The album features production by Lil Jon, Mr. Collipark, Nitti, Diaz Brothers and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs who served as executive producer with Pitbull.

"[6] DJBooth's Nathan Slavik praised Pitbull for exploring vastly different genres to create party tracks with a worldview appeal and doing them with a talented cast of featured artists and producers, saying that "The Boatlift isn’t going to expand your intellectual or spiritual horizons, but it is without question a go-to album for all your booty-shakin needs.

"[7] AllMusic's David Jeffries commended the production and lyrical hooks for being catchy but felt that it lacked a sense of personality and talent compared to El Mariel, saying to consider The Boatlift "a fun floor-filler, but just not up to Pitbull's usual standards.

"[3] A writer for Music for America felt that Pitbull was wasting his talent throughout the record rhyming typical club tracks and party jams and would like to see him collaborate with artists like Little Brother, 2Mex, Deep Thinkers and Roots Manuva.

[12] Sample credits Baker, Geoff (2005), ""La Habana que no conoces": Cuban rap and the social construction of urban space", Ethnomusicology Forum, vol.