MSC Cruises has postponed the opening of MSC Ocean Cay
Marine Reserve, its private island in the Bahamas, to Dec. 5.
MSC had planned a Nov. 9 opening. Earlier this week, MSC said it canceled the first four calls that had been
scheduled for paying passengers.
"While the company anticipated that the island would be
ready to receive guests mid-November as it reached the final stages of readying
the island for its opening, some adverse weather conditions and unexpected
last-minute operational challenges slowed down the completion of the island," MSC
Cruises said.
The 95-acre island near Bimini, has been in the works since
2016.
After Hurricane Dorian in September, MSC said, the island
was on track to be completed. However, further adverse weather conditions with
strong winds and heavy swell caused several days of interruptions and created
additional delays.
Adverse weather conditions in early November required part
of one of the beaches to be further reinforced, MSC said.
Last-minute issues with the leveling of sand in certain
areas of the island, the completion of the second breakwater and getting the
landscaping aspects "to be fully in line with the company's exceeding
environmental criteria," have created further last-minute operational issues,
MSC said.
Guests who bought cruises that had been scheduled to stop at
Ocean Cay through Dec. 5 will be compensated, MSC said.