Get Unlimited Cruises in 2023 for $899 With This Pass

You’ve heard of the all-you-can-eat buffet. You’ve heard of the all-you-can-fly airline pass.

What about an unlimited cruise pass? If you like cruising, you could take all the cruises you want through the end of the year.

That’s the unique idea behind the Ultimate Paradise Pass, a new offering from Jimmy Buffett’s cruise line, Margaritaville at Sea.

For $899, passengers can take nearly unlimited two-night trips through the rest of 2023. The pass is good for two passengers.

Only about 500 of these passes are being sold, and the cruise line says it expects to sell out of them before long.

The cruise line has one ship, the 658-cabin Paradise, which regularly sails three-day, two-night cruises from Palm Beach, Florida, to Grand Bahama Island and back. It sets sail twice a week.

“This is completely new to the cruise industry,” said Kevin Sheehan Jr., the cruise line’s CEO. “Now passengers can buy a season pass to paradise.”

What’s the Fine Print?

Ah, but you should know it’s actually a little more complicated than that. If you’re interested in cruising to the Bahamas multiple times this year, the all-you-can-cruise pass might be worth it. But it’s not quite as simple as paying 900 bucks and being all set.

If you’re considering the offer, here are seven important things you need to know about the Ultimate Paradise Pass:

• The $899 pass doesn’t cover “taxes, fees, port expenses, gratuities, fuel surcharges or onboard expenses,” the cruise line says. When you make your reservation, you pay a booking fee of $19.99 per cabin. Taxes, fees and port expenses add up to $94 per passenger.
• Your cruises can’t be consecutive, so you can’t take a cruise and then immediately take the next cruise.
• You must book your cruise 24 to 72 hours before departure. This makes planning a cruise in advance awfully tricky. It makes booking flights tricky, too, which might make the deal more attractive to cruisers who live within driving distance of South Florida.
• When you use your unlimited cruising pass, you might get an inside stateroom or an ocean-view room, depending on what’s available. “Receive our best available cabin, excluding suites, and subject to availability, at time of check-in,” the cruise line said.
• The pass is good for two people, which is nice. But if you’re cruising by yourself, you have to pay a $159 “single supplement” charge.
• The pass gets you 10% off retail purchases onboard, as well as 10% off packages and excursions.
• There are five blackout dates: July 2 and 28, Sept. 2, Nov. 23 and Dec. 31.

Margaritaville at Sea bills this as “the first, and only, cruise deal of its kind.” We’ll see how many cruise enthusiasts take them up on it.

Mike Brassfield ([email protected]) is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.