Cruise lines eye reopening of private islands in the Bahamas

The Disney Dream at Castaway Cay.
The Disney Dream at Castaway Cay. Photo Credit: David Roark/Disney

With the passing of Hurricane Dorian, cruise lines were assessing, and gearing up to reopen, their private destinations in the Bahamas.

At Disney Cruise Line’s Castaway Cay, the line said that it needed to evaluate the pier and ship channel before reopening the island to passengers. It also will clean up some landscaping and make minor repairs to the roof of one small covered pavilion area.

Holland America Line said its ships were to return to Half Moon Cay on Oct. 21 as scheduled, and Carnival Cruise Line will be back on the island Sept. 12. Holland America said there was minor beach erosion that will be cleaned up, but no structural damage. “The horses and stingrays are doing well,” it said.

Princess Cruises said initial reports “show only cosmetic damage and beach erosion” on  Princess Cays, its private destination on Eleuthera.

Norwegian Cruise Line said Thursday it was still assessing the situation at Great Stirrup Cay.

As reported previously, Royal Caribbean said it would reopen Perfect Day at CocoCay on Sept. 7, after survey teams decided it was feasible.

Disney Cruise Line’s fifth: Disney Wish

The Disney Wish's stern will feature Rapunzel.
The Disney Wish’s stern will feature Rapunzel.

Disney Cruise Line’s fifth ship will be called the Disney Wish. At its D23 Expo on Sunday, Disney revealed the name of the ship as well as renderings of its stern design and atrium.

Disney described the three-story atrium as “bright and airy, inspired by the beauty of an enchanted fairytale.”

The stern design features Rapunzel with a paintbrush in hand, suspended by her enchanted blond hair. Her sidekick chameleon, Pascal, holds the easel while Rapunzel paints.

“Spirited, smart, curious and — above all — adventurous, Rapunzel embodies the wish and desire to see and experience the world,” Disney said.

The Disney Wish is scheduled to enter service in January 2022.

The Disney Wish's three-story atrium will be inspired by an enchanted fairytale.
The Disney Wish’s three-story atrium will be inspired by an enchanted fairytale.

“There couldn’t be a better name for our incredible new ship because making wishes come true is part of the Disney DNA and is at the heart of so many of our cherished stories,” said Bob Chapek, chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products.

The Wish will be powered by liquefied natural gas. At approximately 144,000 gross tons and 1,250 guest staterooms, it will be slightly larger than the Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy.

Also at D23, Disney revealed new information about Lighthouse Point, its second private destination in the Bahamas, located on the island of Eleuthera.

Disney said Joe Rohde, whose work includes the design of Disney’s Animal Kingdom theme park in Orlando and the Aulani resort Hawaii, has taken a cultural tour of the Bahamas to meet with local artists and cultural experts.

“The Lighthouse Point site is so beautiful and so full of nature that we want to preserve this and use our designs to call attention to the extraordinary quality of the place itself — a place of natural beauty with a rich and fascinating cultural tradition,” Rohde said. “We will be directly involved in conservation efforts to preserve and protect the environment that creates this beauty, and we will be working with artists of every kind, much like we did with Aulani in Hawaii, to create a unique destination that is rooted in Bahamian culture and imbued with Disney magic.”

Disney said Lighthouse Point guests can look forward to an island experience that celebrates nature and the spirit and culture of the Bahamas.

Disney said Lighthouse Point guests can look forward to an island experience that celebrates nature and the spirit and culture of the Bahamas.

Disney Cruise Line completed its purchase of Lighthouse Point earlier this year, committing to develop less than 20% of the property and build an open-trestle pier that eliminates the need to dredge a ship channel.

Construction at Lighthouse Point will begin after an environmental impact assessment and environmental management plan are reviewed and accepted by the government of the Bahamas, Disney said. The company said construction could begin in 2020 with completion in late 2022 or 2023.

Oasis of the Seas was hit by a crane in a dry dock near Freeport in the Bahamas

A construction crane crashed into the Oasis of the Seas cruise ship while it was in dry dock near Freeport in the Bahamas

A crane has collapsed onto one of the biggest cruise ships in the world leaving eight people injured.

The Oasis of the Seas was in dock in the Caribbean when the crane crashed into the £1billion vessel causing the huge 228,225-tonne liner to list.

A construction crane came down and smashed into the stern of the boat, which has a capacity of 6,300 people, into the area its AquaTheatre is located.

The four-deck luxury liner which is the fourth largest in the world was in dry dock near Freeport in the Bahamas when the accident happened on Monday at around 1.45pm local time.

A video of the aftermath was posted on YouTube and has been viewed more than 6,000 times.

One dock worker could be heard in the footage saying: ‘I was right there on the dock. I just missed by the grace of God. Big accident.’

The only crew were on board the liner at the time and no guests were present.

All the eight injured people are thought to be dockyard workers, but none are thought to be in a life-threatening condition.

A spokesman for Royal Caribbean which owns the liner said: ‘We are responding to a construction site incident at the Great Bahamas Shipyard, where Oasis of the Seas is currently in dry dock.

‘We are accounting for the whereabouts of all site personnel. We are aware of damage to the dock structure and to construction cranes. We are assessing damage to the ship.’

The ship, which had been based at Port Canaveral, Florida, was undergoing routine maintenance on Grand Bahama Island, Royal Caribbean officials said.

Nearly 500 people were struck down with norovirus on board the Oasis of the Seas in January and the huge cruise ship had to change course and head to its home port at Port Canaveral in Florida.

When the ship launched in 2008 she was the largest cruise ship in the world.