Capturing the 'Margaritaville spirit' on the Margaritaville at Sea cruise line

When the two-night Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line rebranded as Margaritaville at Sea and launched in May 2022, the ship wasn’t entirely ready.

Like other ships that had been under construction or undergoing refurbishments during the pandemic, the Margaritaville at Sea Paradise was dogged by supply chain issues like missing light fixtures, television brackets, and in some cabins, mattresses and other necessities.   

Another concern, according to people on the line’s “sneak peek” VIP, trade and media sailing: the refurbished, 30-year-old ship hadn’t been fully Margaritaville’d, with at least one advisor saying some areas hadn’t changed much from when the ship operated under the Bahamas Paradise brand.

Kevin Sheehan Jr., president and CEO of Margaritaville at Sea, said the line took that launch as “a real learning experience” and has since incorporated feedback from agents, customers and “Margaritaville superfans” into the product. The Margaritaville spirit was throughout the ship, he said, but it needed to be better woven together.

“Where I think we fell a little short was in somewhere connecting everything so that everything felt Margaritaville,” he said.

In addition to trying to make the brand more attractive to travel advisors, which I wrote about for Travel Weekly, Sheehan is on a mission to ensure everything on the ship “is infused with the Margaritaville vibe.”

For instance, the line noticed that guests leaving the theater after their Margaritaville theme show — where they would hear and perhaps belt out Jimmy Buffett songs — would lose that energy as they made their way to the live music and bar entertainment in the ship’s main lounge.

To address that, the line put together a piano bar in an underutilized space between them playing other singalong favorites to keep that energy high as guests left the theater.  

“Now all of the sudden, there’s no letdown. You just keep the fun rolling,” said Sheehan. “We’ve got to pack it in. We want you to have an amazing time, the same amount of fun that you would have had on a four-night cruise, but we’re packing it in two nights.”

The line has also added a rock band and a solo guitarist to their lineup, he said.  

Beyond thinking about the flow of evening experiences, Sheehan said the brand has also continued to invest in the vessel. Most notable, he said, was a full overhaul of the kids’ club, with redecorated rooms and new furniture, TVs and video games.

The next refinement will be in relaunching menus, for instance by adding items like the “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” which is a hat tip to the Jimmy Buffett song. The line has also introduced a partnership with Tipsy Scoop to sell liquor-infused ice cream.  

Sheehan, who quietly became head of the company in August, said the ship will continue to improve. “As a small cruise line, you don’t stop. You always have to be improving because you don’t have that luxury,” he said. “I have to focus on my one product and make sure it’s humming perfectly at all times.”

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