Harvest Cay and word of advice about Lighthouse zipline

[cruising7]

We just finished an amazing cruise on NCL Escape and I thought I'd share some thoughts on HC. I don't just want to bash the place so I'll share some helpful advice along with criticisms. If you do the zipline do NOT book later than 1:30. We booked through the ship (of course) and they gave us 3:00 reservation for our kids. All day we saw people zip across the ocean on the "superman" and the kids were so excited. When they went to do it they had to wait a long time even though they showed up 10 minutes before their time. They had a long instruction tour and then they made them do the smaller zips first which had long lines. When they got to the long last one, they were told they probably wouldn't get back to the ship in time if they did it so they didn't recommend doing it. What?! It's NCL port - the only reason anyone was there was n/c they were on that ship! So the kids missed out on the coolest part. We shared this back on board and got a credit but the kids were super bummed and I was too.

In general...I didn't have high hopes for HC really...and it was about what I expected. Belize is one of our favorite places in the western itinerary for the variety of things to explore and do, so we were very disappointed in this new port with so few options. Nevertheless we decided to get off the ship and explore and try to enjoy. The pool was gorgeous and cool and the water was clean. Everything was ridiculously priced though and nobody cleaned up cups around pool area until the end of the day so there were lots of unfinished drinks laying around and LOTS of ants around the pool and in the pool cabana that my MIL paid $200 to rent for shade and chairs. Ridiculous expense. She wanted shade and a common landing spot for us all...but the cost was absurd. My kids ate at the restaurant. $2.00 per soda (no refills) $15.00 for a burger and $8 for onion rings. Each of my boys lunch was $25 with tax and tip. And It was SO hot - no breeze and lots of bugs. I went in the water briefly but got stung by something (jellyfish?) not NCL's fault 😂

I really was looking for good things to say about this port but I have to say it's tough. I wish we had stayed on the boat and will definitely NOT book another crusie that stops here.

My advice is to get off and take a nice long swim and then get back on the ship. We wasted a bunch of money and time thinking we'd have a nice pool/beach day. Not what we got. Live and learn!

[easyboy]

Glad your HC experience did affect your overall NCL Escape enjoyment.

Appreciate your feedback!

 

 

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