Margaritaville at Sea Islander's November 7 Tampa Boarding Pushed Back Four and a Half Hours
If you're booked on the November 7, 2026 Islander sailing from Port Tampa Bay, use the new arrival window of 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and ignore the time on your boarding pass. Check the cruise line's emailed advisory and Facebook page for a revised departure time, since the original 3:30 p.m. sailing has not been updated. Plan flights, parking and transfers around a later boarding day. The advisory made no change to the New Orleans, Progreso and Cozumel calls or the November 14 return.
My read is that this is a knock-on delay rather than a problem with the November 7 voyage itself. The ship's previous six-night cruise was due back in Tampa on November 7, and the line says only that the turnaround is delayed. The cruise line has not explained the diversion. The tracker shows a return to Cozumel after Roatan on November 5, and passengers say it was a medical debarkation, but that is unconfirmed and I would treat it that way. The winners are guests who read the advisory, since the 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. window is meant to cut waiting at the terminal. The losers are anyone with a morning flight and a plan to board early, plus travelers who will see a later sail-away than 3:30 p.m. The line has not said what that time will be. I would not book a tight same-day connection and would keep checking the advisory. The Tampa precedent, with the November 2025 fog closure, shows how quickly schedules there can slip.