Satellite images: private cruise islands changing the Caribbean

Ten years ago, Ocean Cay, an island of the Bahamians at 65 miles from the Miami coast, was abandoned, carrying the scars of his previous life as an industrial sand extraction site.

These days, the 95-acres island is less like an excavation installation and more like a slice of Caribbean paradise.

The debris and floating metal fragments are over. Now a destination for vacation, Ocean Cay is home to seven virgin beaches, huts at the water’s edge and family activities – all thanks to an investment of $ 500 million MSC Cruises.

In 2019, after three years of cleaning and development, MSC opened the island under the name of Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, a private retirement exclusively for its cruise passengers. He now sees thousands of travelers almost every day of the year, many of whom are ready to switch large in swimming with lines and a massage by the beach.

Cruises like MSC, Carnival and Royal Caribbean have collectively 17 ports and stations in the Caribbean. Some are still under development, because these holiday companies at sea are writing more and more on the ground, transforming the expanses of the landscape in hot weather in exclusive unrecognizable but very profitable holiday destinations.

The transformation of neighboring rivals

About 85 miles from the Ocean Cay, the Royal Caribbean group and the Holdings of Norwegian Cruise Line Cruise claimed two private islands separated only by a section of the Atlantic Ocean.

Norwegian was an early pioneer, having been the first cruise line to acquire an island, now known as Great Stirrup Cay, for his guests in 1977.

The company recently improved its construction of 270 acres, expanding meals and aisles in 2017 and launched a luxurious hotel type retirement in 2019.

Later this year, Great Sutarrup Cay should also start a new pier which can simultaneously accommodate two of the largest Norwegian ships – an investment of $ 150 million in order to compete with the successful neighbor, the perfect day of Royal Caribbean in Cococay.

Like Ocean Cay, their locations are strategic. The perfect day in Cococay and Great Stirrup Cay are less than a day of the animated ports of Florida, allowing companies to save on increasingly expensive fuel expenses.

A more in -depth look at Cococay

Cococay is as much a “perfect day” as a perfect investment, having opened in 2019 as a complex extension of the splashing ships of Royal Caribbean.

The island of more than 130 acres has since become a massive success, welcoming almost all the Cruise of the Caribbean Cruise of the company with its water park, its beaches lined with lounge and, to date, a beach club reserved for adults.

Cruise driving paid $ 350 million for property development. However, in the midst of a strong demand from the guests, the financial yields were “exceptionally high and clearly above its objective,” analysts Naftali Holtz told the Royal Caribbean group in 2023.

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He now hopes to reproduce Cococay’s success with a private station 63 miles away on Paradise Island, located just off Nassau, Bahamas and near the Atlantis sprawling complex.

Royal Caribbean began to buy land on Paradise Island in early 2017. Seven years later, he began to develop the 17 -acres property with regard to his first Royal Beach Club, an exclusive sprawling complex.

Royal Beach Club Paradise Island is expected to open in December 2025.

Customers will have to pay to get into the all -inclusive property. Once inside, they can expect access to 10 bars, purchases, huts and several swimming pools and beaches, including some for families.

Another island, another station

In addition to expanding its island – Relaxaway, Half Moon Cay – Carnival Corp also follows the strategy of the private station with a one -kilometer getaway on the island of Grand Bahama.

The celebration key, as it was nicknamed, should start to welcome carnival cruisers in July.

The land should be transformed into a holiday center with beach clubs, a family lagoon and many restoration options – “clearly after the traces of Royal Caribbean,” said Business Insider in 2024.

The complex should accommodate 4 million visitors per year when Carnival built two additional places in 2028.

The $ 600 million project should be the largest in the company. However, the financial director of Carnival Corp, David Bernstein, told analysts in 2024 that the celebration key should already be a “hit smash and provide an excellent return on investment”.