We just wrapped up an amazing 9-nights on board Margaritaville at Sea’s newest ship, Islander. We were invited back to see how the ship has evolved since launching in June of 2024. We’ll post our complete review of our experience on YouTube, but today, we want to recognize and celebrate some of the most amazing crew members at sea in our Margaritaville at Sea Islander Crew Recognition!
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The Crew
New and repeat cruisers alike praise the positive impact crew have on their vacation experience. We’re fortunate to have sailed on multiple cruise lines across various operators and we say it every time: crew make the difference. But Margaritaville at Sea Islander crew kick it up a notch which is why we wanted to take the time to share our experience and photos with you. We were so blessed to have interacted with and met so many amazing crew members on our back-to-back December 2024 sailings; if you’re on board and see any of the folks mentioned below, please tell them Mark and Rocky say hello!
Dining Staff
We ate very well on board Islander! The team that served us across the ship made us feel so welcome and made sure we enjoyed our meals. If you dine at JWB Prime Steakhouse (which you absolutely should!) ask for Angelita. She remembered us, remembered our names, and even shared that she subscribes to the channel! Talk about making us feel special.
Want to stick with the included dining options? You’re still in GREAT hands! Don always greeted us with a smile at Mexican Cutie Cantina. He even offered to pose for a picture when I was in awe of the rotating spit. Thanks for all of the tacos, Don!
And if you’re dining in Islander, definitely look for Angelene and Sendy. They made us feel so special, always calling us by name. Angelene and Sendy always remembered the fact that we prefer sparkling water and they always recommended the best items on the menu each night! They took the time to get to know us – and the other tables in their section – making us feel welcome all cruise long. We looked forward to our time with both Angelene and Sendy each night.
Not pictured, Primrose served us a couple times in the Islander Dining Room and was equally kind and accommodating making a point to note allergies and reduce distractions so we could film.
Overseeing the operation is Asst. Restaurant Manager Aleksandra. We saw her every day. Whether it was at the Port of Indecision Buffet or the Islander Dining Room, she always made it a point to stop and check on our day, check on our experience, and chat about the cruise. On the last morning, we made it a point to say farewell and take a selfie. Thank you to this crew, and all of the crew behind the scenes that made sure our dining experience was phenomenal!
Bar Staff
Margaritaville at Sea Islander has a LOT of bars. Add to the fact that we had the Ultimate Beverage Chill drinks package, and we got to know our bartenders very well! Bayu and Pande at the Casino Bar always took such good care of us. They were kind, made us laugh, and called us by name. We came back to the Casino bar again and again to see these two!
Speaking of crew members we got to know well, Brati at Havana Daydreamin’ Sports Bar is a wonderful human. We spent time with him every day of our sailing and he always had a recommendation for what to try next. He would light up when he saw us arrive which always made us feel so welcome.
We met Dayu working with Brati on our first sailing. But on our second sailing, she was covering Bubbles Up and the Hot, Hot, Hot night club. We surprised her by not telling her we were on the back-to-back and when she saw me, she almost cried; it was so sweet! She gave me a hug and made sure I always had any drink I needed. Thank you, Dayu. Keep smiling, and keep dancing!
Another crew member we met at Havana Daydreamin’ was Lingga. He always made us smile – and we were excited to have him tending bar at QMN the night we went. Any time he saw us on the ship, he gave us a big grrrrrr (rolling r) and we returned it back. We looked forward to seeing him around the ship.
Jaybee took amazing care of us at Landshark Lookout. We made a whole new group of friends because of him as we tried various drinks across the menu. We literally all stayed until the bar closed because he made us all feel so special and our experience so much fun! Any time he saw us the rest of the sailing, he’d make it a point to say hello. Gestures like these go a long way in making cruisers feel special.
We always say that it’s a small cruise world out there and want to shout out Vijay who remembered us from Margaritaville at Sea Paradise. He was our bartender at Euphoria and he remembered us! He was so kind and appreciative that we remembered him, too! Sadly, he just started his contract on Islander, so they had him learning and working crew bar – so we only got to see him the one night. If you see him on board, trust me, order a Pink Cadillac Margarita. His are the absolute best across both Paradise and Islander!
Not pictured: Dolly from Stars on the Water Theater (and also Havana Daydreamin’ Sports Bar) always remembered us and had a big smile on her face any time she saw us around the ship.
Valentine took amazing care of us in our loungers on Deck 9. Then, when he saw us in the theater, he recognized us and made it a point to come over to make sure we were taken care of. He made us feel like we were VIP!
There are many other amazing bartenders on the ship that will make sure you don’t go thirsty. Thank you to each and every one of them for taking care of our drink needs throughout the back-to-back cruises!
Entertainment
We were blessed with some EPIC entertainment across our sailings. There seems to be live music everywhere you turn on Islander. And the shows in the Stars on the Water Theater are not to be missed. Across our sailings, we had the opportunity to take photos with the production cast on two different occasions! That’s always so special to us.
But what really blew our minds? When we saw lead singer Aldrich at Frank and Lola’s Pizzeria, he stopped in his tracks. He remembered us! But here’s where it gets extra-cool. He didn’t remember us from Margaritaville at Sea, rather, he remembered us from the previous cruise line he used to work for! Remember how we said it’s a small cruise world out there?! Thank you, Aldrich, for sharing your amazing gifts with the world!
While we’re not usually big night club goers, DJ Craigmatic (@craigmatic) had the dance floor packed on both of our sailings! We got to meet him at the sail away party, and any time he saw us across the ship, he’d say hello. One night, he even convinced us to give the night club a try and we had an absolute BLAST! You can find DJ Craigmatic at most every party, in the atrium, and of course, in the night club. Check him out and tell him we say hello.
The live entertainment didn’t stop with singing and dancing! If you ever get the chance to see Sean Ridgeway (@uselesstalentguy) perform his magic and comedy, you have to go. We got to see each of his shows and even his magic bit in the Welcome Aboard show. It was so neat to see people constantly coming up to him the rest of the sailing to take a picture and tell him how great he was. He remembered our names and always said hello when we saw him around the ship. A great magician and a great guy!
Room Steward
Rudi was our phenomenal room steward. This was only the second cruise this year where we didn’t use disinfectant wipes to sanitize the room; it was spotless. Honestly, I said to Rocky that it felt just as clean as it did when the ship launched! Rudi always made sure we had fresh towels, made some seriously epic towel animals, and always said hello and called us by name when he saw us.
A Surprise on the Bridge
We had another small-cruise-world moment on our Behind the Scenes Tour when Tom opened the door to the bridge. Tom is a Cadet on Margaritaville at Sea Islander and his room wasn’t ready on the inaugural sailing. As a result, he ended up being our neighbor! We got to meet him and learn all about his experience. It was so kind of him to take the time out of his day in June to share what cruise life is like on board.
So imagine our surprise when the bridge door opened and it was Tom who greeted us! In hindsight, it was probably awkward for everyone when we gave him the biggest hug, but we couldn’t believe it. He instantly recognized us and his face lit up. “You’re back!” he exclaimed. Moments like these mean a lot.
Cruise Director
The Cruise Director is one of the most important roles on a cruise ship as they are the “face” of the entire operation. Across 100+ cruises, we’ve had some amazing cruise directors. But few compare to talents of Margaritaville at Sea Islander’s Zee-Jay (@zee.bythesea). She is the most present Cruise Director we’ve ever had; from kicking off every party, show, and even putting on her own trivia on sea days! She truly had celebrity status on our sailings as people would come up to her all the time to ask for a picture and tell her “you’re the best!” (I mean, to be fair, so did we! lol).
We really appreciate how she remembered names, interacted with guests young and old, and always had kind things to say to crew members. It can’t be an easy job being “on” all the time, but Zee-Jay makes it all look so effortless. If you get the chance to sail with her, you’ll quickly see why Islander’s Facebook group lights up with her name constantly.
Thank you, Zee-Jay, for making our cruises on Islander so special.
A HUGE Thank You
From the bottom of Rocky and my hearts, we send a HUGE thank you to every single crew member that made our vacation special. There are so many amazing crew members that we met around the ship. And while we haven’t listed off every single name of those who made our cruise special, know that we appreciate all that you do. We know the hard work and sacrifice you put in every day to create memories that will last forever. We love you and can’t wait to be back on Islander Time with you again in the future.
Fins up!