Margaritaville at Sea Islander: Better or Worse Six Months After Launch? | Cruise Review

[@harperwood3562]

Fabulous update from the first video! Can’t wait to sail on the Islander in June. Thanks for this update!

[@thiscruiselife]

@@harperwood3562 thank you for the kind feedback! Excited for you to experience the ship in June - and to hear what you think! :) -mark

[@jonathankent5898]

You guys have me even more excited for my Jan. 28th sailing!

[@thiscruiselife]

@@jonathankent5898 can’t wait to hear what you think! Truly, there’s so much to see and do. Hope you have an amazing time! -mark

[@soniaaafelicity]

Baaaabyyy! Best cruise line with the best people! We had so much fun and have definitely changed our perspective on cruises ❤

[@thiscruiselife]

@@soniaaafelicity this is the comment we’re living for. It was so awesome meeting both of you and creating so many fun memories together. Thanks for the laughs and new vocabulary, baaaabyyy!

[@rhondalitwin1827]

Your cruise-friends down the hall (and the 21 yr old birthday boy) LOVED the Negroni from the Hemisphere! Thanks for being so friendly and kind and just overall so awesome to sail with!! Until we sail again 😘 Rhonda, Chris, Zander and Logan.

[@thiscruiselife]

@@rhondalitwin1827 it was fantastic running into your family everywhere we went. We had so much fun on that sailing and shared some pretty epic and memorable moments together! Looking forward to sailing with the family again. 💙

[@jessyka74]

I was just on a 5 day cruise on the Islander. We had such a great time!! I had an interior cabin and I had twice a day service along with towels animals morning and night. The crew was awesome, food was good and entertainment was good. I have been on several cruise lines and this has been my favorite! Can't wait to go back!!

[@thiscruiselife]

@@jessyka74 love to hear what a great time you had! Truly, the crew on board Islander is some of the best at sea! And we’ve been very happy with the food and entertainment across our sailings - like you, we can’t wait to go back!! It’s a small cruise world out there - maybe we’ll see you on one in 2025! -mark

[@Davekains]

Had a lot of similar reactions to my first sailing in November. Glad to see you noticed improvement. The crew was amazing. I do hope they get the technology back end sorted out a bit before we sail again!

[@thiscruiselife]

Thanks for watching and commenting! Love to hear we had similar reactions to the ship and experience! And, like you, we hope some of the tech kinks can get worked out. Tho, I’m personally less worried about the gym….. lol 😂 -m

[@dayofdevotion]

Great job guys - loved your vid! and was excited to "make" your video. Honored to meet you

[@thiscruiselife]

@@dayofdevotion truly a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for the kind words about our review - I hope it brought you many smiles and it helped relive some of the memories of an epic cruise!! :) -mark

[@connieledford1745]

I absolutely love this ship. Super excited to go back in May, but may need to think about a September sailing as well!

[@thiscruiselife]

@@connieledford1745 if I could heart this multiple times I would!!! I think you should *absolutely* consider a September sailing! Haha ;) I might need to consider a May one! lol -mark

[@connieledford1745]

@thiscruiselife Tampa is so darn close for me, I should really be on this ship every couple months 😀

[@thiscruiselife]

@ jealous! We might be crashing on your couch! 😜

[@connieledford1745]

@@thiscruiselife welcome anytime!

[@LlamaBobby]

I totally feel you on the noise! We were in 8239, which is directly below the buffet galley. Every night was banging, moving of wheeled kitchen shelving, the dropping of metal objects…luckily were hard sleepers. We would recommend light sleepers to stay away from the 8th floor, especially this room

[@thiscruiselife]

Under lido/buffet is one of the areas we always steer cruisers away from. Some ships it’s just fine, but we’ve heard nightmare stories - even on brand new ships! Thanks for the heads-up on 8239! -mark

[@rhondalitwin1827]

We stayed in 8230 in November and definitely could hear the food carts wheeling above us a few times a day. However, there were no kids jumping off the beds or scraping chairs/slamming doors on the balcony above us! And I love deck 8 because I can easily take the stairs for coffee, pool time, nap time. Kind of a “YMMV” scenario? ❤🛳️

[@thiscruiselife]

@ we firmly believe there’s a cabin for everyone on a cruise ship. Glad to hear that you enjoy that location! Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[@connieledford1745]

I love that you sacrificed yourselves and tasted all the cocktails just for us!! 😂😂

[@thiscruiselife]

@@connieledford1745 we try for the good of the people!!! 🤣🤣 Thank you for checking out our updated thoughts 6 months post launch!!

[@connieledford1745]

@thiscruiselife completely enjoyed and agree with the updates! When I went last month th it was fabulous.

[@thiscruiselife]

@@connieledford1745 makes me so happy to hear! Part of me wants everyone to experience the cruise line, but part of me wants to keep it our little secret!

[@connieledford1745]

@@thiscruiselife Ikr? So conflicted 😆

[@aimeerogers4542]

This Cruise line wasn't on my to do list but after seeing this video I think I'm adding it

[@thiscruiselife]

@@aimeerogers4542 that means a lot! 💙 We like it so much that we have invited friends, family, and followers to join us on it next year. That says a lot about how much we enjoy it. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! -mark

[@Controversialcruising]

Great work here guys! Awesome review! I think you hit it all! #Bestpizzaatsea! lol

[@Controversialcruising]

You know what changed the second time! I wasn’t there! Haha

[@thiscruiselife]

Thank you for watching! Sorry that we couldn’t bring some pizza home to Phoenix for you! ;)

[@thiscruiselife]

We had plenty of Guava for you in your honor, don’t worry! 😂

[@TheKookyKennedys]

I am the friend of the birthday girl!! Lol. Now I haven’t done a review video yet, I’m just posting vlogs right now..…I didn’t care for the deep dish…but the pizza during the day WOW. What magic is in that sauce?? Also the main dining room- had some phenomenal dinners. They did our steak right and they know how to make a tender chicken. Soups were incredible. Main dining desserts were eh….the cakes at the buffet were INCREDIBLE. We are food people lol. The sushi place- They accommodated a veggie sushi for me which was amazing (allergic to fish). The bartenders….heavy hands on the pours. Totally worth the package Lolol. They were amazing. Sean Ridgeway…..genius lol The hold on all my charges screwed us over heading home but it was all released by Christmas. Nightclub…..whew. Someone tried to fight me. I’m too old for that so we did Havana the last night

[@TheKookyKennedys]

All in all…..we are going again in August lol

[@thiscruiselife]

Wow! Love this so much; thank you for sharing! We found the deep dish a necessity at the end of the day with the drinks package! 😂 But, agree, the thin crust is fantastic. We loved it on the inaugural and we loved it just as much this time! The dining room absolutely has some fantastic dishes. And those soups 😍😍😍! There were one or two dishes that weren’t my favorite, but, overall, loved it. And the desserts, while not a highlight, were light years ahead of the inaugural (tiramisu and pina colada lush were great). Tho don’t get the pineapple cake; that wasn’t good on the inaugural and it still isn’t! lol Far Side Sushi- I’m allergic to avacado and they were great about that. Glad they helped you, too! The sushi is some of my favorite at sea. And those bartenders… whew! Love them all! Hope to see several of them when we return next year. Glad the charges resolved themselves. I’m still not sure what the $8.08 charge that showed up on my card after the first cruise was for (out folio showed a slight credit; so that was a surprise). Glad to hear you’ll be back next year; us too! See you there!! -mark

[@TheKookyKennedys]

@ any $8 something charge for us was the $7 second dining entree with tip added the night my husband ordered 2. But tip I think is 18%? So that still doesn’t fully add up. Only way it would be in addition to was if you got a second entree the last night. Only thing I can think of lol

[@thiscruiselife]

@ we didn’t, but maybe we bought someone’s coffee or something accidentally! Whatever it was, not worth the time on hold for the $8 charge. 😂 Still, something long term I hope they resolve as it’s not the best experience, especially for new cruisers.

[@Kimberly-fj5rg]

Happy holidays guys! Did you notice do they have room service yet?

[@thiscruiselife]

@@Kimberly-fj5rg they do! I’ll get the menu posted to the website in the next week. Let me know if you need it for a sailing sooner and I can send it out. :)

[@pattywalters980]

Happy new year to you both. Which week is your group cruise in Sept of 2025? And how do I get info about it please?

[@thiscruiselife]

@@pattywalters980 happy new year to you, too! The group is the week of September 7th. Head on over to our website for all the details: thiscruiselife.com/group-cruise

[@algalloway7986]

i hope a 3 ship comes soon rcl has old ships for sale so does ccl

[@thiscruiselife]

Rumor has it 2026… we’re anxiously awaiting confirmation! They have shared with travel agents that 2025 will be a focus on bringing Paradise closer in standards to what they’ve done with Islander. There’s currently quite a gap between the two experiences and the brand hopes to close that a bit. We’d be fans of updated staterooms there and some TLC to the upper decks. We’ll be watching closely and share the moment we know anything!!! -mark

[@algalloway7986]

Thank you for what you guys do

[@dayofdevotion]

You knew you could download the PDF of the sheet they handed out?

[@thiscruiselife]

@@dayofdevotion we downloaded it each day on our first sailings back in June, but forgot to do that this sailing. Once I just asked a guy who was walking around with his schedule if I could take a picture. That worked, too. 😂

[@thiscruiselife]

@@dayofdevotion ps- that’s a great cruise tip to include in a future post; thank you for the reminder!

[@randybarnes6426]

ketchup , everywhere , was Trump aboard ?🤔

[@thiscruiselife]

@@randybarnes6426 believe it or not, on the first several sailings, there wasn’t any ketchup! Cheeseburger in Paradise was the only spot that had the delicious condiment. So to see all the bottles made my day! 😂 It’s the little things in life! ;) -mark

[@randybarnes6426]

@thiscruiselife Hey Mark, thanks for being a good sport! ( just a trump joke) I use to be a cruise director and a sales rep , for RCCL . haven't sailed for years , wanna do a sailing soon .

[@thiscruiselife]

@ hehe- we’re equal opportunity jokesters when it comes to political humor, so absolutely! 🤣 Is it sad that I was so excited about the ketchup that that was my focus??? I might have a problem. How cool that you used to be a sales rep! You have to get back out on the sea. It’s changed quite a bit, but we still love it. 🥰

[@omgjusttina]

It was me!!! I was the “birthday girl “!!! Y’all are awesome!!!

[@thiscruiselife]

@@omgjusttina wow!!! Thank you for making my day! Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to ya!!! 😂 Hope you had the absolute best time. -mark