Margaritaville at Sea Paradise
2 Night Grand Bahama Cruise - October 14, 2023
We decided to take a short cruise to celebrate Jay’s birthday and chose to try out Margaritaville at Sea. We invited some friends to join us for the short getaway!
Itinerary
Saturday - Oct 14 - Palm Beach, FL
Sunday - Oct 15 - Freeport, Bahamas
Monday - Oct 16 - Palm Beach, FL
Margaritaville at Sea
This was a new-to-us ship and port. The ship was originally the Costa Classica and built in 1991, making it the third oldest cruise ship we’ve ever been on. It’s been refurbished a couple times since becoming the Paradise and was nicer than we expected, but there were still some spots that reminded us it’s an old ship.
We happened to be sailing during their first annual Pints in Paradise Octoberfest. We had fun sampling the different beers and meeting representatives from some of the breweries.
We stayed in an oceanview cabin on Deck 6. The room was nicely decorated, comfortable, and had a lot of storage (more than we needed for two nights). The air conditioning worked well. The bathroom was roomy, with decent counter space, but the shower was tiny with the dreaded clingy shower curtain.
Our favorite meal was at the JWB Prime Steakhouse, but we found the per person fee of $55 to be very high compared to other cruise lines’ specialty restaurants (though many have recently increased their cover charge). We don’t think it was worth it, especially considering only one cut of steak (6oz filet) was included while the regular ribeye and New York strip had an additional fee of $20.
For our stop in Freeport, we bought a day pass at the all-inclusive Viva Fortuna Beach by Wyndham through Resort Pass. The facilities were nice, the beach was gorgeous, the drinks were free-flowing, but the food needs major improvement.
Overall Margaritaville at Sea Paradise was fun for a quick little getaway cruise with friends. With so many other cruise options from Florida, I doubt we’d go on it again, but we’re glad we tried it! Until next time, happy cruising!
