Just off 6 nights on Islander!

[buckeyeinmd]

Great review...thanks.  We'll be on it in a few weeks.  Did you do any excursions?

[eagletwo]

Been following Walter for a while. He has great content. My wife and I will sail on the Islander on December 13th. We hope to have a great time. 

[keishashadow]

On 6/23/2024 at 5:28 PM, CruisingWalter said:

I highly recommend getting the priority boarding upgrade

When the Mr received the military offer, thot I saw complimentary priority boarding included.  Not the reason we booked it, the fact it was “free” sealed that deal to give it a whirl lol. 

 

Of course, now I can’t find the original offer, need to dig to see if I can verify it’s included in our fare.

 

this particular boarding upgrade, does it basically work the same as that suite or pinnacle sort of guests get with other lines as to FOTL access to board & early cabin turn over?

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

4 hours ago, keishashadow said:

When the Mr received the military offer, thot I saw complimentary priority boarding included.  Not the reason we booked it, the fact it was “free” sealed that deal to give it a whirl lol.

Of course, now I can’t find the original offer, need to dig to see if I can verify it’s included in our fare.

If you select "Cruise Control (Beta) from the top of the MAS website and log-in to your reservation, you can scroll down and look for the words "Express Pass" to confirm you have this as an included benefit.

[CruisingWalter]

On 9/8/2024 at 7:02 PM, keishashadow said:

When the Mr received the military offer, thot I saw complimentary priority boarding included.  Not the reason we booked it, the fact it was “free” sealed that deal to give it a whirl lol. 

 

Of course, now I can’t find the original offer, need to dig to see if I can verify it’s included in our fare.

 

this particular boarding upgrade, does it basically work the same as that suite or pinnacle sort of guests get with other lines as to FOTL access to board & early cabin turn over?

 

You can board early if you have the Express Pass or Faster Chill pass. 

[keishashadow]

On 9/12/2024 at 8:23 AM, CruisingWalter said:

 

You can board early if you have the Express Pass or Faster Chill pass. 

Must’ve been a different offer, don’t see either included with our booking. No biggie, such a small ship 

[CruisingWalter]

On 9/15/2024 at 12:19 PM, keishashadow said:

Must’ve been a different offer, don’t see either included with our booking. No biggie, such a small ship 

You purchase the Express Pass or Faster Chill pass, they're in with all the packages. Capacity controlled so when they run out, they run out.

[keishashadow]

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

You purchase the Express Pass or Faster Chill pass, they're in with all the packages. Capacity controlled so when they run out, they run out.

It’s been awhile sailing out of Tampa for us, never on Margaritaville.  smaller ships there for us, things moved efficiently without it.  

 

TBH, with many lines having you select an arrival time, we are often heading directly onto even the Oasis class ships with the 1st slot after ‘whales’ and suites.

 

do you think it’s essential with this cruise in (admittedly) spring-break busy March?

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

13 hours ago, keishashadow said:

do you think it’s essential with this cruise in (admittedly) spring-break busy March?

I've read elsewhere on here that Margaritaville at Sea Islander uses the smallest cruise terminal at Port Tampa Bay (T6) and that building does not have sufficient room to hold everyone waiting to board. With the Express Pass, you get inside regardless of how long the queues are.

[rebeccac]

18 hours ago, KINGBOBOFTHENORTH said:

I've read elsewhere on here that Margaritaville at Sea Islander uses the smallest cruise terminal at Port Tampa Bay (T6) and that building does not have sufficient room to hold everyone waiting to board. With the Express Pass, you get inside regardless of how long the queues are.

 

We were on the inaugural, so things may have changed a bit, but embarkation was a hot mess when we boarded.  They had to stop letting people into the terminal at several points due to fire marshal limits.  We are going back in February, so hopefully, they at least have the process going more smoothly.  Not much they can do about the size of the terminal.