Harvest Caye- very disappointed.

[Twinzma]

Those which I saw (which had been drawn to the fruit in our cabana) looked like small black ants - definitely not the more aggressive fire ants we have here in Florida. Not sure if that makes any difference or not in your case. I didn't see any others, but then again we didn't stick around that long.

 

Tom

 

Thank you Tom! Black ants are fine, it's those nasty fire ants. Living here in Florida is a challenge with them. I hoping for so cold weather soon to get rid of them for a few months:D

[dexddd]

Yes, we had the (far) end unit. Great location. Very much enjoyed the space itself. We were the last to arrive for the day, so I'm not sure if that's how we ended up with the one on the end (but I'd actually ask for that location again if we ever give it a try again). I'd say we stayed perhaps two hours before we headed back to the ship.

 

We did not complain, but did find it interesting that both the woman who brought us to the unit on the golf cart AND our "butler" (or whatever they're called there) both made a point to remind us that tips were not included with our cabana rental... I don't really care for people to "remind" me that they'd like a tip! In the end I gave them each ten undeserved dollars. If the service, drink options (out of canned beer), and quality of food had been better - my tip would have as well.

 

Tom

 

2nd report this week of staff reminding about tips. What is up with that? The other report was in Haven.

[tiger belle]

Yes, we had the (far) end unit. Great location. Very much enjoyed the space itself. We were the last to arrive for the day, so I'm not sure if that's how we ended up with the one on the end (but I'd actually ask for that location again if we ever give it a try again). I'd say we stayed perhaps two hours before we headed back to the ship.

 

We did not complain, but did find it interesting that both the woman who brought us to the unit on the golf cart AND our "butler" (or whatever they're called there) both made a point to remind us that tips were not included with our cabana rental... I don't really care for people to "remind" me that they'd like a tip! In the end I gave them each ten undeserved dollars. If the service, drink options (out of canned beer), and quality of food had been better - my tip would have as well.

 

Tom

 

I do think you get assigned villas according to arrival because we were first to arrive that morning and got the first unit. I think only 4 villas were occupied the day we were there so that could explain a lot of our different experience. Presuming all of the villas were occupied--and HC didn't increase manpower to compensate--the service would have been slower. With only 4 villas to serve, we had good service. Food is always subject to personal judgment; all of us thought the food quality was good but not a whole lot of choices--most of us had burgers. Thank goodness we had no ants in our villa or on the fruit tray. We got the tip talk as well, but I am so used to that every time we are on an island that it was almost expected.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

... We got the tip talk as well, but I am so used to that every time we are on an island that it was almost expected.

 

Good point regarding the service being a function of their occupancy rate. The only food we ordered was the chicken strips and fries - which tasted like they had been cooked in weeks old grease (inedible unless one was VERY hungry)!

 

I think I'll start letting people know that asking/reminding about tips is not something I care to hear... in the nicest, most educational way, possible - perhaps suggesting that it will be the quality of service I receive which helps me determine the tip amount.

 

Tom

[POA1]

I do think you get assigned villas according to arrival because we were first to arrive that morning and got the first unit. I think only 4 villas were occupied the day we were there so that could explain a lot of our different experience. Presuming all of the villas were occupied--and HC didn't increase manpower to compensate--the service would have been slower. With only 4 villas to serve, we had good service. Food is always subject to personal judgment; all of us thought the food quality was good but not a whole lot of choices--most of us had burgers. Thank goodness we had no ants in our villa or on the fruit tray. We got the tip talk as well, but I am so used to that every time we are on an island that it was almost expected.

You are correct. We had 4 villas and needed to arrive at the same time to get them in a row. You really can't expect to make advance reservations for particular villas given the low, low prices. ;)

[djbjoj818]

Harvest Caye is a collaboration between the government of Belize and Norwegian. It is run by a Food and Beverage Concessionaire from Belize and all of the staff on the island are from Belize. The staff on Great Stirrup Caye comes from whatever ship is anchored there.

 

Yes there is a zip line, I have done it.

 

Did you enjoy the zip line? We're there monkeys there?

 

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[POA1]

Harvest Caye is a collaboration between the government of Belize and Norwegian. It is run by a Food and Beverage Concessionaire from Belize and all of the staff on the island are from Belize. The staff on Great Stirrup Caye comes from whatever ship is anchored there.

 

Yes there is a zip line, I have done it.

You are aware that NCL gets a significant majority of the per person fee for each passenger who visits the island, right? If you would like links to the memorandum of understanding between the cruise line and the government of Belize, let me know. There are also news reports that indicate that reporters and photographers could only visit the island with the permission of the owner, NCL.

 

Let me know if you need links.

[POA1]

From: San Pedro Belize Sun -

 

The Placencia BTIA release comes a few days before a draft MOU between NCL and the GOB was leaked out to the press on Monday July 22nd. The MOU is currently before the Solicitor General’s office for review after GOB’s Cabinet had endorsed it. It outlines what many environmentalists claims is a “pittance” that Belizeans would get from such activity should it materializes. According to the draft MOU, NCL will get to keep more than half of the $7US dollar head tax GOB collects – the Belize Tourism Board (BTB) would get US $1.60, the Protected Area Conservation Trust (PACT) will keep US $1.40 while NCL will get the rest, US $4.00 per person. But what is even worse is that of PACT and BTB’s minority take, they both would have to apportion – in the BTB’s case – 50 cents per person to a tourism development fund, to be used on southern Belize – thus developing product for the Port owners. And out of PACT’s share, 25 cents US would go to environmental monitoring – which, is not a function of PACT. According to environmentalist that cost should be borne by the Port owner, not paid from the head tax. NCL has allocated US$50 million for the Harvest Caye proposal claiming that they will employ no more than 25% foreign staff.

 

From Private Island News:

 

The Norwegian Cruise Line is the latest ocean carrier to purchase a private island for its passengers, investing an estimated USD $50 million in Belize’s Harvest Caye.

 

The trend for ocean carriers snapping up private islands continues with the Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) snapping up Harvest Caye in Belize, a slice of paradise spread across two islands in the Stann Creek and Toledo region to the south of the tiny Central American country.

 

...

 

A second port has been in the pipeline for some time now, with infrastructure at the Belizean capital struggling to cope with increasing demand. This additional port had initially been touted for nearby Crawl Caye, but instead, the 75 acre Harvest Caye looks set to become the regions first private port.

 

Kevin Sheehan, CEO of NCL, issued the following statement: “As our fleet continues to grow, we expect that we will double the number of guests sailing on our Western Caribbean itineraries and, once this new destination is complete, bring four times as many guests to Belize than we do today.”

 

...

 

A docking and tendering facility and mainland connection point are also expected to feature within the development, with further options for an island village, beach area, floating pier and lagoon for water sports still under discussion.

 

Harvest Caye will form the second private island within the Norwegian Cruise Line portfolio, alongside Great Stirrup Island, a Caribbean getaway within the Bahamas’ Berry Chain.

[tiger belle]

The only food we ordered was the chicken strips and fries - which tasted like they had been cooked in weeks old grease (inedible unless one was VERY hungry)!

 

Tom

 

makes a lot more sense now...there were 8 of us and all but two ordered the burger as I did with no complaints...one person ordered a salad which they said was good...the other person ordered the chicken strips, and she said they weren't very good at all...I saw them, and they looked over-cooked to me...but she was hungry so she ate most of them...lesson learned for all: do NOT order the chicken strips

[Tiggertastic]

We'd have loved to have enjoyed the port but it was raining and lightening so they closed the pool and the ocean. Maybe another time.

 

 

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[Bob7]

Does anyone know if wifi is available on HC?

[DCLCrazy]

I was at Harvest Caye in January with my family of six and we all loved it. I think it depends what you're looking for but we enjoyed a nice relaxing day on a beautiful beach that wasn't crowded at all. We commented on how there seemed to be hundreds of extra lounge chairs. Not sure why our experience was so different but I can't think of one complaint. We did not eat there however, and only bought a few drinks as our departure time was 1pm. We all agreed when we left that we would love to go back again someday.

 

Oh, and we all walked barefoot no problem. It certainly wasn't the best sand in the Caribbean but we got used to it.

 

 

 

You state you went in January. Could it have been a little too cold for some people, hence the extra beach chairs? Maybe the experience difference month to month. [emoji848][emoji847]

 

 

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