Harvest Caye Now Open for NCL

Hi all. Just dropping for the upcoming Jade and Dawn cruisers that will be heading to Harvest Caye (pronounced Key), Belize. I was on the Jade on 11/13-11/20 and have posted my

The Island officially opened to it's first cruise ship, the Dawn, on November 17th, 2016. The Jade followed suit on November 18th. It is still not 100% complete - the handicapped villa was still being built, the larger zip lines were being worked on, and some of the stores in the shopping district are not open yet. I believe they are still working on the animal sanctuary as I didn't see anything in the Boa enclosure. Also, there are no souvenirs that say Harvest Caye yet - everything just says Belize.

I have attached a picture of the printed map they hand out below. When I get a better scanned version I will attach it.

I did not get a chance to look at costs for some of the rentals (kayaks, snorkeling, parasailing, etc). I did see the smaller zip lines that were open cost $20. I have bar & grill menu pics in the slideshow so you know what you'll be spending on the island if you want to purchase drinks or food.

Private Villas cost $499 and hold up to 6 people. They are air conditioned inside with a private bathroom. A porch with beach chairs and tables along with "private" access to your own 20 foot wide of beach down to the water. It is $499 no matter how long your ship is docked. The Dawn gets 8½ hours vs the Jade at 5½ hours and you pay the same price. If they change the itinerary where Harvest Caye is not the last stop, they can stay longer. As it stands, the Jade has to make a mad dash back to Tampa at about 22 knots covering about 830 nautical miles.

Please feel free to ask any questions and if I can answer them I will.

Sorry, I didn't realize that the message boards reduce the size of everything to just a thumbnail. I have uploaded the map along with the Landshark Bar & Grill Menus along with the Manatee Bar to my Google Drive. Between these two, you know what is at every Bar & Grill and the pricing. Don't forget the 18% gratuity added to everything.

Harvest Caye Google Drive Link

Thanks for getting the info up fast. Is UBP accepted on the island?

Thanks for getting the info up fast. Is UBP accepted on the island?

No it is not and that seems to be the biggest gripe I'm hearing from people. While it is an NCL private island, it is employed by locals who have to get paid somehow. The island also has to be maintained. So you pay for food and drinks on the island (see the Google Drive link above for menus and prices). You can bring drinks off the ship in plastic cups or your own tumbler. Food may be a bit harder, but the ship is close and you can take a break and walk to the buffet and then walk back.

I know people with UBP who are past 3 sheets the entire voyage which I can never understand how thats enjoyable, but to each is own and I'm not judging your vacation time. I'm sure bar service on the island will keep busy, but for now, the Jade is in port from 7am-1pm and Dawn is 8am-5pm. Have a mimosa or bloody mary before getting off the ship. We went back to the ship about 10:30 to grab a few Rebelious Fish drinks and then headed back to the beach. It was good to get up and walk for a bit. Stayed until 12:20 and headed back to the ship for lunch as we set sail at 1pm.

As with any port you can get nickled and dimed to death. We looked at it as a day of relaxation at the last stop before heading home. We made it what WE wanted and were not disappointed. Looking forward to returning in April.

Thanks for sharing what Harvest Cays is like.

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While it is an NCL private island, it is employed by locals who have to get paid somehow. The island also has to be maintained. So you pay for food and drinks on the island (see the Google Drive link above for menus and prices).

Thank you for taking pictures of the map and menus. Sounds like you had the right attitude!! I think NCL did the right thing here since they are taking business away from the Belize port. The locals need jobs too! I did enjoy using my UBP on Great Stirrup Cay, but I only stood in that loooong line for one drink anyways.

Was it obvious to guests that they couldn't use their UBP and would have to pay for food before they got off of the ship? I can understand if people were upset if it wasn't apparent, but like you said it is easy to just walk back on the ship for food/drinks!

Was just wondering if there is a cost to use the pool? Can you use a credit card at swim up bar? Do chairs cost money on the beach? Can the information desk also give us all this info? How far would you say a bar is from beach loungers?

Was just wondering if there is a cost to use the pool? Can you use a credit card at swim up bar? Do chairs cost money on the beach? Can the information desk also give us all this info? How far would you say a bar is from beach loungers?

The information desk seemed to have information mostly about Belize. They hand out maps of Harvest Caye and explain where everything is. I don't believe they have food/beverage pricing there. There are rental locations on the island where you will rent equipment and specialty loungers from.

There is no cost to use the pool or open beaches. Beaches used for activities (kayaking, paddle board, boating, etc) and private villas are roped off. All blue loungers on the beach are free. All loungers around the pool are free. Most umbrellas around these areas are free (I won't say all because I'm not 100% sure). The yellow clamshells along the back of the beach people have said are $30 per clamshell (2 loungers under each clamshell).

You can use cash (all prices in USD) or credit card at any of the 6 Bars/Bar & Grills. Some people have said you can use your room key card at certain places as well.

There is a Pool Bar © and 3 Bar & Grills (D, E, F) available along the boardwalk spaced pretty evenly for good coverage (see map in link to Google Docs). The Pool Bar © and Landshark Bar & Grill (D) are easy to get to from both the pool area and beach.

thanks for starting this thread.

Can any more recent visitors tell me if there is any shade? Not interested in renting a cabaña but an umbrella or such would be great.

Thank you so much for sharing the slide show! It was wonderful an so helpful!

Just got back from Harvest. Not impressed. Mad that Norwegian wanted to sell me that as a Beliezian experience. Get thee on the ferry to Placencia--$25 per head (thx Norwegian). There are real Belizeans there as well who need the business. Cozy Cove was tremendous. Coming back in afternoon, spent an hour on Harvest, I'd never stay there.

If we take the ferry over, where does it dock in Belize? Are there taxis on the other side to take us elsewhere or tours that are waiting to nab you? Just curious what happens after the ferry. The husband and I are not beach people. We like to hike and see wildlife. It seems like Harvest Cay is going to be too filled with attractions for hiking. We would love to take a ferry over, but then I would need to plan our next step.

20 min ferry ride to main dock at S end Placencia. Google Maps, go to S Placencia and zoom in. You dock at the Munincipal Pier. I saw no cabs. This is not a "developed tourist port". Itz very rustic and shacks in the sand. There will be about 60 Norwegian cruisers coming over every 30 min on the ferry. You walk to any local bar up the East sidewalk (to your right). Few places rent golf carts. It's a 5-10 min walk up to Cozy Corner, Tipsy Tuna, or Batefoot Beach places.

Very undeveloped and rustic. We took the 1st ferry over, and came back at 2pm, spent another hour on Harvest before getting on boat.

If your looking for a developed place with tourist service--Placencia is not it.

YouTube Tipsy tuna and Cozy corner for a taste

Is the ride to Placencia cash only? Can you prebook or use OBC?

Norwegian seemed to know very little about getting ferry by phone. Once on ship, concierge directed us to ferry dock. Walk on harvest Caye--keep walking straight ahead, follow signage to ferry. Very short walk. Had to show ship card, we paid $$,. Sorry I dont remember payment types accepted.

Can someone that has been to HC recently answer whether or not you can use your keycard for purchases at any of the bars? I know that the UBP is not in play on HC and you have to purchase anything on the island. We were there last March and I know there are several vendors, mainly away from the pool area and more in the shopping area that sell various things that have to be purchased with cash or credit card. But I definitely got the impression that keycards were taken for drink purchases at the bars around the pool area. I have seen conflicting answers regarding this and just wanted to see if anyone knew for sure.

20 min ferry ride to main dock at S end Placencia. Google Maps, go to S Placencia and zoom in. You dock at the Munincipal Pier. I saw no cabs. This is not a "developed tourist port". Itz very rustic and shacks in the sand. There will be about 60 Norwegian cruisers coming over every 30 min on the ferry. You walk to any local bar up the East sidewalk (to your right). Few places rent golf carts. It's a 5-10 min walk up to Cozy Corner, Tipsy Tuna, or Batefoot Beach places.

 

Very undeveloped and rustic. We took the 1st ferry over, and came back at 2pm, spent another hour on Harvest before getting on boat.

 

 

If your looking for a developed place with tourist service--Placencia is not it.

 

YouTube Tipsy tuna and Cozy corner for a taste

So is it possible to take the ferry at any time? There were rumors that you had a fixed return time three hours after the departure, but if it is true, it would not be possible to book independent shore excursions that start from Placencia.

The time is heavily suggested as 3 hrs later. They even write it on your wrist pass. True excursions would be difficult unless you were on 1st ferry and excursion only 3 hrs or so.

They take 66 (full capacity) people over on the ferry every hour....so they cant get them all back if they all wait till 4 pm to return. We took the 9AM over, they suggested a 12:30 return. We were still playing so we took the 2:30pm back. There were about 50 of us with maybe 10 open seats. Spent about another hour on Harvest before reboarding.

IMO--this option is only good to get off Harvest Caye, spend the day at the 3-4 beach/bars in Placencia. They could run more than 1 ferry, but I don't think Norwegian is too thrilled about helping get you off their island.

I found an excursion group that books thing after taking the ferry over, and I am sold! You can go to Shore Excursioneer to check it out. I'm not thrilled with spending a ton of money to ride that ferry over, but the tour offerings are more what I am looking for.

Can someone that has been to HC recently answer whether or not you can use your keycard for purchases at any of the bars? I know that the UBP is not in play on HC and you have to purchase anything on the island. We were there last March and I know there are several vendors, mainly away from the pool area and more in the shopping area that sell various things that have to be purchased with cash or credit card. But I definitely got the impression that keycards were taken for drink purchases at the bars around the pool area. I have seen conflicting answers regarding this and just wanted to see if anyone knew for sure.

We were there back in November 2016 and were able to USA our key card at all bars and a restaurant.

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We were there back in November 2016 and were able to USA our key card at all bars and a restaurant.

 

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Thanks. We were there last March 2017 and took cash to use on the island but I could have sworn I saw people using their key cards when we were there.....at least around the bars at the pool.

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We were there last week, and cards are ok for purchasing items. Not much shade, we took the ferry over and did river rafting on the rio grand! Was a wonderful experience, but it was a 45 minutes ferry ride then an hour bus ride each way!

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