Margaritaville at Sea had its inaugural sailing in May 2022. That wasn't long after the Covid pandemic shut down the entire cruise industry for over a year, and it was a time when people were still wary of taking a cruise.
It was a challenging time to simply be in the cruise business, but the Jimmy Buffett-themed cruise line actually had modest goals. It owned a single ship, the Paradise, which sailed two-day trips out of West Palm Beach.
That was a unique model that allowed passengers to take a quick, inexpensive vacation.
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“The plan was very much from a Margaritaville Hotel and Resort standpoint, which are growing quickly with a significant pipeline over the next three to five years, to determine if a cruise concept can work based on the success of the resorts” CEO Christopher Ivy shared in an interview with TheStreet.
The cruise line, it should be noted, is a related company using the Buffett brand, but it's not a franchisee of the resorts.
One of the challenges, Ivy shared, was translating a brand that had not been in the cruise space before into cruises.
"We thought it was an elegant way to test the product or find the product. If that works, then expand from there," he added.
It's reasonable to say the Margaritaville at Sea experiment has worked so far as the cruise line has added a new ship, the Islander, which will begin sailing from Tampa in mid-June. That new ship will offer several improvements over the Paradise and it will expand the cruise line's itineraries.
Image source: Margaritaville at Sea
Margaritaville at Seas offers more varied sailings
Both Carnival Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean have multiple ships sailing 3-day weekends out of various Florida ports. Royal Caribbean has made weekends a massive priority sailing Friday through Monday itineraries out of Port Canaveral on Allure of the Seas, one of its top-tier Oasis-class ships.
The cruise line will expand its commitment to that itinerary in July when the brand new Oasis-class ship, Utopia of the Seas takes over for Allure in Port Canaveral. That's a first for Royal Caribbean as the cruise line has never used a new Oasis-class ship for short sailings.
Margaritaville of the Sea Paradise will step into that space offering 3-day weekend sailings while Islander will sail longer cruises.
"So, the Islander, while we're still taking hardware that is not new build hardware. It is a much larger renovation in scale, scope, cost, and all the things that go along with it," Ivy shared.
The new ship will sail four and five-day itineraries which will allow Paradise to shift to a 2, 2, 3 model where it does 2-day sailings during the week and Friday through Monday weekends. The new 3-day weekends start at $165 per person, a price that's generally much lower than what Royal Caribbean and Carnival charge, albeit for larger ships.
MAS Islander will sail longer trips
The Islander will sail a mix of itineraries, which Ivy said was part of a plan to see what resonates with customers.
"We'll start with fours and fives with the new ship. And then we have some sevens that we announced last week. Yeah, six and sevens. We get the same comment back pretty frequently, which is 'I had a hell of a lot of fun, but why is it so short?'" he shared.
Islander, which is a larger ship the Paradise, will offer over 700 balcony rooms, and it's not the last expansion for the cruise line.
The CEO did not share any specific growth plans but shared that Margaritaville at Seas was open to growth opportunities.
"We're looking for opportunistic ways to continue to grow the brand. And to add additional ships beyond what we're doing in Tampa," he said.
The cruise line has a specific goal in mind for its upcoming mix of trips.
"We like being that vacation that's kind of in between other vacations," Ivy said.
The CEO seems open to seeing what directions customers like.
"We want people who are taking a shorter trip, as well as a longer trip. And so you know, as we continue to expand the brand, I could see us still keeping some of the core four and five-night itineraries, but doing some longer things in there as well," he added.
