Margaritaville at Sea has announced it plans to send it’s newest and largest vessel to Galveston to compete alongside the big three – Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and MSC Cruises at what is quickly shaping up to be a very busy cruise port.
The Margaritaville at Sea Beachcomber will begin sailing from Galveston in October 2027, giving the Texas cruise market another year-round option and significantly expanding the types of itineraries Margaritaville can offer from the Gulf Coast.
Before making the move to Texas, Beachcomber will spend its first several months sailing from PortMiami. The ship is scheduled to enter service for Margaritaville at Sea on January 9, 2027, with four- to eight-night cruises to the Eastern and Southern Caribbean.
Then in October, Beachcomber will reposition to Galveston and begin offering four- to seven-night cruises throughout the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America.
Itineraries will feature Aruba, Curaçao, Grand Cayman, Montego Bay, Belize, Roatán, Cozumel, Progreso, Bimini and Grand Bahama Island, along with Key West and Veracruz, Mexico.
That lineup offers a lot more variety than the usual Western Caribbean itineraries sailing from Galveston. With ports such as Aruba and Curaçao in the mix, Margaritaville at Sea can give Beachcomber a broader itinerary lineup than many of the other ships currently sailing from Texas.
Galveston had already announced in August that Margaritaville at Sea would become the port’s seventh cruise line beginning in October 2027, but at the time the company had not revealed which ship would be based there. The agreement initially runs for one year, with options that could extend the relationship for two additional five-year periods.
Beachcomber is the former Costa Fortuna, a 103,000-gross-ton ship built in 2003 that carries approximately 2,720 guests. Costa Cruises is currently operating the ship on its final sailings before it is transferred to Margaritaville at Sea and undergoes an extensive conversion.
The transformation will take place in Northern Ireland, where much of the ship’s existing Costa identity will be stripped away and replaced with Margaritaville’s familiar tropical theme, restaurants, bars and entertainment concepts.
Among the new venues will be Same Boat, a live music venue being developed in collaboration with Zac Brown. Margaritaville says the venue will feature a specially selected lineup of musicians for the Texas market once the ship begins sailing from Galveston.
Beachcomber will also be an important ship for Margaritaville simply because of its size. The former Costa Fortuna is based on the same basic platform as Carnival’s Destiny-class ships, giving Margaritaville considerably more space to work with than it had when the brand launched with Margaritaville at Sea Paradise.
The cruise line has already shown with Islander that it can take an older Carnival Corporation ship, give it a major makeover and create a surprisingly competitive cruise product. Beachcomber takes that concept another step forward.
