{"version":"1.9","identifier":"8c3a6a64-a1f3-4fdb-b202-cc3c3dce5d3b","language":"en-US","title":"The history of Margaritaville at Sea: from Bahamas Paradise to a three-ship fleet","layout":{"columns":7,"width":1024,"margin":32,"gutter":20},"componentLayouts":{"text":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"maximumContentWidth":720,"margin":{"top":12,"bottom":12}},"photo":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"margin":{"top":20,"bottom":20}}},"componentTextStyles":{"default":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"textColor":"#171717"},"headline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue-Bold","fontSize":36,"lineHeight":42,"conditional":[{"conditions":{"maxViewportWidth":480},"fontSize":28,"lineHeight":34}]},"intro":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":20,"lineHeight":28,"textColor":"#555555"},"caption":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":19,"textColor":"#666666"},"byline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":20,"textColor":"#666666"},"body":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"paragraphSpacingAfter":14,"linkStyle":{"textColor":"#00704a"}}},"metadata":{"canonicalURL":"https://cruisesfrog.com/news/margaritaville-at-sea-history-bahamas-paradise-buffett-three-ship-fleet","datePublished":"2026-11-01T16:50:30.123796Z","dateModified":"2026-11-01T16:50:46.101531Z","authors":["Patrick Karsh"],"excerpt":"Margaritaville at Sea grew out of a two-night Palm Beach operator, borrowed Jimmy Buffett's brand in 2021 and now has three ships. Here is how it got there.","thumbnailURL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/8c3a6a64-a1f3-4fdb-b202-cc3c3dce5d3b/70358a39554f55fd42b7beefbe3bc129.jpg","keywords":["cruise_line"],"generatorName":"Frog News","generatorVersion":"1.0"},"components":[{"role":"title","text":"The history of Margaritaville at Sea: from Bahamas Paradise to a three-ship fleet","textStyle":"headline","layout":"text"},{"role":"intro","text":"Margaritaville at Sea grew out of a two-night Palm Beach operator, borrowed Jimmy Buffett's brand in 2021 and now has three ships. Here is how it got there.","textStyle":"intro","layout":"text"},{"role":"byline","text":"By Patrick Karsh · Published November 1, 2026","textStyle":"byline","layout":"text"},{"role":"photo","URL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/8c3a6a64-a1f3-4fdb-b202-cc3c3dce5d3b/70358a39554f55fd42b7beefbe3bc129.jpg","caption":"Grand Classica, the Bahamas Paradise ship that became Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, passing through the Palm Beach inlet on January 24, 2020. Photo: BlueCrabRedCrab, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. · BlueCrabRedCrab, CC0 (public domain dedication), via Wikimedia Commons","accessibilityCaption":"Grand Classica, the Bahamas Paradise ship that became Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, passing through the Palm Beach inlet on January 24, 2020. Photo: BlueCrabRedCrab, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.","layout":"photo"},{"role":"caption","text":"Grand Classica, the Bahamas Paradise ship that became Margaritaville at Sea Paradise, passing through the Palm Beach inlet on January 24, 2020. Photo: BlueCrabRedCrab, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. · BlueCrabRedCrab, CC0 (public domain dedication), via Wikimedia Commons","textStyle":"caption","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Margaritaville at Sea carried its first paying guests on May 14, 2022. The company behind it is older than that. It grew out of Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, a small Palm Beach operator that sold two-night trips to Grand Bahama, and it borrowed the name and style of Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville brand. Here is how that happened, and how a one-ship line became a three-ship fleet.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"## Before Margaritaville: Bahamas Paradise\n\nThe line's roots are in the short, cheap Bahamas market out of the [Port of Palm Beach](https://cruisesfrog.com/ports/uspbc). Travel Market Report [traces the business](https://www.travelmarketreport.com/cruises/articles/catching-up-with-margaritaville-at-seas-ron-gulaskey) through Celebration Cruise Line and then Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line, noting that these were not technically the same company.\n\nThe ship that anchored the operation was Grand Celebration. Seatrade Cruise News [reports](https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ship-operations/bahamas-paradise-confirms-the-sale-of-grand-celebration) that she was built in 1987 as Celebration for Carnival Cruise Line, moved to Spain's Iberocruceros in 2008 and later sailed for Costa. [Cruise Industry News](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2021/01/another-cruise-ship-is-beached-for-scrapping/) says she made her Bahamas Paradise debut in early 2015. The line also used her for relief work. Seatrade lists housing for people affected by Hurricane Irma, a FEMA charter after Hurricane Maria and relief missions after Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Grand Celebration now has [a page on Cruise Frog](https://cruisesfrog.com/ships/grand-celebration).\n\nIn December 2016, a new company, Paradise Cruise Line Operator, took over the operation. [Seatrade](https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ship-operations/former-nclh-ceo-takes-stake-in-paradise-cruise-line) reported that the owners included Kevin Sheehan, the former chief executive of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, and Oneil Khosa, a shipping finance adviser who was managing partner. Grand Celebration was leased, not owned.\n\nA second ship came in April 2018. Bahamas Paradise bought the former Costa neoClassica and renamed her Grand Classica. [Cruise Industry News](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2018/04/grand-classica-joins-bahamas-paradise-fleet/) said the addition nearly doubled the company's capacity and allowed daily departures to Grand Bahama Island. [Maritime Executive](https://maritime-executive.com/article/margaritaville-at-sea-starts-first-cruise-ship) adds that she was built by Fincantieri and introduced by Costa in December 1991 as Classica. That ship is the one now sailing as [Margaritaville at Sea Paradise](https://cruisesfrog.com/ships/margaritaville-at-sea-paradise).\n\n## The pandemic pause and a one-ship line\n\nCruising stopped in March 2020. In November 2020, Bahamas Paradise [confirmed](https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ship-operations/bahamas-paradise-confirms-the-sale-of-grand-celebration) it had sold Grand Celebration and planned to restart on one ship, Grand Classica, with a focus on two-night Grand Bahama trips. Cruise Industry News later reported that the former Grand Celebration was [beached in India for scrapping](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2021/01/another-cruise-ship-is-beached-for-scrapping/) in January 2021.\n\nGrand Classica returned on July 24, 2021, after what [Cruise Industry News](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2021/07/bahamas-paradise-resumes-cruising-from-palm-beach/) called a 16-month pause. The line followed the CDC's conditional sailing framework at the time and ran back-to-back two-night cruises.\n\n## December 2021: Margaritaville comes aboard\n\nOn December 8, 2021, Margaritaville [announced Margaritaville at Sea](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/margaritaville-sets-sail-with-margaritaville-at-sea-301440340.html). Grand Classica would become Margaritaville Paradise and start two-night cruises from Palm Beach to Grand Bahama on April 30, 2022. Buffett was quoted in the release: \"To me, the only thing better than being on a beach by the ocean, is to be on the ocean. Now you can follow in our wake.\"\n\nThe deal was a license. The [Miami Herald](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article256430926.html) reported that Bahamas Paradise would license the Margaritaville name and that neither side would discuss financial terms. Current leadership stayed in place, with Khosa moving from Bahamas Paradise to run Margaritaville at Sea. Maritime Executive [described the split](https://maritime-executive.com/article/margaritaville-at-sea-starts-first-cruise-ship) this way: the cruise company would keep providing marine operations, while the Margaritaville resort company handled marketing. The Herald listed fares of $169 to $329 for the two-night trips.\n\nThe original start date did not hold. In April 2022, Khosa said that [global shipping delays](https://thepointsguy.com/news/margaritaville-at-sea-delayed/) forced the line to push its first passenger sailing back two weeks, to May 14. Several early May sailings were canceled. The refit took place at Grand Bahama Shipyard, where, [Cruise Industry News](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/04/grand-classica-undergoing-major-refit-ahead-of-margaritaville-at-sea-debut/) reported, every cabin was being rebuilt with new bedding and furnishings.\n\n## May 2022: Paradise debuts\n\nThe ship came back to Palm Beach on May 10, and the line held a preview sailing on May 12 and 13. [Margaritaville's own account](https://blog.margaritaville.com/2022/05/margaritaville-at-sea-sets-sail-with-surprise-poolside-jimmy-buffett-concert/) says the christening ceremony was followed by a surprise hour-long poolside concert by Buffett. Guests also saw a preview of \"Tales from Margaritaville: Jimmy's Ship Show,\" which Buffett wrote and produced with Frank Marshall. The [Port of Palm Beach](https://www.portofpalmbeach.com/DocumentCenter/View/4136/Port-of-Palm-Beach-news-release) described a ship 723 feet long with 658 staterooms and 11 food and beverage venues.\n\nThe first paying guests sailed May 14. The beginning was not smooth. [Travel Weekly](https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Margaritaville-at-Sea-plots-expansion) later wrote that the launch suffered from supply chain problems, plumbing issues and gaps in Margaritaville theming, such as no restaurant tied to \"Cheeseburger in Paradise.\" [Travel Market Report](https://www.travelmarketreport.com/cruises/articles/catching-up-with-margaritaville-at-seas-ron-gulaskey) wrote that Paradise was launched too early, which led to uneven reviews.\n\n## 2023: Buffett's death and a new owner\n\nJimmy Buffett [died on September 1, 2023](https://www.jimmybuffett.com/news/jimmy-buffett-1946-2023), at age 76, at his home in Sag Harbor, New York. His official announcement said he had fought Merkel cell skin cancer for four years and played his last show in early July. Margaritaville's [statement](https://classiccountrymusic.com/margaritaville-releases-statement-on-jimmy-buffetts-death/) called him \"a true national treasure\" and said his spirit would live on \"like a never-ending encore.\"\n\nThe line's ownership changed three months later. Travel Market Report says the private equity firm Sycamore Partners [acquired a controlling interest](https://www.travelmarketreport.com/cruises/articles/catching-up-with-margaritaville-at-seas-ron-gulaskey) in December 2023. Sycamore also owns Azamara. Travel Weekly [wrote](https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Margaritaville-at-Sea-plots-expansion) that the deal was made quietly. CEO Christopher Ivy told the magazine the team was \"building the brand and building the business from scratch.\"\n\n## 2024: Islander and Tampa\n\nOn December 4, 2023, the line [confirmed a second ship](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/12/margaritaville-at-sea-adds-second-ship-to-sail-from-tampa/), the former Costa Atlantica, to be called Margaritaville at Sea Islander and based at Port Tampa Bay. It would run four- and five-night cruises to Key West, Cozumel and Progreso. All 1,100 staterooms were to be redesigned. By then more than 250,000 guests had sailed on Paradise, according to the same report.\n\n[Islander](https://cruisesfrog.com/ships/margaritaville-at-sea-islander) was built in 2000 by Kvaerner Masa-Yards in Finland. She had also sailed for CSSC Carnival in China before the sale, [Cruise Industry News noted](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/06/margaritaville-at-sea-islander-ready-for-maiden-voyage/). The refit was done at Harland & Wolff in Belfast, and the ship left on May 19, 2024. Savannah Buffett, Jimmy Buffett's daughter, served as godmother at a christening in Tampa on June 10. The maiden voyage, a four-night trip to Cozumel, left [Port Tampa Bay](https://cruisesfrog.com/ports/ustpa) on June 14.\n\nTravel Weekly said Islander nearly tripled the line's capacity and made Tampa a second homeport. The line also planned to shift many of Paradise's calls from Grand Bahama to Nassau, where guests could buy $99 day passes to the Margaritaville Beach Resort.\n\n## Where things stand\n\nThe line's third ship was announced on May 14, 2025, the company's third anniversary. In a [press release](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/margaritaville-at-sea-acquires-third-vessel-in-three-years-to-further-expand-fleet-302453945.html), it said it had bought Costa Fortuna, a ship of more than 102,500 gross tons that would be its largest. The company later named her [Margaritaville at Sea Beachcomber](https://cruisesfrog.com/ships/margaritaville-at-sea-beachcomber).\n\nThe ship is now at Harland & Wolff for a refit; our [Beachcomber refit story](https://cruisesfrog.com/news/margaritaville-beachcomber-belfast-refit-miami-january-2027) has the shipyard details. [Cruise Industry News](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2026/09/margaritaville-at-seas-beachcomber-heading-to-galveston/) reported that her first cruise from [PortMiami](https://cruisesfrog.com/ports/usmia) is set for January 9, 2027. She is then due to move to [Galveston](https://cruisesfrog.com/ports/usgls) in October 2027 on a one-year agreement with options for two more five-year terms. CIN also says Beachcomber will have a Same Boat live music venue developed with Zac Brown. If you are comparing a refit with a newbuild, read [what to check before booking Beachcomber](https://cruisesfrog.com/news/margaritaville-beachcomber-refit-versus-newbuild-booking-guide).\n\nBack in Florida, October brought a weather problem. [Bad weather kept Paradise out of Palm Beach for an extra day](https://cruisesfrog.com/news/margaritaville-at-sea-paradise-weather-delay-palm-beach-freeport-nassau). The line offered prorated refunds on per-day packages and a $50 future cruise credit, according to [Cruise Industry News](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2026/10/margaritaville-at-sea-paradise-to-delay-return-to-palm-beach/). Holiday sailings are next: [Very Merry Margaritaville](https://cruisesfrog.com/news/very-merry-margaritaville-2026-holiday-cruises-paradise-islander) runs from November 30, 2026, to January 2, 2027, on both ships.\n\nToday, [Margaritaville at Sea](https://cruisesfrog.com/cruise-lines/margaritaville-at-sea) sells a mix of short getaways from Palm Beach, longer trips from Tampa and, soon, week-long cruises from Miami. For a quick look at what the line does well and where it falls short, see our [five-things guide](https://cruisesfrog.com/news/margaritaville-at-sea-five-things-well-one-drawback). Solo travelers can read our [solo cruising guide](https://cruisesfrog.com/news/solo-cruising-margaritaville-at-sea).\n\n## Sources\n\n* Seatrade Cruise News: [Former NCLH ceo takes stake in Paradise Cruise Line](https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ship-operations/former-nclh-ceo-takes-stake-in-paradise-cruise-line) (Dec. 29, 2016) and [Bahamas Paradise confirms the sale of Grand Celebration](https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ship-operations/bahamas-paradise-confirms-the-sale-of-grand-celebration) (Nov. 18, 2020)\n* Cruise Industry News: [Grand Classica Joins Bahamas Paradise Fleet](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2018/04/grand-classica-joins-bahamas-paradise-fleet/), [Another Cruise Ship Is Beached for Scrapping](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2021/01/another-cruise-ship-is-beached-for-scrapping/), [Bahamas Paradise Resumes Cruising](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2021/07/bahamas-paradise-resumes-cruising-from-palm-beach/), [Grand Classica Undergoing Major Refit](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2022/04/grand-classica-undergoing-major-refit-ahead-of-margaritaville-at-sea-debut/), [Margaritaville at Sea Adds Second Ship](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/12/margaritaville-at-sea-adds-second-ship-to-sail-from-tampa/), [Islander Ready for Maiden Voyage](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2024/06/margaritaville-at-sea-islander-ready-for-maiden-voyage/), [Beachcomber Heading to Galveston](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2026/09/margaritaville-at-seas-beachcomber-heading-to-galveston/) and [Paradise to Delay Return to Palm Beach](https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2026/10/margaritaville-at-sea-paradise-to-delay-return-to-palm-beach/)\n* Margaritaville: [PR Newswire announcement, Dec. 8, 2021](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/margaritaville-sets-sail-with-margaritaville-at-sea-301440340.html), [Margaritaville blog on the Paradise christening](https://blog.margaritaville.com/2022/05/margaritaville-at-sea-sets-sail-with-surprise-poolside-jimmy-buffett-concert/) and [Margaritaville at Sea's Costa Fortuna release, May 14, 2025](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/margaritaville-at-sea-acquires-third-vessel-in-three-years-to-further-expand-fleet-302453945.html)\n* Miami Herald: [Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville company licenses brand name](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article256430926.html)\n* The Points Guy: [Margaritaville at Sea inaugural sailing delayed 2 weeks](https://thepointsguy.com/news/margaritaville-at-sea-delayed/)\n* Maritime Executive: [Margaritaville at Sea Starts First Cruise Ship](https://maritime-executive.com/article/margaritaville-at-sea-starts-first-cruise-ship)\n* Port of Palm Beach: [news release, May 14, 2022](https://www.portofpalmbeach.com/DocumentCenter/View/4136/Port-of-Palm-Beach-news-release)\n* Travel Weekly: [New owner, new ship, new itineraries](https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Margaritaville-at-Sea-plots-expansion) (Nov. 11, 2024)\n* Travel Market Report: [Catching Up with Margaritaville at Sea's Ron Gulaskey](https://www.travelmarketreport.com/cruises/articles/catching-up-with-margaritaville-at-seas-ron-gulaskey) (Oct. 24, 2025)\n* Jimmy Buffett's official site: [Jimmy Buffett (1946-2023)](https://www.jimmybuffett.com/news/jimmy-buffett-1946-2023); Classic Country Music: [Margaritaville statement](https://classiccountrymusic.com/margaritaville-releases-statement-on-jimmy-buffetts-death/)\n* Photo: [BlueCrabRedCrab, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grand_Classica_going_through_the_Palm_Beach_inlet_\\(cropped\\).jpg)","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}