CRUISE LIKE A DAVIS : March 2018

How to Make a Day in Harvest Caye

Harvest Caye, Belize

Thursday, March 15, 2018

Morning

In true teacher fashion, we woke up around 6AM and could not go back to sleep. We woke up and got dressed and went to watch our approach to the island. Then went to have breakfast in O’Sheehan’s. The food was the same as the Garden Café buffet but it was full service, which I enjoy a lot more than a buffet. This service was not as good as previous times in O’Sheehan’s but the food was outstanding.

Our 1st glance at the island. It is covered with mangroves.

A view of the OTHER side of the Harvest Caye island!

More of the actual passenger area. It is a very narrow island.

The food is very similar but more of a sit-down service.

They started calling to debark the ship around 8AM and we got off around 8:25AM. The debarkation process was incredibly fast and efficient. The private island only has 1 pier so any additional ships have to tender into the port. The Oceania Regatta was in port with us that day and they arrived around 9AM.

See you in a few hours NCL Pearl!

We are here and so excited!

Once off the ship there is a covered walkway from the ship to the actual island. Since it is a private island Norwegian is able to offer golf cart shuttle rides to the passengers with disabilities or mobility issues. We did not use the services when going to the island but Chris’s ankle was hurting from all of the walking so we did use the shuttles on the way back to the ship.

The ship docks right at the walkway for easy access to the island!

1st time in Harvest Caye!

This was right at the entrance of the island and there were lovely guest services people who could answer any questions you may have had!

The map of the island available at the guest services

More info on the island!

A unique telephone booth right in the middle of the island!

Harvest Caye Free Amenities

We took a few pictures and then made our way to the beach area and snagged a few front row chairs. This beach area is quite large and can accommodate several hundred people. It has about 6-8 rows of lounge chairs and a few "clam-shell" style chairs towards the back. It also include umbrellas but it was too windy to open them.

LIFE IS GOOD!

The beach area from our chairs!

The chairs were nice and comfortable!

The "Flighthouse"... See description below!

A Time Lapse of Harvest Caye Beach area!

We loved this island!

More of the beach area right around our chairs! It was gorgeous!

At this time it was cloudy and overcast with a cold breeze. We laid out for a while enjoying the view and taking in the sights. Then the sun came out and it started to warm up. We then got in the ocean and enjoyed the waves crashing in on the beach. The water was “refreshing” and cool since it had rained early in the morning and was cloudy. We stayed in the water for over an hour and then noticed the lifeguards (yes, they have REAL lifeguards) changing the colors of the flags. They changed it from Green to Purple and we kinda thought purple meant dangerous marine life. Yep, sure enough... there was a jellyfish warning so we got out and laid out for a bit.

We didn't get stung but I saw 2 people come out of the water running to the lifeguard.

I decided to walk the beach area while Chris continued to lay out and nap. The beach went on and on for a long time and the entrance to the water was not rocky or bad like other Caribbean beaches we have been to. Once you reach a certain area of the beach it is blocked off for “private beach access”. After I walked the beach area I had to walk back to our spot on the sidewalk. This is where I learned what all Harvest Caye has to offer.

The Large Cabanas near the "private beach".

This is as far as I could go before being blocked off.

The island also offered a medium size “Splash Pad” area that had a small water-slide, multiple splash areas and a large water dumping bucket. This was a surprise to us and we know our kids will LOVE it. The island also offered a Wildlife Experience area with Macaws, butterflies and even a Boa Constrictor snake.

This is a very large splash pad with a small slide too!

I know our kids will LOVE this!

More macaws! They were gorgeous!

More of the gorgeous plant life around the island!

The largest amenity the island offered was a massive pool with a swim up bar. The pool was kept at a pretty warm temperature and even had a cascading waterfall. Once we finally got in the pool we had to get out within 10 minutes due to someone getting sick in the pool. I’m not going to lie… We didn’t get back in! Too gross for us!

A view of the pool area at 8:40AM.

The cascading waterfall in the pool!

YUCK!

A Harvest Caye Pool Walk-About

Land-shark Restaurant attached to the pool area.

TIP- Now keep in mind all of the items I mentioned above are COMPLETELY free. The chairs and umbrellas are free to use and first come, first serve. The Splash Pad and pool are also free and even with 2 ships in port, were not as crowded as we would have thought.

Other Items worth mentioning

They had REAL bathrooms and they were REAL nice!
Plus no Caribbean local asking for tips!

They offered wheelchairs to those who needed assistance.
(That sure would have been nice about 8 months ago).

They also had a large First Aide station in the middle of the island.

Harvest Caye Paid Amenities (can be booked via Shore Excursions through NCL)

There is a lighthouse which is the holding area for the zip-lining and is called “Flight House”. You can zip-line multiple traverses, including one over the ocean, for approximately $99 per person. We did notice that children had to have a crew worker ride with them but it looked awesome. We will be doing that when we come back later in the year. The island also offered a small ropes course but I was never able to locate it!

The Flighthouse.

ZipLine over the beach!

In addition, the island offered several kinds of water sports like kayaking, stand up paddle boards, an electric float boat and snorkeling. This was all kept on the opposite side of the island as the beach and was a fairly enclosed area.

The water sports area!

The island also offered several restaurants offering food and drinks and a few bars as well. Despite this being a private Norwegian Cruise Line island, you did still have to pay for food and beverages. I know NCL's Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas is “all inclusive” but Harvest Caye is pay as you go. This was a little disappointing because we LOVED Royal Caribbean’s private island CoCo Cay which offered a complete BBQ lunch and free drinks (if you have the drink package) on the island. I am hoping that Harvest Caye will be “all- inclusive” in the near future because that is one of the only things that would make the experience better.

The Laughing Bird Restaurant Menu

Land-Shark Restaurant Menu

Afternoon

After exploring the island as much as we could we made our way back to the ship via a golf cart shuttle and got on board to eat lunch in the Garden Café. Again, the lunch was forgettable and none of the food was memorable.

Riding back to the ship on the golf cart shuttle!

A view of the Garden Cafe lunch buffet!

We then spent the rest of the afternoon at the Great Outdoors talking to other passengers, meeting new people and talking to our favorite South African bartender. It was a beautiful clear afternoon and we enjoyed just relaxing on the decks. We went back to the room to get ready and Chris fell asleep but since we were “Freestyle Cruising” we didn’t have a reservation to get to and were in no real hurry. That was one of my favorite things about this cruise... "Freestyle Cruising" and not having to be anywhere.

Evening

We went to the upper decks to get what could have been our only sunset. It was gorgeous but didn’t last as long due to the clouds on the horizon.

Another video of our cabin. It seemed small at first but turned out to be a GREAT cabin with lots of hidden gems and space!

I LOVE a good cruise sunset!

We then went to more formal Summer Palace Main Dining Room on deck 6 aft. Tip- This Dining room is more formal and you MUST wear pants after 5PM. The entire atmosphere of this dining room is nicer and more upscale. The service was just as good as the Indigo Dining Room we dined in on night #3 but the food on this menu was lacking. In addition, most of our appetizers were served cold or Luke warm at best. However, the overall service was quick as we were in and out of the formal dining room in 1 hour and 12 minutes. In a Carnival or Royal Caribbean dining room this would have been easily over 2 hours. As mentioned on day 3, the dessert curse had been lifted and we LOVED that! We get aggravated wasting 2+ hours eating when you can be enjoying the ship and surrounding sights. I will say that there were no real connections made with any of the food service waiters, like on Carnival especially, but I would trade the fast service for the one-on-one discussions.

TIP- The piano was a nice touch of class but I prefer the actual live pianist that plays in the Royal Caribbean large dining rooms!

After dinner we went to a 1969 tribute in the Spinnaker Lounge featuring the NCL Pearl's singers cast. This was a unique show held in the lounge and the cast did a great job entertaining us! They played commercials from 1969 and other fun facts and memories of this era.

Vincent, the cruise director, all dressed up for White Out Night!

We then went to the main show in the Stardust Theater featuring the comedian Alex Ortiz. We have seen him before on the Carnival Triumph in 2015 and we thoroughly enjoyed him. TIP- He is a comedian that is funny as both a family-friendly joker and adult comedian. His show as hilarious and we laughed and laughed. Be sure to look for him when you are cruising with ANY cruise line.

TIP- The Stardust Theater has a unique set-up for the balcony that offers 2 different balconies within the main balcony. We noticed the closer balcony was almost always empty, especially on the port (left) side of the ship!

Vincent in yet another suit!

We FINALLY got a "Real" picture with Vincent!

To end the night we went back to the Spinnaker Lounge for the NCL White Out Night. This was a party that is held on most NCL ships that encourages quests to wear all white and dance the night away. I really wish we would have known this was an event prior to the cruise because I would have been sure to pack white clothes for the both of us. We were told that on the larger NCL ships (Breakaway, Getaway and Escape) they do a "GLOW PARTY" and you can have a paint party with the glow paint. We were encouraged to bring "throw away" white clothes for that. Despite not being in all white, we still had a great evening of drinks and dancing. Around 1AM we called it a night and went back to our room to avoid over indulgence.