NASSAU, BAHAMAS- Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, Investments, and Aviation Chester Cooper yesterday assured that the cruise line Margaritaville at Sea is not discontinuing its service to Grand Bahama but will restructure its calls to that island, noting that the Ministry of Tourism has some concerns regarding its sailing schedule of their calls for 2025.
Opposition leader Michael Pintard questioned whether the cruise line would continue to service Grand Bahama in Parliament yesterday. Pintard said “There is a notice as a number of us are aware that the owners have determined that they will be canceling a particular schedule they had in Grand Bahama and that the vessel will now come to New Providence. We looked at the itineraries of the company but are uncertain whether Margaritaville has completely left Grand Bahama or dramatically reduced its service to Grand Bahama. It has been a tremendous source of anxiety in Grand Bahama. The Margaritaville cruise to Grand Bahama has been the subject of intense discussions over a number of months.”
Deputy Prime Minister Cooper in reply stated: “The short answer is they are not discontinuing service to Grand Bahama; however, they are restructuring their calls. Some months there will be more calls, and some months there will be fewer. We are continuing to dialogue with them. There are certain things I cannot say. I will speak with the leader or the opposition offline. Over the course of time, they discontinued service to Bahamians traveling back and forth. We are aware it has caused some concern. That was precipitated by ongoing dialogue they had been having with US Customs and Border Protection. That has nothing to do with the Bahamian government. We anticipate that ongoing conversations with Margaritaville at Sea may cause some adjustment, but the short answer is they are not discontinuing Grand Bahama. They have released a sailing schedule of their calls for 2025. The Ministry of Tourism has some concerns as it relates to the schedule, and those conversations are continuing. We met with Margaritaville at Sea only a week ago when we were advised there would be some adjustments, and we only received the revised call schedule yesterday.They have not discontinued but are restructuring their calls.
Earlier this year it was reported that the government had stopped giving subsidies to Margaritaville at Sea after the cruise company discontinued its one-way cruise travel to and from Grand Bahama. The cruise line stopped selling one-way tickets from Freeport to West Palm Beach in December after US Customs and Border Protection determined that it violated US laws.
Terminating the one-way tickets from Freeport is significantly impacted Bahamian travel agents and travelers. Margaritaville at Sea, formerly Grand Celebration, was initially founded by Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line in 2014. It began operations in February 2015, however, in May 2022, the company was rebranded to Margaritaville at Sea following a partnership between Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line and Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville brand. The sole ship, the Grand Classica, was refurbished and renamed Margaritaville at Sea Paradise.
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