It was time for Spring Break and our family (and by family I pretty much mean Sakari and Karl) jumped up and down while screaming "We want to go on another cruise!!!" Those that have known and followed me since 2010 know that my goal has always been to cruise a different ship than we have been on in the past and it's always my goal to go somewhere new that we have never been to. The euphoria I get when pushing a new push-pin into my travel map on my wall is comparable to the old saying "I love you like a fat kid loves cake"

Traveling as much as we do presents a handful of problems when trying to find "new" ports to go to. Most are been there, done that...multiple "done that's" to be exact. However...someone had mentioned a new cruise ship (new is good right?) and I decided to check them out. That would be the Margaritaville at Sea. They have 2 ships and have only been out for a few years. I was off to find all the pictures, reviews and information I could on this newer company/ship.

So some history regarding Margaritaville at Sea for those that don't know...because I surely didn't....

Margaritaville at Sea was formerly known as Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line in 2014 and was incorporated in 2018 as Classica Cruise Operator Limited Incorporated. In May of 2022 the company was rebranded to Margaritaville at Sea with a partnership between Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville brand. The Grand Classica was refurbished and renamed as the Paradise. In 2024 a second ship was acquired, formally Costa Atlantica and refurbished/renamed as Islander. The Captain of the Costa Atlantica was none other than Francesco Schettino, who was the Captain of the Costa Concordia that struck a rock and capsized the ship off the island of Giglio in 2012 (or at least this is what the internet says).

Those that have sailed on Norwegian Cruise Lines Escape might remember that Margaritaville at Sea dining venue was added to this ship but this ended in 2019. Also, reports show that former CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line, Kevin Sheehan-which I had the honor to meet once while on board, owns a majority of this newly formed company. Another thing to note is...those that sail with Carnival will recognize the layout of the Islander as the same as Carnival's spirit-class ships.

Margaritaville at Sea Paradise:

Built in 1991

In Service 2018-present

Capacity of 1,308

Renamed: 2022

Margaritaville at Sea Islander

Built in 2000

In Service 2024-present

Capacity of 2,680

After researching the ports these two ships would visit, I found that the Islander would visit 1 new port we have never been to and another port that I have not visited since a late 1980's cruise. Yep, this was sounding like a good choice. However, they were not long cruises. We needed to figure out what to do about that. It was simple, just pick the cruise right before that and go again! So...this would end up being a back-to-back cruise on the same ship. Yep, that works for me!

Another thing that drew me into looking into this cruise line was the "Hero's Sail Free" cruises. Yes, you heard me right! You can cruise FREE with this cruise line if you are a Hero, which I am and only take my cape off during vacations. wink wink ;) There are specific cruises that you will only have to pay for port fees and taxes, making it very cheap. However, for our time frame the only options we would have would be 2 or 3 day cruises and that just wasn't going to work. Of course if you are only headed out and back in, that would put you at ports like Nassau or Grand Bahama. There's one thing you will never catch me saying and that's "I can't wait to go to (either one of these Bahama ports) again" but sometimes it can't be avoided on certain cruises. This time, I was avoiding it. Just saying. However, with the "Hero's" you can get huge discounts and I think it was 60% off regular prices. Yep, that will work for me!

Anyone wanting information on this program can check below (at least during the time I booked). They are opening up more cruises and longer ones sailing to more ports in the future. You just have to catch them when they are available. I can't wait until Sakari graduates and we are not restricted on only vacationing around her school schedule. Oh the glorious days ahead.

Where are we going? Our first cruise would be a 4 day cruise to COZUMEL. Ok, I know what you're thinking..."Mitsugirly, you've been there so many times and even did a land vacation there, why???" Well, it was our only option and after thinking about it, it made sense. We always try to dive at least once on vacation and this would be the place! (Since what I was reading online was that Key West nor Progreso really wasn't the "best" diving option/destination)

Our second cruise would be to: Key West and Progresso on a 5 day cruise! Woo Hoo! Let the planning begin!

And let the review begin since we got all that out of the way and what you are all waiting for anyhow right?

I'm all about saving money when traveling and we have learned a lot of travel hacks over the years. We ended up booking our flights to and from Tampa using points. Winning! However, the flight winning points hack would end at that when the only option that made sense was to fly out at 6:35AM! Ick! That meant we were up extremely early and out the door by 4am in the morning...or should I say the middle of the night? Because that's what it feels like. I mean it is Spring Break and we had no idea what the airport was going to be like at that time. Better safe than sorry and go early.

Karl drove us there in his SUV and the hubby was in full "back seat driver" mode the entire trip to the airport.

After finding a place to park and making it to the shuttle area, we were immediately picked up. I usually always do a picture waiting on the shuttle with our luggage but there was no time for that! A shuttle pic would have to do this time around.

Checking in for our flight was a breeze and we all have TSA so that was a breeze as well. That gave us a little bit of time to grab a bite to eat at Starbucks.

Boarding started at 6am and Sakari gave her "good luck touch" to the plane as we entered. Actually it's more like a "I think I'm too old for this ritual now mom" look as you can tell by her face.

It was a bit cold out but not THAT cold. However, we would sit on the plane and watch the plane next to us being "de-iced". Before long, they were de-icing our plane as well. Weird. I think this has only happened to us twice before and it was super cold out and snowing.

We flew to Chicago for a 2 hour and 15 minute layover and we were off again to Tampa.

I had a free drink coupon from Southwest this time and figured I would go ahead and start day drinking. There's really no fru-fru drinks on the plane so this was the next best thing.

We were coming into Tampa and flying over the pretty blue water and there was a weird divide between light and dark water that I noticed and thought it was neat.

Tampa airport full of monorails and....a larger than life flamingo invasion!!

Once we gathered our luggage and headed out Sakari found the buses to be "so cute". They were fat and had antenna's..."It looks like a caterpillar mom!" Ok, I guess I can see the resemblance.

But, we were not riding the caterpillar. It was time to summon an Uber to get us to our hotel.

When deciding on a hotel there were options to stay at a hotel by the airport, which offered a free shuttle to the hotel but no free breakfast. OR we could pay for Uber to a hotel close to port and get free breakfast and a free shuttle ride to the cruise port. After thinking about it, it made more sense to pay for an Uber to the hotel (because we would have to do that anyhow the day of the cruise). Our Uber ride would cost us $56.01 to the hotel because we like to ride in style. No, let's be honest, we have to take the big boy vehicles because there's 4 of us with 4 luggage and have no other choice now so who am I kidding?

We ended up staying at Home2 Suites by Hilton Tampa Downtown Channel District on East Kennedy Blvd. We booked our room using points and a free Travel Credit from one of our cards making the room free. However, it would have costs $394.26 had you paid for the room. This is outrageous for one night. But, it is Spring Break so what can you do?

So here is our room. We've stayed in rooms like this before and loved them. They are pretty spacious and come with a kitchenette as well. We ended up with a pool view room which also had a partial port view and I was hoping maybe we'd be able to see the ships in port the following morning.

The only complaint we would have with the room is the bathroom door. It was a pocket door and it didn't like to easily close. It would bounce off the wall when pulling it shut and wobble back and forth. Think of the homes that have the sliding closet doors that are attached to a track only picture having a track above and none below. Yep, the bottom wobbled back and forth and with no actual door handle it made things difficult. I just knew Sakari was going to struggle with this one and she did not disappoint. Eventually it was just easier to announce to everyone you were going into the bathroom and hope that they didn't 1) forget your announcement 2) didn't realize you hadn't come back out or 3) didn't decide to hit the door while you were in there making you think someone was coming in on you and throw you into complete panic mode. I will not admit to being that jokester...just saying. lol

We were all a little hungry now. It had been around 5:30am when we had last had food and anyone familiar with "Karl" knows he likes to eat every hour if possible...maybe an over exaggeration but if given the opportunity...he would take it believe me. At this point he was food deprived and was actually feeling a little lightheaded and saying he was getting a migraine. Must.Have.Food.ASAP

The front desk gave us a list of places within walking distance and we headed out. Here is our provided list of the area and located all around the downtown port area if anyone is interested on what is available while staying in the area.

We went down the side street and toward the port, which was only a few blocks from our hotel, in search of a place on the list to eat at. We came to a cute little place called Channelside Bar & Grill that was directly across from the cruise port. Perfect! This will do.

They had some yummy hamburgers, salads, wraps, deli sandwiches and even hot lunches. We put our order in and found a table to sit at. As the minutes went by so did the contents of Karl's stomach as he ran to the restroom where some obnoxious sounds emitted behind the door. Yep, he was sick. There has not been a vacation yet that he doesn't get sick and throw up. You can count on at least one episode if not two. Ok Karl, get it out of your system now before the cruise. "Hey, I hope you brought something for sea sickness this time Karl"

The attempt to be an indoor umbrella avenue I guess.

We packed up Karl's lunch, which he did not touch, and headed back out hoping we would not have several stops along the way of vomiting on the sidewalk (as we did during our St Croix vacation) and we could safely get him back to the room for some hydration and rest.

The hubby spotted the headquarters of his company he previously worked for. I'm pretty sure he flipped them off as he walked by because when I say "previously" I mean as in the day we returned from vacation type of previous.

Once back in the room Karl took a nap and recovered...thank goodness. Then he was able to finally eat his lunch and his migraine was gone. Whew!

I knew Sakari had been wanting to go to the pool since we arrived but Karl's episode kind of put a damper on that and we all just decided to stay in the room and watch tv the rest of the evening.

It was time for some sleep because we had an exciting day ahead of us tomorrow.