Harvest Caye- very disappointed.

[texasreb]

We were there just 10 days ago. I did not see the para-sailing that was available as a thing to do in this thread. We had some Florida friends met us in N.O. to do this cruise. They did not like HC. They were back on the ship before my wife and I. The pool area is beautiful. We did the animal things. Looked all over the place. Tried to get off the caye, but no. Only a mile to the mainland at Independence. Less than two miles to Placencia.

Could have done a NCL excursion to Independence/Mango Creek. Actually if I could have stayed there for a while. I would have taken the local water taxi to Placencia.

 

When NCL first acquired this property from an UK firm. They said there would be access to the above. A water taxi from HC to Placencia would have been great. When we quizzed them on this. They gave us some song dance about docks needed to be built there. Hmmmm..... NCL been working on this since 2014 ? Hey, get the lead out !

 

We like seeing and doing. Being at the pool is not one of them. Our group agreed this was like going from 4 ports of call to 3. Belize City has more to offer. Tender ride and all. We probably have been there 8 times. We would go back again to Belize City. HC ? Might have to cancel my January 2018 sailing. Maybe that water taxi off HC will be ready soon ?

[leelee1961]

You can now come to Placencia Village! We have great food and drinks available! Bring small bills as there is a chance change will be given in Belize dollars.

[uneamie]

Hmm....I think for us we will either book an excursion that will give us a nice tour of Belize, or we will take a late tender and pack a lunch from room service or the buffet and take it with us while hanging on the beach or at the pool in HC. We certainly can buy our own drinks. The point being....no matter where you go you will have to buy food and beverages so that in itself should not be a complaint. We will get around that by packing some food to take with us. I always bring a small collapsible plastic cooler and baggies to put ice in to pack food or snacks...for any or all excursions...not necessarily all of them but some depending on the excursion. No biggy. Most all islands are tourist traps. You just have to know how to not get trapped. LOL

[RedRover96]

You can now come to Placencia Village! We have great food and drinks available! Bring small bills as there is a chance change will be given in Belize dollars.

 

What the poster is saying for a small fee you can leave Harvest Caye on a shuttle/taxi boat and visit the very ex-pat community of Placencia on the mainland of Belize. No money besides the boat will go back to NCL. A great way to truly support the local economy of Belize!

[kitkat343]

I loved mainland Belize. People earlier were talking about cave tubing. Please be careful with this through the cruise lines. We did a private excursion, which I thought was much safer than going through the cruise lines.cave tubers are on very long linked strands (you link your legs with the arms of the person in front of you) and guides were at the front and back. Some private operators had tried to stop cruise lines because their chains are too long and it is dangerous if anyone in the middle gets in trouble because they are too far away from the guides. I thought the private operators were much safer since there are much fewer people in their chains. I don't know if ncl is still offering this excursion, but don't do it with the cruise lines unless you are a really good swimmer. The day matters a lot though, since the water was really low and calm when we were there. They'll shut this down if the water is too dangerous but this is an excursion that I think is much safer with the private vendors and I'm sorry to learn that's not an option.

[AshleyDillo]

My Dawn cruise ported there in January. The sand was coarser than one would expect. There were some excursions available that I believe took you from Harvest Caye, but there was no water taxi available when we ported. There was small dock that appeared could be utilized for this in the future, so they may be doing that now.

 

They were having troubles with the NCL system when we visited and it wasn't allowing you to use your ship cards to charge to your shipboard account at Harvest Caye. So make sure you do bring an alternative method of payment (credit card, cash) just in case this happens. The vendors also stated they often had trouble with getting NCL to reimburse them timely for the things charged using the ship account. It takes longer for them to reconcile and they were very appreciative when we paid in cash. The credit cards gave them some trouble the day we visited too since their internet was being spotty.

[zqvol]

Hmm....I think for us we will either book an excursion that will give us a nice tour of Belize, or we will take a late tender and pack a lunch from room service or the buffet and take it with us while hanging on the beach or at the pool in HC. We certainly can buy our own drinks. The point being....no matter where you go you will have to buy food and beverages so that in itself should not be a complaint. We will get around that by packing some food to take with us. I always bring a small collapsible plastic cooler and baggies to put ice in to pack food or snacks...for any or all excursions...not necessarily all of them but some depending on the excursion. No biggy. Most all islands are tourist traps. You just have to know how to not get trapped. LOL

 

Some things to point out:

1. You do not tender at HC, you are docked. It is not near Belize City, it is about 4 hours by land to get to Belize City.

2. Food is not allowed off the ship.

3. No excursions give you a tour of Belize, they are all very specific, and most don't go far from the island though a few do.

 

4. HC is not really Belize, it is a private island and should not be considered as part of Belize.

[Wadecool]

las and there are totally not enough of them.

As about pool... well...it is shallow and people mostly standing in it with beer, and looks like they don't bother leaving for bathrooms..

.

 

 

So you're saying Harvest Caye has a heated pool! Bonus!

 

 

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[Bobrunner]

Has anybody taken the Electric Float Boat Adventure excursion? Looking for something simple to do.

Electric Float Boat Adventure

[slightlysilly]

Some things to point out:

 

1. You do not tender at HC, you are docked. It is not near Belize City, it is about 4 hours by land to get to Belize City.

 

2. Food is not allowed off the ship.

 

3. No excursions give you a tour of Belize, they are all very specific, and most don't go far from the island though a few do.

 

 

 

4. HC is not really Belize, it is a private island and should not be considered as part of Belize.

 

 

If one takes food from the buffet and makes some sandwiches and puts them in baggies and puts those sandwiches in a soft cooler which would then be placed in a backpack, how exactly would NCL police the no food off the ship rule?

 

Asking for a friend.

 

 

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[JuneauWhatIMean]

I can't wait to visit HC. Those who live near lovely beaches in a hot climate or have easy regular access to the Caribbean are probably a little blasé about visiting tropical Islands- you should try living in the UK for a while (we do have some gorgeous beaches, but normally not the climate to go with them)! Just being on a beach in the sunshine is paradise to me- I don't give two figs how course the sand is. If I feel like paying for food and drink on the island I will, if I don't want to I will walk back to the ship for lunch seeing as I possess legs to do this. I can see how the loungers could become crowded with a megaship in port so we will just get off nice and early to snag a good spot and an umbrella. I can't wait!

 

BEST post ever. Have a great cruise, Squishy, and don't let the dregs get you down. :cool:

[js]

If one takes food from the buffet and makes some sandwiches and puts them in baggies and puts those sandwiches in a soft cooler which would then be placed in a backpack, how exactly would NCL police the no food off the ship rule?

 

Asking for a friend.

 

 

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Im not sure about Harvest Caye but in Cozumel, they had dogs smelling backpacks and bags that they asked you to hold closer to the dogs.

 

My mom had a banana and it was taken. Only packaged food was allowed.

 

 

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[TheDougOut]

Has anybody taken the Electric Float Boat Adventure excursion? Looking for something simple to do.

Electric Float Boat Adventure

 

We LOVED the float boats as a fun little diversion upon arrival. We're returning in a few weeks, and will likely rent again with the kids. Go to the 6min mark in this video:

 

dCuYBD6-J6c

[uneamie]

We LOVED the float boats as a fun little diversion upon arrival. We're returning in a few weeks, and will likely rent again with the kids. Go to the 6min mark in this video:

 

dCuYBD6-J6c

Love this video...thanks for sharing. BTW, how much are the Float Boats?

[uneamie]

Im not sure about Harvest Caye but in Cozumel, they had dogs smelling backpacks and bags that they asked you to hold closer to the dogs.

 

My mom had a banana and it was taken. Only packaged food was allowed.

 

 

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That must be for that particular island. I've never ever had anyone check my bags for food when getting off the ship. Going back on is another story, but not off.

[SquishTheWhale]

BEST post ever. Have a great cruise, Squishy, and don't let the dregs get you down. :cool:

 

Oh thank you! I am still pumped about visiting HC, the pool looks amazing. Won't be trying to smuggle anything off, although I have been known to parktake in a bit of breakfast-buffet-smuggling in the past when staying in resorts on land lol.

 

 

I definitley want to rent one of those electric float boats- my new husband will love driving that around. When I took him to Legoland he spent ages doing donuts in their little electric boats until the staff told him off :rolleyes:

[TheDougOut]

Love this video...thanks for sharing. BTW, how much are the Float Boats?

 

They're priced per boat (2 people) - maybe $45/hour? We thought it was a great value.

[texasreb]

Channel 5 Belize video. June 1 water taxi off Harvest Caye to Placencia.

[rbrugler]

We have been to Belize three times. Loved taking Mayan tours. We also did not like Harvest Caye. Some of the washrooms were out of service. The merchandise was standard NCL items. I do not care if we go back.

[PorkChopKid]

How 'far' is the long walk I hear about to and from the ship

Click on "Show More" under this video for information on walking distances....

 

We visited HC in February and offer these comments from our webpage on the cruise....

Harvest Caye is NCL's new private island that just opened for business in late 2016. This was NOT like the private islands we've all experienced in the Bahamas with the free BBQ, etc. Everything here was for a fee EXCEPT the pool and the beach. Chairs and a few umbrellas at the beach were included. Excursions were few and we chose not to do one. The island is pretty far from the tendered port at Belize City so latching onto a private excursion wasn't possible. It was book something through NCL or nothing. We got into swim gear and headed ashore to explore the island and perhaps go for a swim at the beach. It was windy and there were waves hitting the beach so we headed to the pool instead. No chairs available at the pool so we simply plopped our backpacks off to the side next to some bushes and went into the pool. Max depth was just over 4 feet which was fine by us. We completely enjoyed the pool which saved the day for us at Harvest Caye.

 

The main thing to note here is the 2nd sentence. Our webpage review of the cruise with pictures and videos can be found here... NCL Getaway

[BoughtMyPoints]

I went to HC twice last December on Getaway. Getaway, not Dawn.

 

It can accommodate pax from Dawn but not from a full Getaway. Pool is wall to wall people. The water stations ran out of water by 11 am, except for the first one off the quay. No WiFi, except for the Cabanas. Only loungers available are at the far end by the cabanas. They get use of shuttles, ordinary pax do not. Indeed, they need (more) shuttles or bike taxis for the very long quay.

 

Stayed on board 2nd time.

 

I demanded to know from reception and corporate what passengers were paying in port charges for HC. Wall of silence. Eventually this will be litigated. The Landshark is priced as if it were a pay restaurant on board, way below the norm for an independent restaurant of its type in the Caribbean.

 

HC is the latest nickel and diming scam. The scam seems to be succeeding brilliantly.

 

As I hinted, figure out for yourselves how much you are paying for this island experience over and above cruise fare. I'm guessing $50 per head without food.

[PorkChopKid]

I went to HC twice last December on Getaway. Getaway, not Dawn.

 

It can accommodate pax from Dawn but not from a full Getaway. Pool is wall to wall people. The water stations ran out of water by 11 am, except for the first one off the quay. No WiFi, except for the Cabanas. Only loungers available are at the far end by the cabanas. They get use of shuttles, ordinary pax do not. Indeed, they need (more) shuttles or bike taxis for the very long quay.

 

HC is the latest nickel and diming scam. The scam seems to be succeeding brilliantly.

We went in late February so I'm wondering if the difference from your experience and ours in February was because of growing pains. Something tells me it might have taken a couple months for them to get their act together. The pool was wonderful and, IMHO, far from being wall-to-wall. It was refreshing and saved the port for us. Here is a video we took around the pool.... HC Pool

 

Yes, EVERYTHING on the island had a fee attached. We expected that and recognized that this wasn't going to be the private island experience we've grown to expect in the Bahamas. During our stay we bought a couple bottles of water and some ice-cream. We had reservations in a speciality restaurant for dinner aboard and didn't want much for lunch anyway.

 

As for loungers, there were LOTS of them available as seen in this picture. I will admit, that this was taken when we first arrived and things were "fuller" a couple hours later but we had settled into the pool. Of course, loungers closer to the water were taken. I should mention that laying in the sun isn't our thing...

Harvest Caye -09 by KathyCat102, on Flickr

 

We had friends along who were visiting the western Caribbean for the first time. They were so looking forward to doing some snorkeling out of Belize City and said next time they'll cruise with someone who stops there.

 

I sincerely hope your experience at HC didn't taint the rest of your cruise.

[texasreb]

Water taxi from HC to Placencia is $20 US round trip per person. Service excursion started June 1.

[purpletequila]

Some things to point out:

1. You do not tender at HC, you are docked. It is not near Belize City, it is about 4 hours by land to get to Belize City.

2. Food is not allowed off the ship.

3. No excursions give you a tour of Belize, they are all very specific, and most don't go far from the island though a few do.

 

4. HC is not really Belize, it is a private island and should not be considered as part of Belize.

 

I went to Belize on another cruise line and saw the real thing so I agree with your statement and it's why I am already planning for a ship day when I go there this November.

[EllieinNJ]

We were on the last NCL stop in Belize City, our Pearl Panama Canal trip this past March. We had one of the best excursions ever, cavetubing and zip lining. I'm really sorry for the people going to Harvest Caye and missing out on this great experience.