Harvest caye changing January 1st

[DiverJohn]

Was just on pearl and stopped at harvest caye, while having a beer at one of the bars I inquired why the captain had called it a “semi private island” and asked if there were other cruise lines that stopped there ? Bartender informed me that although Norwegian owned the island vendors had a lease on the booths up until dec 31st of this year and Norwegian would then own everything, all employees are being kept on for 45 hours a week available to work year round ( even in slow season) . When I took the ferry over to  the main land I sat up top with the driver(there are five seats) on the return trip, they were unsure if Norwegian would buy the boat they use and keep them or just use one of their own tenders.

Am curious if in the future we will get to use our ship cards for food and beverage while there once they take over , has anyone found any info on this ?

[misguy]

We are on the Jan 17th sailing of the Breakaway and visiting.  Hopefully someone on the Jan 6th cruise can provide an update.

[Sand and Seas]

Sounds interesting!  Maybe someone on the next cruise can report back to us.  We have enjoyed our visits to HC.

 

[lovetotraveltx]

We will be there next week, in January. I'll be glad to report back 🙂

[xbatt8]

1 hour ago, lovetotraveltx said:

We will be there next week, in January. I'll be glad to report back 🙂

 

Thank you. We are going there on our Jan 27th Cruise. Be nice to know about any issues or changes in advance.  😁

 

Bob

[TSUmom]

I will be following to see what changes are made

[tbo]

We will be there on the Epic in January, would love to know this too. Sure would be nice to use our drink package while hanging the pool 🙂

[david_sobe]

The island was very controversial from the start.  Environmental concerns rocked some of the early plans and the opening was delayed for long time.  Local fishermen also protested stating the increase in traffic to the area would hurt their livelihood.  Its very possible that some deal with locals allowed the local private merchants set up shop instead of the cruise line making all the profits.  This could have been a concession from NCL to help with local concerns about the island.  

Leases expire all the time, I would bet a new round of local leases will be awarded. I don't see changes coming that would give NCL the right to call it a full private island like GSC.  I would be nice to use the drink package there but I don't think that would ever happen just because of how the island was built.  But then again.....anything is possible.

Edited December 28, 2018 by david_sobe

[vince_g]

Agree with David about the prior leases being renewed.  At least we don't have a long wait to see how this turns. out.

[zqvol]

My guess is that nothing changes. NCL has a captive specialty restaurant and there is no reason for them to start making food and beverages incuded. I seriously doubt that anyone notices anything.

[havanadaydreaming]

We just went a few weeks ago, it was pretty fun.   Spent most of our time at Landshark Landing in the pool, which is pretty much what we do at Margaritaville on Grand Turk.  

 

I wouldn't imagine thinks will change much.  I assume Landshark ponied up a sizable investment for their establishment and I'd bet they have at least a 10 year lease.   Just my two cents.  Employees are Belize citizens, not NCL staff right?

 

 

 

 

[MyTMo777]

On our Bliss cruise in November, we attended a session on upcoming itineraries, new ships, etc. They mentioned that the intent for Harvest Caye has always been to open it up to other cruise lines, and that that would be happening in the near future. Wonder if that plays into this at all?

[Lionkingrichard]

I don't see free drinks when they can charge $6-15 for them. Pure profits!

[rtkenmore]

1 hour ago, MyTMo777 said:

On our Bliss cruise in November, we attended a session on upcoming itineraries, new ships, etc. They mentioned that the intent for Harvest Caye has always been to open it up to other cruise lines, and that that would be happening in the near future. Wonder if that plays into this at all?

 

From what I've seen/gathered, the "other" cruise lines are only other NCL siblings (Regent and Oceania).  If you look at Cruise Timetables, there are essentially no open dates as NCL is pretty much there almost every day of the week solid.  I don't see how they could open it up to any other cruise lines and still maintain their own docking times as there is only room for one ship to dock at a time.

[PATRLR]

2 hours ago, rtkenmore said:

 

From what I've seen/gathered, the "other" cruise lines are only other NCL siblings (Regent and Oceania).  If you look at Cruise Timetables, there are essentially no open dates as NCL is pretty much there almost every day of the week solid.  I don't see how they could open it up to any other cruise lines and still maintain their own docking times as there is only room for one ship to dock at a time.

Agreed, but, I wonder if tendering from the smaller Regent and Oceania ships might be an option?

[Gershep]

Following!

[texasag]

We are on the January 17th Breakaway and have never been to this stop.  We figure it is just a good beach day??? Will be watching reports from Jan.6th cruise.

[Shidah]

Think of Harvest Caye as a good pool day versus beach day.  The pool there is really nice. Better than the beach, and seems to be the main draw.  We loved our day there.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, texasag said:

We are on the January 17th Breakaway and have never been to this stop.  We figure it is just a good beach day??? Will be watching reports from Jan.6th cruise.

Yup. Most people hang on the beach. We went early to walk the island, then planted in a clam shell swiming in the ocean and standing in fresh water pool (there is rally no swimming there). 

[GizmoCat]

21 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Yup. Most people hang on the beach. We went early to walk the island, then planted in a clam shell swiming in the ocean and standing in fresh water pool (there is rally no swimming there). 

 

How much is it to rent a clamshell?  Do you think it is worth it?  Thanks

 

[angelsdeb]

Following

[RedwingHockeyFan]

On the Getaway leaving Sunday.  I would absolutely love it if we could use the ship card and especially the UBP on the island. 

[100th Meridian]

On 1/6/2019 at 5:12 PM, GizmoCat said:

 

How much is it to rent a clamshell?  Do you think it is worth it?  Thanks

 

I believe it’s $40...if you have a shore credit, it can be used for it...so definitely worth it in that case. 

[100th Meridian]

5 minutes ago, RedwingHockeyFan said:

On the Getaway leaving Sunday.  I would absolutely love it if we could use the ship card and especially the UBP on the island. 

As do I...but the UBP isn’t honored at Harvest Caye.

[RedwingHockeyFan]

7 minutes ago, 100th Meridian said:

As do I...but the UBP isn’t honored at Harvest Caye.

 

Yes, I have heard.  It is honored at GSC though and I am hoping that HC becomes more like that if NCL owns the whole island including the shops/bars/restaurants.