Just off 6 nights on Islander!

[CruisingWalter]

Alright, alright, alright! Margaritaville At Sea Islander! 6 Nights spent onboard over 2 cruises. Key takeaway from the experience, Fun!

 

First off, if you need a shiny new ship, everything has to work perfectly, this is not the ship for you. Islander is a 24 year old ship that has been beautifully renovated by MAS. However she's got warts and things that may not always work correctly, like automatic doors. But she has a lot of charm including original Teak decks both on Deck 4 and the cabin balconies. I LOVED having teak on our balcony, it's so rare anymore. This ship will definitely draw from Carnival along with NCL and Royal Caribbean folks who want a cheaper alternative. This is probably not an "every cruise" cruise line, but a nice alternative to add to the mix.

 

I highly recommend getting the priority boarding upgrade. Islander is the largest ship to homeport in Tampa using the smallest terminal. The Fire Marshal kept stopping the line due to maximum folks being inside. Nothing Islander can do about that, though I did send some suggestions to the team, suggesting they incorporate the Virgin Voyages corrals to alleviate the congestion.

 

The Cabins are lovely, we had both a Breezy Balcony and an Extended Balcony. On the deck plans they look identical, but the Extended Balcony is about twice as deep as the Breezy. We were told they took them down to bare bones and it shows. The bathrooms are original, but were fully restored. Did I mention, there is TEAK on the balconies.It's so great to see teak being kept and restored on these ships.

 

You may have seen posts about toilets that would stop working. That's becuase they descaled the entire system during the crossing and it turned out to be a mistake. As the team explained to us, when you do that, you must continually flush the system to move all the deposits out of the pipes. Nobody was on the ship during the crossing or really until we all got on board June 12. They expect the system to fully work itself out shortlly if it has not already.

 

Muster Drill was hilarious on the Inaugural, we had not been part of an 'old school' muster since about 2016. It was very quick, only about 15 minutes, and the crew made it fun. Yes you're in the heat for 15 minutes, but the same people complaining about that are also going to be spending hours on the outdoor decks upstairs, so what's the difference?

 

Food started out mostly cold and room temperature but improved over the course of the 6 nights to the point where the last night dinner was perfect in Fins Dining Room. VP of F&B Eric told me they were working through some issues that did not come up until the systems were stressed with actual guests.  Frank and Lola's Pizza is awesome. Cheeseburger in Paradise might be better than Guy's though Guy's has more choices. Far Side Sushi was good and Mexican Cutie Cantina was good. Overall the flavors were good with most of the dishes, it was the temperature that needed correcting and it looks like they are on their way to getting that corrected. The buffet is not very inspiring but you won't go hungry. 

 

There are 13 lounges and bars. Each has their own take on a Margarita so try your own Margarita Crawl. Hemisphere Dancer Craft Bar was my favorite. I didn't expect a high quality craft bar on this ship, but it was great. Smoky Old Fashioned is delicious! 

 

Pools and top deck areas were lovely, really fun Jimmy Buffet Vibe. Music was over the top loud at times, but I guess that's expected these days. Really fun mini golf course and a cool corn hole 8 part course. Of course Pickelball is on the top deck too.

 

Conky Tonkin was a fabulous live show and I was really impressed with everything they could do with the stage. Multiple lifts and rotation were unexpected from that ship. Caribbean Remix you may or may not enjoy. It was a miss for us, but it was obvious folks in the audience enjoy it. Music throughout the ship was lovely, they have a lot of live performers in a variety of styles. Zee Jay was an AWESOME cruise director! 

 

Overall a very fun and cost effective cruise that you can book for 4, 5, 6, or 7 nights. We'll be back in Sept / Oct and we have a Grand Terrace Corner Suite booked for February. Again, she's not a perfect ship and they have issues with Embarkation / Debarkation due to big ship, small terminal. But they will get it figured out. I'm really looking forward to where MAS goes next!

 

 

[retired dude]

sounds a little to carnivalistic to us, we thank you for the review and the pics, but i think we will stick with rccl and celebrity for now. Wife and i are from cincy and were true parrotheads with dozens of evenings with JB so we will try to keep those wonderful memories intact. life is good.

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

Thanks for the report! Appreciate you taking the time to tell us about it.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Here's the mark of a great review:  I had never considered MAS before, but I immediately went to their website to look into Islander cruises.  We have Eastern Carib booked on Silversea for January 2026, and one of these Western Carib cruises might nestle just before – and make a very interesting comparison!  [And with Silversea's recent cutbacks, the outcome isn't as certain as one might suppose, especially on value-for-money...]

[toad455]

When do they start doing 7 day cruises?

[angelsil]

I hope you come back and let us know how your suite cruise goes. I'm booked with my friends for a girl's weekend cruise in one of the Signature suites next March. It's been challenging to nail down what we actually get for the cabin class.

 

Not stressed, though. Four days at sea with friends and margaritas is all I'm after.

[CruiseAdict218]

Great review, love pictures. Really want to try them out soon, since I enjoyed my Carnival Pride sailing so I’m exciting to see a different take on a Spirit Class ship. 

[CruisingWalter]

On 6/23/2024 at 8:21 PM, retired dude said:

sounds a little to carnivalistic to us, we thank you for the review and the pics, but i think we will stick with rccl and celebrity for now.

 

It was interesting meeting so many Carnival folks onboard the ship who wanted to see how MAS renovated the Spirit Class ship. Most of those actually preferred what MAS did with the colors and overall renovation. But if you're really set on Celebrity and Royal, you may not like this ship, she's not as well oiled a machine as Celebrity and Royal.  Especially Celebrity, those ships are amazing!

[CruisingWalter]

22 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Here's the mark of a great review:  I had never considered MAS before, but I immediately went to their website to look into Islander cruises.  We have Eastern Carib booked on Silversea for January 2026, and one of these Western Carib cruises might nestle just before – and make a very interesting comparison!  [And with Silversea's recent cutbacks, the outcome isn't as certain as one might suppose, especially on value-for-money...]

 

Thanks so much for the kind words, I'm glad you were intrigued. But Silversea and Islander?  Um... no comparison I'm afraid. 🙂 That would be like me comparing Oceania to the Islander. They're not even remotely the same.  The new Silversea Nova is just a gem of a ship. 

 

Islander is awesome for what it is. A lower cost, fun escape to the Western Caribbean that unabashedly there for enjoyment. And with a fleet of ships on the way, it's going to be exciting to see how this cruise line impacts the Florida landscape.  

[CruisingWalter]

9 hours ago, toad455 said:

When do they start doing 7 day cruises?

 

6 and 7 nighters are available in 2025.  Just check the website.  We are on the Valentine's Sailing February 11 for 6 nights in Group cruise. 🙂

[CruisingWalter]

8 hours ago, angelsil said:

I'm booked with my friends for a girl's weekend cruise in one of the Signature suites next March.

 

We had some nearby our Extended Balcony and were able to get a quick peek into the cabins. They look pretty much spot on to the renderings.  That's what was really impressive about all the cabins, they translated from the renderings beautifully. 

 

The Suite Perks are in the Cabin Description. They're pretty basic, much like Carnival. 

[CruisingWalter]

4 hours ago, CruiseAdict218 said:

Really want to try them out soon, since I enjoyed my Carnival Pride sailing so I’m exciting to see a different take on a Spirit Class ship.

 

I'd love to see your take on that. We were hanging out with This Cruise Life for most of the second cruise and they were just awestruck by the Islander. They have sailed almost every Carnival ship now with the Spirit Class being their favorite. They loved the public spaces onboard the Islander, they're so vibrant and fun. 

[angelsil]

Just now, CruisingWalter said:

 

We had some nearby our Extended Balcony and were able to get a quick peek into the cabins. They look pretty much spot on to the renderings.  That's what was really impressive about all the cabins, they translated from the renderings beautifully. 

 

The Suite Perks are in the Cabin Description. They're pretty basic, much like Carnival. 

From the folks on the earlier voyages, there has been some confusion (on my end at least) on whether the mini bar - the booze in the cabin - is included or must be purchased for the Signature suites. This is important for my planning. 🤣

[ew101]

Lovely job thanks.  This line fills a niche - those who don't have $6,000 a week cruise budget and demands to match 🙂 

[CruisingWalter]

On 6/24/2024 at 9:22 PM, angelsil said:

From the folks on the earlier voyages, there has been some confusion (on my end at least) on whether the mini bar - the booze in the cabin - is included or must be purchased for the Signature suites. This is important for my planning. 🤣

 

There should not be any confusion. In the online description for the Suites, Margaritaville At Sea uses the word "Complimentary" for multiple amenities.  Mini Bar is not one of them.  It's simply listed as being available. 

 

So without the word "Complimentary" in front of it, I would expect to pay for the items I use in the Mini Bar. A Mini Bar is not supplied in standard staterooms so the fact that they list it there would be normal as a differentiator from the standard cabins.