Norwegian Cruise Line's Harvest Caye Cruise Port was opened today, and their first ship docked at their island getaway. That first vessel, the "Norwegian Dawn" brought approximately 2,000 guests for this opening day at the island which is just off the cost of the Placencia Peninsula.
And so, four years after it got off to a rocky start in 2013, the south is now opened to mass cruise tourism, after a long and bumpy journey for Norwegian Cruise Line.
According to the BTB, the opening ceremony was a gala event attended by Tourism Minister Manuel Heredia Jr., Minister of Transport and NEMO, Edmon Castro, and the Special Envoy for Women and Children.
But, we only have second hand information on that because none of the local media was invited. That's despite our repeated requests to the Tourism Ministry, the BTB, and Norwegian.
But, undeterred, camera-man Codie Noralez, and reporter, Daniel Ortiz, crashed the party anyway. They started a very early morning journey to be there for that moment when the "Norwegian Dawn" docked on Harvest Caye. The island is private property, which means that they were only allowed get as close as NCL allowed. Here's what they saw:
Daniel Ortiz reporting
Early this morning the 950 foot "Norwegian Dawn" cruise ship slowly approached Harvest Caye. That's where it would remain for the entire day. On this Thursday, she would offload her two thousand plus passengers onto NCL's private island getaway, probably making history as the first major cruise ship to land in harbor in Southern Belize.
The captain skillfully navigated the channel created after months of dredging, and after about 15 minutes of reversing the boat, it finally came to a stop right at the facility's docking area. It looked almost routine, however, it is anything but. What you're actually observing is the use of the only berthing facility in the country, which allows vessels of the Norwegian Dawn's size pull right up to a land mass. It eliminates the need for cruise ship tendering, meaning that no other vessels were needed to ferry the tourists from the ship to dry land.
Now, keep in mind that this is private property, and even though we asked, Norwegian didn't give us any invitation to observe this important first for the country. So, we were about as welcomed as a negative guest review of Harvest Caye. For its part, Norwegian Cruise Line needed this launch to go off without a single hitch.
The first sign of that came from the Belize Port Authority who sped in our direction to investigate who it was that was in proximity of the vessel and the island. They quickly left us to our own devices when they realized that we were media. Also in the distance, from the island's berthing facility, Collin Murphy, NCL's Vice President of Destinations, spotted our chartered vessel and signaled for us to retreat further back. We did, and an NCL security vessel, approached to lay down the rules about proximity if we were going to be allowed to stay.
We did abide, and we were allowed to observe the offloading of Harvest Caye's first visitors. Since this is an official port of entry into Belize, Immigration Officers boarded the vessel, processed the documents of those who would get off the ship and explore the island.
Moving on to other side of Harvest Caye, we got a chance to look at the beach front, and the completed look was far more luxurious than when we visited a few months ago.
From the distance, we could see lawn chairs, a long line of tents, stationary umbrellas, all on one side, and on the other, there were several villas with guests already enjoying the seafront. Harvest Caye's sprawling beach did not appear at all diminished by the real estate repurposed for those amenities.
From the distance, we could make out life guards, and on-duty police officers all keeping an eye out for danger. Off to the side, there was a clean up crew on permanent standby.
As for the cruise guests themselves, they immediately took on the recreation packages that came with their visit to Harvest Caye. We saw some of them taking a dip in the sea, while others immediately signed up for zip lining, or rappelling, while some went Kayaking. Others explored the beach, and still, other left Harvest Caye on smaller vessels, most likely off on some diving, snorkeling or land tour. Others were congregated at what looked to be restaurant or bars on the island.
Taking in all of the island's polish from this distance required a bit of time, and every so often, we were reminded that the tolerance of the island's owners was wearing thinner by the moment. Having observed all we could from the sea, we ended our Harvest Caye escapade.
For a look at today's event from the inside, we'll have to wait until tomorrow, when the Government Press Office - which was the only media entity allowed to participate - will make the footage available to the press. A photo provided by the BTB shows Kim Barrow cutting the ribbon. In an accompanying press release, Heredia is quoted as saying that Harvest Caye will generate 500 direct jobs and over 1,500 indirect jobs by the year 2020." The island is said to have quote, "7 acre white sandy beaches, luxurious villas, a 1500 square foot pool…and a shopping village.
Next time, we aspire to the beach.
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