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Second ship soon?

toad455

By toad455,
in Margaritaville at Sea

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ChrisCJR

ChrisCJR

Posted
Posted

I would say there's a 100% chance of some design changes.  It will most likely be more in tune to their existing choices on MAS Paradise, since it's the Margaritaville brand after all.  It won't be completely the same though, because this ship has balconies and lots of them.  A huge upgrade for the brand.

 

It will be interesting to see if they keep some of the features, like the thermal areas in the spa.  Could be a game changer for the cruise line.  

 

Can't wait to see what they do, if they can plus it up well with tropical colors, it should be a huge hit.

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pinkie60

pinkie60

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Posted

I love the news but we have no chance of her sailing out of the Port of Palm Beach. Kind of sad about that seeing that I live in Palm Beach county. If they decide to put her in Tampa I might take the trip cross state to go to Mexico. I can’t imagine her being ported in Palm Beach. It’s a very nice upgrade from the Classica though. 

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KINGBOBOFTHENORTH

KINGBOBOFTHENORTH

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3 hours ago, pinkie60 said:

I love the news but we have no chance of her sailing out of the Port of Palm Beach. Kind of sad about that seeing that I live in Palm Beach county. If they decide to put her in Tampa I might take the trip cross state to go to Mexico. I can’t imagine her being ported in Palm Beach. It’s a very nice upgrade from the Classica though. 

I think someone said the new ship would not fit into the Port of Palm Beach.

 

I'm concerned MAS is going to ditch Palm Beach and just operate the new ship out of Tampa. This ship is actually pretty huge and they're going to have to compete there with the other ships that operate 4-nt cruises to Cozumel. Will be interesting.

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pinkie60

pinkie60

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1 hour ago, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

I think someone said the new ship would not fit into the Port of Palm Beach.

 

I'm concerned MAS is going to ditch Palm Beach and just operate the new ship out of Tampa. This ship is actually pretty huge and they're going to have to compete there with the other ships that operate 4-nt cruises to Cozumel. Will be interesting.

I totally agree about them ditching Palm Beach. 

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coaster

coaster

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MSC gave them an opening for Tampa cruises. MSC was suppose to bring Armonia to Tampa, but plans changed with the start of Covid and the plan was scrapped. Don't think they would of taken on that much competition, but the players are fewer now than what was originally planned.

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coaster

coaster

Posted
Posted (edited)

Lots of negative YouTube videos out there. This is one I saw recently from a channel I subscribe to that does not focus just on cruises. Pretty fair and detailed. Most of the ones I have seen show cabins that have had some type of water damage. 

 

 

Edited by coaster
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coaster

coaster

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Hopefully the new owner has deeper pockets than the Sheehan's who did not spend the money needed to properly refurbish a ship over 30 years old.  New wallpaper in cabins, wall pictures and stickers with Buffet song phrases did not hide the need for cabins to have a total gut and refurbishment. Hopefully the new ownership will read all the negative feedback and will start fresh. There is a market for older ships, but you have to spend real money on them especially charging for a daily fuel surcharge that does not exist anywhere else in the cruise line industry.

Edited by coaster
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coaster

coaster

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Maybe the new owner will scrap the former Costa Classica and just move forward with the newer Costa Atlantica as it would be somewhat questionable to sink more money into a ship as old as and with the negative reputation of the current Classica/MAS. We will see....

Edited by coaster
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AllgoodOnTheRoad Great Review Rare

AllgoodOnTheRoad

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Posted

LOL, some of the comments in this post did not age well.

 

I am so excited about MAS getting a Spirit class ship. That is my all-time favorite design of any cruise ship. I am also happy to see them move to pretty much any other port as Riviera Beach is just not that convenient for me. Also hoping they run a longer itinerary and really give Carnival some competition. MSC wants to be their competition but is frankly just a dismal cruise experience. 

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toad455

toad455

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  • Author
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On 10/20/2023 at 9:59 AM, Fla Mike said:

Not agreeing, or disagreeing with him, just adding this video for what it's worth...

 

 

 

His videos are always negative and all he does is complain about the cruises he goes on. I stopped listening to him years ago.

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AtSeaAlways "Live from...." Rare

AtSeaAlways

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Times have changed.  The recent surge in cruising demand has re-established the need for a low price point.  I can't blame the previous owners for COVID- they had a cool idea - it got blown up.  With deeper pockets, the fleet expansion can work.  Old small ships are tough.   New ports are good.  Tampa is ideal as the only giant ships business model (RCL, CCL) cannot ever work there.    So good medium sized ships can rule.   If I ran Grand Bahama, a trolley, train or even branded vans up to Lighthouse would be key.  They have some tourist infrastructure, it is just a drive away- similar to Atlantis in Nassau. 

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AllgoodOnTheRoad Great Review Rare

AllgoodOnTheRoad

Posted
Posted
On 11/1/2023 at 7:49 PM, toad455 said:

has there been a timetable as to when the MAS Islander will sail?

I have no clue how accurate what I was told is, but an employee on the ship told me that the new ship will be doing 5/5/4 itineraries from Tampa starting in April with ports including Cozumel, Progresso, Grand Cayman and Key West. I so enjoyed my cruise last week. With a spirit class ship and a balcony this could become my new favorite line. 

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KINGBOBOFTHENORTH

KINGBOBOFTHENORTH

Posted
Posted
On 11/3/2023 at 12:43 PM, toad455 said:

Tampa makes sense, but I think they're missing out on using Nassau and the Margaritaville Resort there. Maybe they'll make the MAS Paradise switch to 2/3/4 day cruises with the 3/4 day cruises going to Nassau?

A 2-nt cruise from Tampa seems impossible.

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KINGBOBOFTHENORTH

KINGBOBOFTHENORTH

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18 hours ago, toad455 said:

 

It is. Unless they get a deal to sail to only Key West(won't happen).

Since that's illegal, that can't happen.

9 hours ago, AtSeaAlways said:

Can the new ship fit into Havana?  Whatever happened to that?  

Trump directive made Cuba travel illegal again for most Americans. In addition, the heirs of the former owners of the port facilities there which were confiscated by the communist government without compensation sued the cruise lines because they were docking ships there without their permission and I believe the cruise lines were found liable under American law. 

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