Understanding Harvest Caye

Did anyone book excursions other than ship excursions there? Was there any issue getting back to the ship via ferry?

We will be on the Getaway in November, and are thinking of doing a non-NCL excursion with Barebones Tours: http://barebonestours.com/tours/welcome-cruise-ship-passengers/

The only hesitation I have is the ferry. At some point, you were assigned a time for the return ferry trip back to Harvest Caye. Not sure if that is still the case or not, but it does give me pause. Can anyone who has used the ferry recently comment on wether or not return ferry trips are still assigned a time?

okay, our ship must not go into Harvest Caye then. We are on Royal Princess into Belize City and it says we have a tender.

Belize City is a completely different port and does use a tender. Harvest Caye is a private island type port built by Norwegian Cruise Line.

We will be there in September and have reserved a Pool Cabana. Does anyone know if we need to check in at the Excursion Pavilion, or is there someone at the cabanas to greet us? My wife and I loved the idea of the cabanas being just past the entrance from the docks, so having to walk to the Excursion Pavilion on the opposite side of the island to check in would seem kind of crazy.

We checked into our pool cabana with an attendant right where the roped off area to the cabanas began, right by some lockers. They handed out our wrist bands there and checked us in. I was hesitant on the pool cabana. Wanted a beach cabana, but they were sold out. But we wound up really enjoying the day and the pool cabana was great. We would do it again.

Thanks Shidah!

This is great information. We heard you had to pay for beach umbrellas and chairs so this is good to know. Is the pool free to NCL guests or is that extra? Don't mind the additional costs, just planning our options for that port when we go in August. Thanks!

quote=Tralynn;55791327]There is NO tender to get onto Harvest Caye. You just walk down a beautiful pier. There is also a tram if you do not wish to walk. There is a large, nice beach with lots of loungers and umbrellas all for free. There is also a large pool, bars, shops, clean bathrooms, etc. You do have to pay for food and drink. There are also very nice misting stations if you just need to sit and cool off. If you want to take a ferry, you can cross over to actual Belize. If you just want some beach time, Harvest Caye is great. The further you walk down the beach, the fewer people.

This is great information. We heard you had to pay for beach umbrellas and chairs so this is good to know. Is the pool free to NCL guests or is that extra? Don't mind the additional costs, just planning our options for that port when we go in August. Thanks!

 

 

 

 

quote=Tralynn;55791327]There is NO tender to get onto Harvest Caye. You just walk down a beautiful pier. There is also a tram if you do not wish to walk. There is a large, nice beach with lots of loungers and umbrellas all for free. There is also a large pool, bars, shops, clean bathrooms, etc. You do have to pay for food and drink. There are also very nice misting stations if you just need to sit and cool off. If you want to take a ferry, you can cross over to actual Belize. If you just want some beach time, Harvest Caye is great. The further you walk down the beach, the fewer people.

The pool is free with the traditional loungers/chairs. The cabanas are one price for your whole party, NOT per person. When reserving online, only choose it for one person in your group.

If you are interested in snorkeling, it appears that NCL has finally introduced a snorkeling excursion that leaves directly out of Harvest Caye, instead of having to take a ferry over to Placencia and then going from there. We have booked it for our trip in early July, and I will update everyone after we get back.

I am going to Harvest Caye in March and I would love to know your opinion on the snorkeling excursion. Wondering if I should book through the ship or on my own....Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks

The pool is free with the traditional loungers/chairs. The cabanas are one price for your whole party, NOT per person. When reserving online, only choose it for one person in your group.

Are the cabanas reserved on line through NCL?

We will be going here in November. This is great information....thanks

Thank you! I did some basic googling, but what I was having trouble figuring out was if these things were available if you just walked off the ship. Some reviews made reference to a ferry, and I just couldn't get a mental image of the layout. Especially since some reviews were complaining about lack of food. I was trying to determine if I had to sign up for something just to get a ferry ride to where there's actually stuff, or we could sign up for nothing, walk off the boat, and still have things to do. It sounds like it's the latter, which is wonderful news. :)

 

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This will be my first time at Harvest Caye so I did lots of searches using Cruise Critic, Google, and YouTube. The ferry is a option yet a bit expensive I read you can buy the ferry tickets on the ship at the excursion desk. The ferry takes you to Placencia a very small town. Someone mentioned it was not worth the trip and prices for food and souvenirs is no better than Harvest Caye. The ferry has specific times to go and return due to limited space. If I were you I’d check out a few YouTube videos it helped me get a good idea of what to expect.

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So you can only go to harvest Caye if you are on a ncl ship. Is that correct?

So you can only go to harvest Caye if you are on a ncl ship. Is that correct?

My husband and I were on Harvest Caye once before. We loved it. It all depends on if you want to see the real Belize or just have a relaxing day by a huge pool. Since we are going to Belize City I would suggest that you take a tour and see the real Belize there. Be advised... it is a little rough. I would not take my grandkids on a tour there. However, that being said, many people prefer the natural Belize opposed to Harvest Caye. At Harvest Caye you will have to open you wallet if you want to eat or drink. It is not included. We ate at Landshark for lunch and it was great. We went upstairs to eat and the views were incredible. Price wasn't too bad. Sometimes I just like to eat off the boat, because I get tired of eating on the boat. However, I understand that there are many incredible places to eat on the Breakaway. The drinks are high, but no higher than you pay on the boat. Plenty of beach chairs by the pool and on the beach. Beautiful beach. Of course there are excursions you can purchase. My husband and my grandson are going to do the zip line. I think you would really enjoy just staying in the port if you want a relaxing day. It is simply beautiful and they keep it spotless. Just remember that it is a long walk down the boardwalk to the beach. But we did it rather quickly and we are in our 60s.

My husband and I were on Harvest Caye once before. We loved it. It all depends on if you want to see the real Belize or just have a relaxing day by a huge pool. Since we are going to Belize City I would suggest that you take a tour and see the real Belize there. Be advised... it is a little rough. I would not take my grandkids on a tour there. However, that being said, many people prefer the natural Belize opposed to Harvest Caye. At Harvest Caye you will have to open you wallet if you want to eat or drink. It is not included. We ate at Landshark for lunch and it was great. We went upstairs to eat and the views were incredible. Price wasn't too bad. Sometimes I just like to eat off the boat, because I get tired of eating on the boat. However, I understand that there are many incredible places to eat on the Breakaway. The drinks are high, but no higher than you pay on the boat. Plenty of beach chairs by the pool and on the beach. Beautiful beach. Of course there are excursions you can purchase. My husband and my grandson are going to do the zip line. I think you would really enjoy just staying in the port if you want a relaxing day. It is simply beautiful and they keep it spotless. Just remember that it is a long walk down the boardwalk to the beach. But we did it rather quickly and we are in our 60s.

Thank you for this review! Can you just snorkel off the beach right there, if you bring your own equipment? Thank you!

The map was super helpful. We were planning on lying on the beach there, but it appears that food service is only by the pool. It also appears that the closest refreshments to the beach is "Horse Eye Jacks." Do you know if they serve on the beach, or do you have to go there for service? It was suggested we could bring our libations from the ship, but if we plan on getting off in the morning and spending the day there, our frozen concoctions will not last long. Would you recommend Landsharks for lunch? Do all the places there take credit cards or do we need to bring cash?

Good information. Could someone update me on what

cost additional money and what is included on the island?

Additional cost: food, drinks, zipline, ropes course, shops, cabanas (anyone know the cost of drinks on the island)...

Free/included: beach, umbrellas, chairs, pool...

???: Animal encounters, Nature Center

thanks

Hi! I'm seeing a few mentions (a few posts up, other threads) of bringing drinks off the ship. What is the security like at Harvest Caye? Do you have to put everything through a machine? Would we be able to take our insulated cups full of frozen beverage off the ship? I know we could never do that in a "normal" port, but since this is a somewhat-private port, I'm wondering if it's different. Thanks to all who have posted, the information you've given is really helpful!

I've asked this of people who have been to HC, and they said there is no restriction to take items off. They got unopened beers at the bar throughout the cruise then took them off the ship and to the pool.

We'll be there in a couple of months and I plan on doing either that or filling a large tumbler with mixed drinks.

 

 

 

Here is the map given on board the ship.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2516206&page=10

This is my NCL Escape review from last June, post 181 starts Harvest Caye.

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Thank you for posting this. Do you or does anyone have the cost of the water activites, specifically parasailing?

 

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GA Dave has a fantastic pictorial review going on the NCL board. Here's a post he made with the shore excursion price list. The second photo should be what you're looking for.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=57074637&postcount=17

okay, our ship must not go into Harvest Caye then. We are on Royal Princess into Belize City and it says we have a tender.

Only Norwegian ships go to Harvest Caye it’s their private island.

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So you can only go to harvest Caye if you are on a ncl ship. Is that correct?

Yes

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Please provide more information - which beach, how to get there, cost, etc. At this point we are considering not even getting off the ship as I don't want a 45 minute boat ride to get to a beach after a 1/2 hour tender ride just to get to the port.

We went last year in Oct. We booked an excursion through ShoreExcursioneer.com to go to the Spice Farm. So we took the ferry to Placencia, it took about 15-20 minutes, it cost $20 each for the round trip and was charged to our on board account. When we got to Placencia a guy approached us and first said because of the rain the night before we couldn’t go because a road was flooded out. Then after talking to someone on his phone said the road was okay and we could still go. He wanted us to pay the balance of the excursion and he would go get the car and take us. Luckily we didn’t fall for that. We just told him no that we didn’t want to go. So we just walked down the sidewalk for a couple hundred yards or so then turned right on another sidewalk and out to the beach, maybe a 100 feet or so. Then walked down the beach and stopped at a beach club called Tipsy Tuna had a few drinks. There was no cover charge, there were lots of chairs/loungers. Very beautiful. Then we walked back out to the sidewalk and went another 100 feet or so to the street on the other side and walked back to the ferry. We stopped in a grocery store and bought some plantain(not sure if that is spelled right) chips. They were great! It’s a very unique place. On the beach there are several beautiful but small beach clubs with a few rooms each. And a block the other way it is very poor conditions. I’m glad we went over there it was a nice few hours. We found out later our excursion had been canceled due to the weather and we are pretty sure the guy that approached us was trying to scam us, so beware. We were told the guide would have on a shirt with the tour company name and this guy didn’t have a name on his shirt. When we got back the Harvest Caye we just walked around for a little while, they have a butterfly atrium you can walk through with these huge butterflies. There are a few other animals also. We just found a couple of loungers and relaxed awhile before getting back on the boat. That day was cool and windy, we tried to walk out in the water to go snorkeling but the waves were coming in to hard and stirring up the sand so we gave up. My word of advice is, if you want to do an excursion do it through Norwegian. We are going in January and have already book the Spice Farm again this time through NCL. Harvest Caye is a beautiful island and it is free to just sit and relax or walk around but all the activities, food and drinks are charged to your on board account, I think. We didn’t buy anything. But the ferry ride was charged to our onboard account.

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Thanks for the info Lori