July 22 2024
Overview
As a whole, we loved our trip. There were definitely our fair share of issues, and I’ll list them all at the very end, but we enjoyed it regardless of any issues and would go back on The Islander again – just with knowledge of how to do it better next time.
Entertainment
There was no shortage of entertainment on this ship. We really enjoyed the various musical shows that went on ranging from pianists in the Bubbles Up Lounge, a violinist at the Flip Flop Bar, a guitarist who went between multiple decks playing and singing at the bars, and full (small) bands too!
They also had magic shows, comedy shows, bingo, corn hole, and all sorts of interactive games and activities to ensure you never have to be bored.
Packages
Ultimate Beverage Chill
It might not be worth it. To justify the cost of the drink package, you’d need to drink enough to make yourself queasy daily. Alternatively, you can buy a $25 souvenir cup with a drink included and get $8 refills, allowing you to drink at your own pace without stressing about the cost. That being said, the package includes an 18% tip, so you won’t need to worry about tipping separately.
Two people, on a five day trip, costs $708 for what is effectively unlimited drinks – and that includes tip. That’s $71 worth of drinks per person per day, which is more than possible
Ultimate Dining Chill
The boat has a lot of free food options. I feel like this package isn’t a necessity, but if you plan on eating at 2 or more of the paid places then you might as well just get the package and get a little discount to eat at all of them. Definitely a good idea for the first visit to the ship so you can try all of the places to see what you like
WiFi
The WiFi is terrible. There are two options for this 5-day trip: $75 for basic (one device) and $100 for “premium” (one device). Despite paying for premium, the connection is dreadful. Even if the basic package had this quality, I’d be disappointed, but for $100, it’s unacceptable. The premium option should allow at least two devices or offer a better connection, but instead, it struggles with basic tasks like uploading videos or maintaining stable internet for phone games.
I think one of the most disappointing things about the packages is that you can’t view your packages (and what’s remaining) anywhere on the Margaritaville page or in the portal. You can go to guest services but it was kind of a pain
Food and Drink
The menus of many of the bars and restaurants are below, but if you want to hear our thoughts on some of the places we sat at, click here and see our favorites!
Menus
To help give you an idea about what the different places on the boat serve. That being said, this is not all of the menus, and some of the sit down restaurants changed their menus daily to help keep things interesting, which was very cool.
The Problems
The WiFi was abysmal. Truly a terrible experience with that.
The bed was comfortable, but the pillows weren’t great, and even at the lowest setting on the thermostat and the shades kept closed, the room was much much too warm. I do like my room cold at night, I’d assume the room was close to 73 degrees F as it wasn’t horrendous, just wasn’t all too comfortable.
When we first went into our room after it was announced that all rooms were ready, there was a cup with something black and gross in it on the deck, and tissues that were stuffed into spots on the dividers between the decks. I think the tissues were stuffed where they were to ensure that if the people in the next room were on their deck that they couldn’t see in, but I still didn’t appreciate it
It was said that room service was available, but no where was there listed a number to call for room service, nor was there a menu to see what we could order from room service or how much it would cost. Also the fact that if you order drinks through room service it doesn’t come off of the drink package is a little ridiculous
Lastly, we had bought the Ultimate Dining Package, which listed a dinner at JWB Steakhouse, a dinner at the Islander, a brunch at the Islander, $25 credit towards Island Eats, a $25 credit towards Far Side, and a $25 credit towards Tiki Grill, but after having already gotten the package and done our included Islander dinner and such we were later told that we didn’t get credits at Island Eats and were instead charged when we went there. It was a little frustrating. Especially since we couldn’t view our credits and what we had left on the portal or anything, so we had to deal with a long line and issues trying to understand what was wrong at Guest Services
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