Wasting Away Again At Margaritaville- The Food

My husband and I decided to give the Margaritaville At Sea Islander a try because we wanted to see how this budget cruise line would compare to our experiences on Royal Caribbean, Norwegian or Virgin Voyages even. One thing that I had heard right away from others who had been on the Islander was that we should get the dining package as the included food options were “hit or miss”.  I am definitely glad that we did, if for no other reason than we got to try everything the ship had to offer food-wise.

The complimentary options on the Islander include the Fins dining room, the buffet (which is not called the The Jimmy Buffett Buffet for some reason), the pizza place located inside the buffet, the taco place and Cheeseburgers in Paradise (both of which were located outside on one of the pool decks. Because there was no app to refer to, you would have to refer to their paper planner each day to know when the various areas were open.   

We ate in Fins dining room 3 of the 5 nights and found that the food and the service to be fine.  It was not fancy but it was good.  The main difference from other cruise lines that we saw with all of the dining venues was that you were limited to two appetizers, one entree and one dessert per meal (unless you wanted to pay more).  Typically, we like to get our own entrees and then share one, so we had to adjust to this.  Also, we found that the the number of items we could choose from were limited.  There were really only two dessert options and one of them was the same every night.  Dinners in Fins Dining room were fine but nothing particularly stood out.  You cold also have breakfast each morning in the Fins Dining room, which my husband enjoyed more actually than other cruise ships because it was a quicker, less formal experience.    

The Port of Indecision Buffet was the most disappointing part of the food experience while on board the Islander. To be fair, we are used to the giant buffets on Royal Caribbean or the unique food hall on the Virgin ships.  We weren’t prepared for a buffet that had only about 10 items to choose from on the hot bar.  They also had a small salad bar and a small dessert bar but, generally, we found the options were not varied enough for us.  Thankfully, they did have the three other complimentary options.  My husband ate the pizza a couple of times for lunch and found the food good but was often frustrated by the long lines that the pizza place had.  The taco bar and the burger place were good but once again somewhat limited.  The tacos place served breakfast tacos in the morning that were tasty, and the burger place became an omelette bar in the morning, which turned out to be a good option.  There are ways for you to enjoy the food on the Islander without needing either of the dining packages, but we are definitely glad that we had them.   

On Margaritaville At Sea, there are two different dining packages that you can choose from.  There is the Prime dining package that includes one dinner in the Islander dining room (the slightly elevated dining experience), one sparkling brunch experience, and one dinner at JWB Steakhouse.  The cost of the Prime dining packages is typically around $90. You can also choose the Ultimate Dining Chill package, which includes everything from the Prime Dining Package as well as $25 for each if the a la carte restaurants (Far Side Sushi, Island Eats and Tiki Grill).  They do not force everyone in a cabin to get a dining package or to get the same dining package, which is different from some other cruise lines.  And, we had heard that it is smarter, especially for shorter cruises, to have one person get the Prime Dining Package and the other get the Ultimate Dining Chill package. This is what we did and it worked out great.

We had dinner in the Islander dining room on the second night of our five night cruise.  The Islander dining room had the same menu as the Fins Dining Room but included an insert of additional more plussed items. One thing that we wish MAS had going for them is an app or a way to view the menus for that evening and/or the following evenings ahead of time.  I am sure that this will be in the works for the future, but, it was relevant to us because we didn’t know which night would be best to try the Islander dining room.  If we felt that the menu in the regular dining room was less desirable a certain night, then that would have been the best night to go to the Islander dining room and get the added items.  If you are staying in a suite, then you can choose to eat in the Islander dining room every night.  If you have the dining package, you can choose one night to eat in the Islander dining room. The other difference about Islander was that it is an elevated dining experience with white tablecloths and perhaps a slightly more formal self-imposed dress code.   

Another perk for suite guests and passengers with the dining package was being able to experience the Sparkling Brunch during Sea Days.  We went during the first sea day and had a really tasty brunch complete with a mimosa.  Since we had the drink package, this wasn’t a huge draw for us but we still enjoyed our mimosa.  I got the French toast that was really tasty and Chris got the American breakfast, which he said was good.

The real standout eating experience on the MAS Islander is the JWB Steakhouse.  We ate here on the third night of our cruise and really enjoyed it.  Technically, it is the only specialty restaurant on board, and the cost of eating there is actually comparable to, if not a bit more than, the steak house on Royal Caribbean.  Just like in the main dining room, you could choose 2 appetizers, one entree with 2 sides, and a dessert.  If you wanted to add a lobster tail to your steak (and many people did this, including myself), then that was an additional $10.  I got the steak tartare and Caesar salad and Chris got the fried cheese and French onion soup.  They were all tasty and enjoyed.  We each got the filet along with mac and cheese, fries, mashed potatoes and asparagus as sides.  The desserts were good as well but if you wanted the chocolate dessert then you needed to tell them that you are celebrating something.  Because we didn’t have anything in particular to celebrate, we watched as the couple next to us seemed to enjoy very much the chocolatey dessert.  Everything that we ordered was really tasty, well plated and the service was excellent.

Finally, the last bit that we were able to enjoy with the dining package were the a la carte places.  There are two a la carte places, Tiki Grill and Island Eats, up in the adults only area.  It appears that the area was designed for one place to be on one side of the bar and the other to be located on the other side of the bar, but at some point they had decided to combine it.  We had some wings, a shrimp roll, and shrimp ceviche that were good, but the real winner was the Taste of Peru, which included delicious marinated strips of sirloin with well seasoned rice.  After ordering, you would then hopefully find a spot amongst all of the others sitting up there in one of the only shaded areas near the pool.  Sometimes you would sit in a chair that was wet from the previous occupant.  This made the whole eating experience a bit odd.

If you wanted to enjoy sushi, which was actually very good, then you needed to make your way down to the area where trivia and other big group activities take place.  You had to once again then find a table amongst all of the trivia players and/or attendees of the dance class so that you could enjoy your food.  The sushi tasted fresh and was well prepared.  We found that the items that we got from each of these a la carte places were good, but since you didn’t have a designated separated place to sit and eat, the ambiance was strange and left a little to be desired.    

I am glad that we purchased the dining packages for our cruise so that we could try all of the eating experiences on the ship.  The issue that we kept coming across was that if you wanted to have more variety or an elevated dining experience, then you had to add the purchase of the dining packages to do so.  And, all of these purchases add up making it not quite the affordable cruise that you originally had in mind.