Costa Fortuna Is Now the Margaritaville Beachcomber
Costa Fortuna has been renamed the Margaritaville at Sea Beachcomber and heads to a Belfast drydock before its January 2027 PortMiami debut.
The ship that spent two decades sailing as Costa Cruises’ Costa Fortuna has a new name, a new flag, and a very different future. It’s now the Margaritaville at Sea Beachcomber, and it’s heading into a Belfast drydock ahead of a January 2027 maiden voyage from PortMiami. That’s the headline from Cruise Industry News, which reported on September 20, 2026 that the 2003-built, 2,720-passenger vessel was renamed in mid-September and reflagged under the Portuguese flag during a technical stop in Brindisi, Italy.
If you’ve been watching Margaritaville at Sea grow from a single day-cruise operation into a real Caribbean player, this is the next big step: a full-size, mid-size ship joining the fleet with a proper multi-night program.
What’s confirmed so far
According to Cruise Industry News, the newly renamed Beachcomber arrived in Gibraltar on September 21, 2026, following its final Costa sailing in early September. From there it’s bound for the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, for the refurbishment that will turn a classic European-market ship into a Margaritaville-branded one.
The conversion isn’t just a fresh coat of paint. Cruise Industry News reports the ship will gain the brand’s signature venues, including the 5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar, the JWB Steakhouse, and the Cheeseburger in Paradise Burger Bar — the kind of casual, island-tavern feel that separates Margaritaville from the megaship crowd.
Where the Beachcomber will sail
The Beachcomber is set up for two distinct chapters, and they’re worth understanding if you’re weighing a booking.
| Phase | Homeport | Voyage lengths | Sample ports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Early 2027 | PortMiami | 4-8 nights | Cozumel, Freeport, George Town |
| Late 2027 | Galveston | (repositioned) | Aruba, Curaçao, Belize, Veracruz |
Starting in early 2027, the ship will run four- to eight-night cruises out of PortMiami to Florida, the Caribbean, and the Bahamas. Later in 2027 it repositions to Galveston, opening up Western and Southern Caribbean routes to spots like Aruba, Curaçao, Belize, and Veracruz.
Why it matters
Here’s our read: short, affordable Caribbean itineraries out of two major U.S. gateways are exactly the lane where Margaritaville at Sea has found traction, and a 2,720-passenger ship gives the brand meaningfully more capacity without pushing it into megaship territory. For first-time cruisers who want a relaxed, themed experience close to home — and for Gulf Coast travelers who don’t want to drive to Florida — the Galveston chapter could be the more interesting story once itineraries and pricing firm up.
A word of caution common to any ship coming out of a major yard period: debut dates and inaugural itineraries can shift while a vessel is still in drydock. We’d treat the January 2027 launch as the plan, not a promise, and watch for the official booking calendar before building a trip around it.
For now, the takeaway is simple: a familiar Costa hull is about to get a second life flying the Margaritaville flag. Full details are in the original report from Cruise Industry News.
