Margaritaville is known for its high-end resorts, funky restaurants, and island vibes. So, it seemed like a natural fit that the brand would launch a cruise line, the new Margaritaville at Sea. How well does the brand’s laid-back lifestyle translate to cruising? Well, we have just returned from the inaugural sailing and have our honest Margaritaville at Sea Paradise scorecard review for this new cruise line’s first ship.
Watch our deck-by-deck ship tour of Margaritaville at Sea Paradise
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Margaritaville at Sea Paradise Cruise Scorecard Review
Outdoor Decks
There are 10 public decks on the 52K gross ton Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, which is the former Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line’s Grand Classica.
While this 31-year old ship did undergo a multi-million dollar update, the pool deck and outdoor spaces did not see much renovation.
On Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, there are two pools, including the adults only 12-Volt Bar and Pool aft on Deck 11. The main pool, located in the center of this deck, is a rather small sunken pool. These pool areas feature chairs, loungers, and daybeds that are a mix of old and new.
The deck 12 sundeck also features loungers all the way forward as well as overlooking the midship pool. Oddly, this deck has Astro Turf flooring, which was a bit of a turn off for us. Not to mention, the deck plans label this area as the jogging track.
There is no sports deck or similar amenities on the outdoor decks of Margaritaville at Sea Paradise. Although, you will still find a spa and fitness center on the ship. The fitness center has newer cardio equipment, free weights, and some weight machines.
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Complimentary Restaurants
As part of our Margaritaville at Sea Paradise cruise scorecard review, we dined at several of the ship’s restaurants to get a complete overview of the food on this new cruise line. The Port of Indecision on Deck 10 aft is your traditional cruise ship buffet.
It was open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The buffet served up typical selections and was on par with other contemporary cruise lines.
For breakfast, you could enjoy eggs, bacon and sausage, pancakes, waffles, continental items, and even a custom omelet bar. For lunch and dinner, there was a salad bar, a pasta bar, and a decent selection of warm entrees that varied each day.
There are two sit-down options for dinner on Deck 8. The complimentary restaurant is the large main dining room, Fins. This venue looks like a pretty typical main dining room on a cruise ship. We suspect this restaurant was not updated much during the refurb.
During our cruise, Fins served a sit-down dinner (unlike the buffet we had during the prior media sailing). Some menu items include short rib, ginger glazed salmon, jerk chicken, pasta dishes, and a vegetarian option.
The Fins dining room offered your traditional early and late dining times of 6 pm and 8:30 pm.
Since this was the inaugural cruise, service was predictably slow. Further, the food quality was average at best.
Specialty Dining Venues
The second dining venue on Deck 8 is the up-charge specialty restaurant, JWB Steakhouse. As part of this Margaritaville at Sea Paradise cruise review, we dined here on the second night of our cruise.
This restaurant, actually a small curtained off section of the main dining room, serves up prime cuts and seafood selections. The up-charge to dine at JWB Steakhouse is $58 per person, and reservations are required. Currently, reservations can be made in the terminal prior to boarding the ship.
For appetizers, we enjoyed the fried oysters and deviled eggs. The wife’s chicken entrée was your typical steakhouse selection, while my filet was tender and cooked medium-rare as ordered. The banana cream pie and key lime pie desserts were both quite tasty as well.
While service here was also slow, the food was served warm and the waitstaff were personable.
Additionally, you will find the casual, yet up-charge, Frank and Lola’s Pizzeria on deck 9. This venue offers sit-down dining, or you can get one of the custom pizzas to go. The menu features 14″ pizzas at a la carte pricing. Pricing ranged from $12.99 to $16.99. The cruise line indicated it does have plans to expand the offerings to include salads, sandwiches, and more at this venue.
Right next door to the pizzeria, there is the Margaritaville Coffee Shop. This venue serves up espresso-based drinks, along with sweet treats. Items like croissants, cinnamon buns, doughnuts, and ice cream are all an up-charge. Of course, the coffee drinks will cost you extra too.
Finally, there is the 5 O’clock Somewhere Bar and Grill located aft on deck 10. Again, food from the Grill is an up-charge. Menu items included burgers, tacos, chicken wings, and more at a la carte prices. Given the short duration of our cruise, we did not have time to dine here.
In our opinion, it’s rather unfortunate that all the signature Margaritaville dining options are up-charges. They also come at a higher price than you might expect for a cruise line.
Related Post: Day-By-Day Margaritaville Inaugural Cruise Review
Nightlife and Entertainment
For a short cruise, there were a variety of onboard activities. Jeffy, the cruise director, and his Fins Up Crew, were high energy and visible throughout the vessel. They made the entertainment that much more enjoyable.
The main theater on Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, Stars on the Water, is located on decks 8 and 9. This venue is home to the signature production show Tales from Margaritaville: “Jimmy’s Ship Show”.
The aptly named 45-minute production occurred each evening at 7:45 pm. Even though we are not huge fans of the musician, I found the show entertaining and very interactive. This was exactly what I expected to find on a ship barring the Margaritaville name.
Other entertainment included live music and game shows in several venues around the ship.
At night, there was live music at the centrally located Euphoria Lounge on deck 8. The Sunset Band played an eclectic mix from ABBA, to Bruno Mars, and Latin hits.
The Euphoria Lounge was also home to games shows, like trivia, the Love and Marriage show, and Battle of the Sexes. Even though the cruise was just two days, the Fins Up Crew fit it all in, even the popular adult scavenger hunt “The Quest”.
Of course, there was also a bar here to enjoy a drink during your favorite activities.
The Oasis Lounge on deck 9 aft is another venue with live music. The Oasis Lounge hosted karaoke, dance classes, a piano performer, and a musical duo, along with a bar.
Oddly, the ship was missing a pub, or bar featuring live acoustic music. The outdoor 5 O’Clock Somewhere Bar advertised such a performance; although, it never occurred during our cruise.
Lastly, there is the Hangout on deck 14, which seemed like a rather hodge-podge venue. Near the entrance on both sides are arcade style games, like skee ball. Then, all the way forward is a small dance floor and a DJ booth, hosting the late night nightclub experience. There is a bar here as well, yet it never seemed to be open.
While the Stars on the Water theater was renovated, it is clear that these other venues did not receive much work during the rebranding.
Bars and Lounges
Like much of our Margaritaville at Sea Paradise cruise review, we found there were a mix of new and old when it came to the bars and lounges as well. First, there is the perfectly situated and rebranded 5 O’clock Somewhere Bar and Grill. This deck 10 aft venue is bright and lively, offering a bar with signature drinks.
We were informed that over the next couple of weeks each venue will receive its own signature drink menu; however, there was not a bar menu to be found onboard just yet.
One deck above, the License to Chill Bar is located on the portside of Deck 11. This bar lacked any theming. It was essentially the ship’s former pool bar, with a new sign.
The 12 Volt Bar on deck 12 is a new addition to the ship. This bar is conveniently located near the adults only pool area.
As for the two indoor lounges, Euphoria and Oasis, both of these venues’ color palette, furniture, and atmosphere felt more like Grand Classica than Margaritaville at Sea.
While these public spaces featured a variety of entertainment, some updates would have been nice. The same can be said about the Hangout on deck 14.
Finally, there is the Stars on the Water Bar, which is located in front of the theater. This venue is a pretty standard theater bar.
Most drinks averaged around $12 and are included in the Boat Drink Package. This package includes 10 alcoholic drinks for $99 (inclusive of gratuities).
Cabins
For this Margaritaville at Sea Paradise cruise review, we stayed in an Ocean View Cabin, 7129. According to the deck plans, this portside stateroom is 176 square feet. Given the age of the ship, there are very few balcony cabins. It has been a while since we stayed in an ocean view cabin. Although, there was plenty of space for a 2-day Bahamas cruise.
The main cabin itself has been updated with a bright, yet minimalistic, island décor.
The bed was new, with signature Margaritaville bedding. There were also two new chairs near the porthole, some cheery artwork that was definitely on brand, and a new flat screen television.
This room certainly felt more complete than the cabin on deck 4 that we stayed in for the prior media event.
However, the one glaring omission to the update was the bathroom! All of the features were functional, but it certainly felt dated. While I thought it was manageable for two nights, the wife struggled with the size of the shower, which was small even by cruise ship standards.
Service
For a new cruise line and a maiden voyage, we always expect a few hiccups. The staff were hardworking and accommodating; although, many of them had only been on the ship for a short time.
Perhaps it will be resolved once staff become more efficient in their duties, but the venues did feel understaffed.
Bar service did improve over our few days onboard; however, service in the dining rooms remained slow.
Dinner took over two hours both evenings, with very uneven pacing. At the Fins main dining room, our drinks and first course took close to an hour to arrive. At the JWB Steakhouse, our drinks did arrive quicker, but it still took quite some time for our food courses to arrive.
Despite the service being slow, the waitstaff were friendly.
Our shout-out goes to Novi at the Euphoria Lounge who was always quick to deliver the wife’s morning latte with a smile. Further, Jeffy and the Fins Up Crew were a highlight of the trip.
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Margaritaville at Sea Paradise Cruise Scorecard Review Recap
It seems like a natural fit for Margaritaville to have its own cruise line. After all, cruising delivers good food, plenty of entertainment, and island vibes. During our 3 total days on Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, we certainly got a glimpse of what this cruise line could look like in the future.
The retail plaza and the 5 O’clock Somewhere Bar and Grill were exactly what we would expect to find on a cruise ship bearing this name. Not to mention, the main theater show rivaled the offerings found on other contemporary cruise lines.
Further, the ship delivered many classic cruise experiences, including trivia, game shows, and live music.
When it comes to dining, it is unfortunate to see that all the Margaritaville-inspired venues did cost extra money. Yes, there is the specialty restaurant JWB Steakhouse, but even the pizza parlor and grill came at an up-charge. In fact, even the continental items at the coffee shop cost extra.
Really, the only complimentary venue for breakfast and lunch is the buffet. It would be nice if there was an alternative venue offering small bites and snacks throughout the day similar to cafes on other cruise lines.
We also hope that the brand continues to make updates to public spaces, including the restrooms.
We understand there is only so much you can do with a 30 year old ship, so we look forward to seeing what the cruise line has in store for the future. With such potential in the cruise market, we hope the brand continues to improve and grow its fleet with newer and more innovative ships that can truly showcase the signature Margaritaville experience at sea.
Unfortunately, we had high hopes going into this sailing, and the ship did not live up to these expectations.
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Appeared first on: Eatsleepcruise.com
