist and sexist. The other entertainment was great. The rest of the boat was ok but the smell of sewage ruined it all. If you have the license to chill it makes boarding and getting off the cruise much easier. Rooms show their age. Be careful of the sewage smell on your second night

Room smelled like raw sewage 

We just had to check this cruise out, and we are sure glad we did. We had so much fun, it really felt like we were cruising longer than two days. We loved the sail away party, the buffet food was much better than we expected, we had the drink package s d definitely recommend the upgraded one!, we sang karaoke, saw a show, took an excursion to on a boat to snorkel at Rainbow Reef, then we went to the beach and resort at Tiana Beach, the bus driver to and from the resort was amazing and made me love Grand Bahama, then we were back on the boat to dance the second night away in the night club again! We made so many great friends and loved every second of this quick cruise. I enjoyed the small ship and the quick get away, and I highly recommend it!

Absolute Blast

After reading all the reviews on multiple websites we decided to go ahead and give the margaritaville at sea a try. Worst decision ever, so where do i start, the ship was an old carnival ship that margaritaville purchased and did a $5m renovations. The ship is not bad, but it could use much more updating especially in the staterooms. Talk about having to move with the motion of the ocean, omg!!! The captain was pushing the ship extremely fast we rocked or about 2 hours leaving port of palm, and when returning.

We arrived in freeport, bahamas which is a complete deserted island almost like gilligan’s island. Freeport, bahamas has not recovered from the hurricane they had before covid. The island has absolutely nothing to offer tourist. There is really no need to get off the ship in freeport unless you have excursions, and they are not worth it. We did the sightseeing tour only to see that everything was destroyed by the hurricane.  it was heartbreaking to see the island in such bad shape as i have been there prior to the hurricane. Our tour guide mentioned the cruise ships no longer come to freeport which has left them in bad shape financially. The people of freeport use the margaritaville at sea like a ferry to come over to ft. Lauderdale to shop for clothing, make groceries and other things. 

The crew on the ship were nice, the entertainment was good, the food was horrible. I found it strange you must pay for the pizza because there are kids on the ship. They food they offer was not really kid friendly. The coffee shop was horrible. The gift shop did not have much to offer.

Overall, this was not a good experience, do not take this cruise!

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