Original subtitles

[Music]

for 3 years MSC Cruises have been

developing Their Own Private Island

Ocean key is planned to become their

Flagship destination with thousands of

guests hoping to enjoy its isolated

beaches and stunning views but the

contents of this entire Island have had

to be built from scratch and with the

construction now coming to an end the

staff here face one final push to be

ready for the opening day another

problem ticked off and you turn around

and another one

appears they now have just weeks to put

the finishing touches to every corner of

the

island to make it safe for visitors and

to prepare and install an incredible

showpiece event I defy anyone else to

find a lighthouse with more lights on

but when the first guests finally

arrive will everything go according to

plan that first ship day will it turn

on we're waiting to see

for decades the island of Ocean Key was

nothing more than a sand mine the rich

White Sands occurring here have been

exported to form beaches around the

world but when the mining stopped MSC

cruises decided to give the island a new

lease of life and turn it into a premier

destination for their Fleet of cruise

ships its location 65 M southeast of

Florida in the island chain of the

Bahamas means ocean key is perfectly

situated to be a paradise over 3 years

they've worked tirelessly to give the

island a full makeover and equip it with

everything it needs to be a destination

for their Fleet of

ships first they had to reshape the

existing Island removing tons of

discarded metal and leveling the island

to create a blank

canvas then they had to dig out a huge

man-made Lagoon a marina was built to

house the first boats that arrived and

the first buildings were put into

place the island was designed to be a

special Marine reserve so the team had

to protect large coral reefs and create

new areas where the coral could be

undisturbed and they planted over 4,000

trees to accommodate some of the world's

biggest cruise ships the island had to

have its own ready-made Dock and a deep

water shipping Lane had to be marked out

to provide a safe route to and from the

island and all of this in the middle of

the Atlantic against some of the most

challenging Logistics and weather

imaginable but now the construction

phase is coming to an end an opening day

is around the corner and it's up to

General Manager Michelle McGregor to

take over the day-to-day running of the

island it's not just building the island

it's not just getting it ready but it's

also making sure that everyone is ready

at their stations in their uniforms

ready to assist our guests in an

emergency uh for information to

entertain them to really offer them the

greatest guest experience and I really

have to think of not so much of things

that will go right but what can go wrong

when that ship first comes alongside

from the beginning of the day there's so

many possible things that can go wrong

but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and

hopefully everything goes

right to help Michelle there will be a

team of

135 staff handpicked from all over the

Bahamas they've undergone six weeks of

intensive training for roles such as

tour guide and lifeguard one of them is

yanay Albury where the spa is located

and also here on climb my name is yans

and I'll be your tour guide for this

morning today's tour will be

approximately 30 minutes

long I love new experience and um things

to push me to a a new level and when I

heard that there were positions going

out for a private key that's supposed to

be a Marine reserve um figure go figure

let me go for it went on the interview

now I'm here I have two young kids

myself so it is kind of hard being away

from home even though they're a little

bit young they understand that it's a

Better Living I'm trying to make for

them it's up to staff like yanay to

complete the vision for Ocean Key an

authentic Bahamian presence to greet the

guests the coconuts and the branches my

staff are the best thing that has

happened on this island we've been

asking them to do all kinds of things

they weren't hired for and they're still

doing it they still have a smile on

their face they're just so grateful to

have a job but look where they're living

and look at their environment so they're

the happiest people I had some staff

that went on their weak rotation and

they couldn't wait to come back they

said so it was really nice to

hear yant hopes the new job won't just

benefit her family she hopes the whole

of the Bahamas will share in the

attention it's really good for Bahamian

people the hurricane that just passed

and um demolished a lot of homes in

Abaco in Freeport and MSC they came to

our Islands they went there before and

it really gave a chance for Hope again

for some of those that have basically

lost

everything Yan's specialist role on the

island will be as a tour guide giving

guests an exclusive look at the Island's

impressive new Lighthouse the structure

was built over several months a

logistical challenge that shows just how

far the island has come up up up up step

step towering 98 ft in height it's the

perfect place for visitors to take in

the stunning views on offer and it's

Yan's job to give the guests some

history to go with their

experience I wouldn't say nervous uh

yeah exciting ready to go but

nervous nah I could do this with my eyes

closed but there's one part of the

lighthouse that yanay can't talk about

from the outset the designers of Ocean

Key wanted the island to have the wow

factor and they've planned a stunning

end of the night show to send their

guests off with a bang that show will be

centered on the lighthouses secret

feature we are building a light and

video show that's built around the

lighthouse most screens are flat so

creating an LED screen that takes on

board how the lighthouse curves as had a

huge amount of R&D put into it so that

when the content is applied it feels

seamless and it feels like you can view

it from any

angle this giant Lighthouse will be a

canvas for a specially designed show

with beams of light covering the island

and being visible for miles in all

directions it's an extraordinary piece

of bespoke engineering there's currently

20,000 LEDs going into the lighthouse

the process is taking a sample of the

lighthouse measuring it and having the

LEDs cut and manufactured specifically

to fit the holes and the diameters that

are used to build the lighthouse it

takes this team three long days to fix

the lights into

place this is the basic fixture so this

is the normal LED fixture but normally

this is seethrough coating so it's a

special kind of coating and we have the

cover here where we click it in and

after it's clicked in there's no more

room for the scent and everything to go

all those lights need a lot of cabling

all of which had to be brought to the

island in a huge

container and we brought 27 pallets of

equipment across with us which I think

there was close to 10 pallets of cable

which equates to something near 5 km of

cable I'm not quite sure the size of the

island but I'm pretty certain we could

cable all around it multiple times

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most lighthouses just have one light on

so I think as lighthouses go I think

it's the best equipped Lighthouse

probably in well probably in the world I

defy anyone else to find a lighthouse

with more lights on with the lights now

fitted it's time to find out if they're

all connected just one loose cable could

knock out an entire panel and ruin the

show key moments within the installation

are physical Ally turning on the power

and making sure that every pixel works

you know if there's one pixel that's not

working going to climb up there and

replace that pixel if there's one light

that's not working we've got to go and

replace the lamp or replace the unit

itself the LEDs might be in place but

there's no guarantee they'll work on

opening night hold it hold it it'll be

Michelle's job to activate the show at

precisely 900 p.m. but in practice it

hasn't worked we had a little test run

the other day and all of this staff and

the construction workers and everyone's

sitting on the beach just waiting for it

to light up and we're calling the

engineer and we're like are you and it

took about 20 minutes for it to come on

so it was quite disappointed so the big

moment is going to say that first ship

day will it turn on we're waiting to see

but it's not just the light show which

could go wrong there's still the

preparation of the rest of the island

for more than 4,000 visitors and the

small matter of finding out whether the

139,000

ton cruise ship will be able to safely

dock

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alongside with just days to go until

ocean key is scheduled to open the staff

on the island need to make sure

everything is ready and while that means

cleaning the front of house to provide a

perfect first impression behind the

scenes there's plenty going on

too I'm just checking on progress on the

back of house is what we describe our

Utility Yard which is what we use to run

this little small City and Supply it

with

um all the Power

electric

water

sewage incineration capacity staff

kitchens the whole lot so this is how we

run our little village on the island

project manager Chris Ellis has overseen

the construction of the Island from the

beginning and as well as all the

buildings he's had to factor in the

essential logistical spaces that will

keep this island taking over isolated in

the Atlantic this island has no means of

exporting its trash it needs to be able

to process and dispose of human waste

and it needs to generate its own

water the size of the infrastructure we

put in is actually more than capable of

dealing with our 5 a half thousand

guests we can probably cater for 8 to

10,000 guests on the island with this

back of house which puts you in the

Realms of a small town in in the US and

obviously hours is a concentrated use

between the hours when the guests are on

on the island so we have to cater for

that Peak

float luckily the designers of Ocean Key

had it all planned out they use a

reverse osmosis system to take waste

water from around the island and treat

it to remove the

contaminants this

rectangular piece of equipment

is this Waste Water Treatment Plant we

got and it comes out the bottom and goes

into this big tank here for reuse around

the

irrigation allegedly you can drink the

water that comes out the the tertiary

treatment but I'm not going to try the

Island's drinking water then has another

phase of decontamination before it's

supplied to the washrooms and kitchens

for

use without all the back of house

working at least at 90% sent we can't

Supply the services which the guests

would expect there will be no water on

the island there'll be no toilets to

flush so there's two things right there

um and also it's a no plastic island so

if the RO plant goes down we would have

to import plastic bottles which won't

happen

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with the back of house working

efficiently ocean key should be a safe

and sustainable Island but across in the

man-made lagoons there's additional

safety features in

place these lagoons were dug out during

the initial phase of construction

cutting the island in two and with the

Atlantic Waters flowing through the

Lagoon special Nets have had to be

installed to prevent Marine debris and

large larger marine species from getting

in these nets allow the water to flow

but will keep the Lagoon free from

hazards now the Island's lifeguards have

been assigned to do a final sweep and

give these nets a

clean we're going to be doing our final

preparation to clear the Lagoon any

objects any debris up that we want to

get rid of any big rocks any conch

shells anything at all that we don't

like the look of that we want to make

sure that this is super safe and ready

for our guests yeah so we start the line

from Kyle let's go more more okay

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stop guys I need to see a line a

disciplined

line that little thing is nothing to be

scared of he's terrified to

you it's not a swimming Expedition it's

a hazard removal exercise let's keep

alive I don't think we're going to find

much here today but it's just an

exercise to make sure that we're at the

safest we can possibly be

there's nothing worse than you're

walking through the shallows and you

think it's beautiful sand and you step

on a little sharp Rock and you know we

don't want that to happen to I

gu we need a couple of people now on

kayak yeah to remove all of this it'll

get heavy against the barrier so we need

to remove all of this every few days

yeah we fight against nature to keep

these beaches pristine so um it's an

onward and upward battle against nature

and we'll never really win it so we'll

just do the best we can

especially this Lagoon for the families

you know small kids are going to be

playing here we want this one to be

super safe more than I thought

yeah yeah personally I think this beach

is um has to be exceptionally safe and

exceptionally beautiful um and we want

the parents to see the kids have an

amazing time on the beach we want zero

accidents and incidents so this is just

part of our due diligence to make sure

that we can run a safe and beautiful

facility that was more than I expected

but look how clean it looks now

much

better while Gareth and his team of

lifeguards are cleaning up the Lagoon

Michelle is putting the finishing

touches to the party

Beach so right now we're all doing the

the little small final touches they

might seem small but they kind to make

it just so much nicer when our guests

are sitting

there this beach is designed to attract

the young and trendy visitors and

Michelle is worried it's lacking some

fun what it's too organized it's not fun

we just we just want to get it kind of a

messy look it looks like a fun place not

a an

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army I like it it just looks more

livable that's maybe what the word I'm

looking

for we got to get our huner if we want

to make it happen um we had all the

furniture out here and it just looked a

little too organized it just looked very

military and this is our fun beach so we

got the ship's team and in 15 minutes it

was done I was panicking a bit this

morning uh I was like this is going to

be a big job it's a lot a lot of heavy

stuff but they made it happen so I'm

super

happy now it looks like a

beach so all the little bits of

plastics that we're finding everywhere

on this beach we're going to get these

guys to do a lineup and clean it up just

to make sure we don't miss little butts

and bobs there's been so much unwrapping

and getting ready that there's paper

everywhere so we want to make sure we

pick everything up and dispose of it

properly the eight beaches will provide

enough sand to accommodate more than

4,000 guests but with just 48 hours left

there's still plenty that needs to be

done at just 95 Acres ocean key is a

small island but it's still large enough

to present some challenges and with Just

2 days until opening the staff here are

being put on a training drill to teach

them how to search for and find a

missing

person give me 6 minutes please 6

minutes eight 8 minutes I'll call you on

eight this is Timmy and uh Timmy is

going to be our missing person for our

missing person

drill it's very distressing for the

person that's lost someone uh so the

quicker we can find a missing person the

better it is for everyone to get them

reunited with their family members all

together as a united front we we sweep

through the island looking for our

missing

person we can't hide him after we've

done the training because everybody will

know what we're doing so we're doing it

now right nice bright and early you can

see the area down here this is the type

of uh you know crawl space that kids

like to go and play in so this is a

perfect place to to hide Timmy

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today there's little Timmy hiding for

the day with the missing person safely

deployed Gareth Brown trains his staff

on how to conduct a search it's a very

bad situation we have to missing person

missing person could be a child missing

its parents it could be the parents

missing the child um it could be a

couple that have been separated that now

one of them is anxious and they can't

find their partner and we want to try

and resolve this as quickly and as

efficiently as we can is we want you all

to go to your work area as to where you

will be working tomorrow when we got our

first

and listen out to your respective

channels and we're going to follow all

of these pre procedures today and see if

uh if we can have a successful search

thank you

everyone now it's time to see if the

training has been understood Gareth

calls in reports of missing Timmy

attentional crew attentional crew

attentional crew we have a missing

person his name is Timmy he's 5 years

old wearing white T-shirt blue shorts

he's Caucasian male and he's 2 and 1/2

ft tall he was last seen 2 hours ago on

Lighthouse Bay please scan your areas

and if you find Timmy let us know on

channel

12 all right go

ahead a full scale search is

rare but the team need to train for

every

eventuality yeah there's a there's a 120

of us on site and there could be 5,000

guests and we're looking for one person

so it's very much needl in a hay stack

the search party sweeps the island Timmy

and closes in on the lighthouse then two

lifeguards head for the void underneath

and find Timmy they found Timmy he's by

the

lighthouse great

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job when you find a missing person it's

always a positive result um with the

lessons to learn today absolutely

hopefully we never go into this in a

real life situation but I think the team

would be ready to conduct that again um

there was a lot of discipline on the

line which is really important to make

sure that we're doing a very thorough

sweep through the island and catching

Timmy uh one time rather than having to

repeat that um that whole stage three

exercise so on the whole super happy um

and we got Timmy that's the that's the

happy ending we were all looking

for with Just 2 24 hours until opening

the final training session is complete

and Gareth knows his Island can open

safely we've been working towards this

day for so many months now I think we're

confident that we're going to deliver a

great day to our guests tomorrow the the

site looks amazing going to be a super

calm day tomorrow um all the tours and

activities are ready to go the

lifeguards are trained I think we're

ready but across on the other side of

the island Michelle has discovered a

last minute problem the spa one of the

jewels in the ocean key Crown isn't

quite ready but we're going to go see

the spa that was the the one that was

furthest behind I want to see it not

only from my perspective I want to see

it from a guest perspective on if

they're walking down there are they

going to see the little scuff mark on

the pathways are they going to I want to

see the overall picture of what it looks

like and and uh see if it's acceptable

to our

guests so here we have right away at the

entrance they painted this the spa which

was supposed to be white they painted it

in this the brightest color possible

this is this is our reception for our

spa it's supposed to have a Zen feeling

to it and a comfort to it so we had

purchased uh Furniture Standalone

Furniture to make it happen and uh now

it doesn't fit in the in the reception

altogether but we you know we'll make it

happen we'll improvise for now and fix

when we get a couple days without a ship

we'll just end up fixing it

[Music]

then it's not just the spa reception

that's not not quite right the Cabanas

where the guests will get a massage

haven't been fitted

out you know you have carpets huh yes

okay I know I have for the reception do

I have for the cabin yeah you have the

cabins every cabin has a carpet where

would they be located they're in the

warehouse we have a a proper sink that

should have gone in there it's a stone I

heard about this beautiful they're here

they're here they're beautiful so once

we're done we're going to remove that

we're going to put the proper sink and

it'll give you free up a lot yeah it

will give you a lot more space fantastic

yeah it'll be really nice M

[Music]

Mia another problem ticked off and you

turn around and another one

appears so it looks like one of the

Cabanas got flooded ah just another

normal day the girls are going to make

it happen these guys are already on it

so it'll get

fixed with just hours until opening the

final touches are put in place dozens of

jet skis are lined up ready for the

guests to use and every window and floor

tile is given another clean 4,000 Sun

beds have been delivered to Ocean Key

and each one needs to be set up it's a

busy final day but Michelle finds time

to gather her team for a quick final pep

talk I just wanted to thank all of you

guys okay the moment has finally come we

are getting a ship tomorrow it's very

exciting and very nerve wrecking we've

got 4,000 people coming ashore tomorrow

and they're all counting on you guys to

give them the best possible day if we

don't give them a perfect Island because

there's still construction you know what

we can give them a perfect service all

right because I know you guys I

handpicked 99% of you I know you're

Superstars and you're going to show our

guests who we are and we're the best

damn Island because you know what we're

all of us we the Bohemians all right

it's going to be really really tough but

I know all of you can do it okay well

done guys thank you for all your

help

okay in less than 12 hours a magnificent

cruise ship will be pulling alongside

Ocean Key and 3 years of preparations

will be put to the ultimate test as more

than 4,000 passengers explore one of the

world's newest destinations

[Music]

it's 7:30 a.m. and excitement is in the

air all

right officially open I'm feel wonderful

I'm excited you know excited Day first

time working with the crol ship you know

so I have a lot of bubbles you know

butterflies but I'm great can't we tell

come off that ship on the horizon the 15

story cruise ship MSC deina is making

her approach to Ocean Key she'll be the

first ship to visit the island the first

one to navigate a specially marked

shipping Lane and the first to attempt

to pull alongside and for many on the

island like Darren it'll be the first

time they've ever even seen a cruise

ship I see it

coming yeah it's coming on the way now

the ship is here I'm

ready I'm excited oh it's looking

wonderful on the sea nice blue ocean

it's great man I I don't

know what a

beauty this

139,000 ton 15 story Cruise liner dwarfs

the island a narrow deep waterer channel

has been specially marked out by red and

green pylons which were individually

drilled 40 ft into the seabed

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now the captain needs to delicately

steer the ship between those pylons one

wrong move could send

139,000 tons carering into the newly

built moring station the huge vessel

then needs to be turned

180° narrowly navigating the edge of the

deep water and then guided gently to the

dock oh we have a ship

high

five for general manager Michelle

McGregor it marks the first day of

operations something she's been planning

for 3 years this is so amazing this is

so exciting I can't believe we're

actually seeing a ship coming alongside

it's going to be a gorgeous day um I

just can't wait I can't wait to see

people's faces when they come off the

ship and and see this beautiful place so

it's it's the guest reaction now that

we're looking forward to you know it

takes 30 minutes of tense maneuvering

but finally the ship is in

position but before the passengers can

be allowed off to enjoy the island

there's some other valuable items on

board food the 4,000 guests will all be

expecting to eat on the island but all

of the food has come with them and it

needs to be offloaded and taken to the

kitchen's

Pronto 500 staff are also offloaded to

help keep the island running smoothly

and to provide the friendliest welcome

for the

[Music]

guests everyone ready everyone's got

their smiles on this is exciting and

with everyone in position it's time to

finally open the gates and welcome

visitors to Ocean Key

[Music]

[Applause]

this is so exciting I've got like full

[Applause]

Shivers the Island's design means that

even 4,000 guests shouldn't make it feel

crowded while some visitors head

straight for the beaches others have

booked excursions on jet skis are diving

for coral and some get the luxury of a

lift in Darren's shiny

limo I'm Larry hi Larry I'm Darren hello

Darren I'm K KK yeah K nice to meet you

all right over there the lighthouse over

there can anybody go up in the

lighthouse well we have a lighthouse

tour and one group are already on that

tour and showing them around is

yanay okay so we're coming along

Lighthouse

Beach right along

here she's been busy learning her script

but now it's time to find out if all the

practice is paid off my name is yanel

but you can feel free to call me Yanni

I'll be your tour guy for this

morning okay ocean key is in the bimy

chain Island and we're just 20 mi south

of bimy and 65 Mi east of

Miami before it was actually called

Ocean Key this was actually called Sandy

key and it was used as an aragonite mind

to export sand um to different

places welcome to the final level on

Lighthouse Bay I want you to give

yourself a round of applause because you

made it to 165 steps and we are now 115

ft above ground level so you did

it with Yanni's first tour in the bag

it's a great start for the island

and happy guests are enjoying the

perfect weather but there's no time for

the staff to relax just an hour after

the gates opened some guests are

hungry and in the Main Kitchen there's a

race to get everything ready for lunch

service Chef Anthony Wilson has the task

of keeping them all well

fed I would double up on everything put

two of everything up yeah cuz you're

going to get a th000 people in one time

Bam Bam

Bam everything is in the oven or in the

fridge in the gall in okay perfect

obviously been the first time on the

island I don't know wh everywhere it is

I've been given a tour but it's was like

boom and gone we had an idea of what was

going to be here so we're quite

fortunate in the fact that we could just

come in and drop all our our stuff down

and start to cook straight away I want

the line set in 25 minutes

now take the menu before you put the

salads up yeah make sure they're correct

10 minutes I'm coming back to check

please after one or two times on the

island back get back in a Groove and

I'll be just taking people out of the

comfort zone and throw them in the deep

end in the back of here we have uh 1 2 3

4 five ration LS which is some of the

best ovens in the world so everything

got put in around about 9:00 this

morning and by 11:00 we'll be good to go

I hope two guys cooking two guys here

two guys bringing the food to the front

and helping get this full make it look

sexy on the menu today are fresh ribs

burgers and hot dogs as well as salads

desserts and a range of soft

drinks 2 minutes and we'll be open hey

om but as the shutters open will the

guests like what's on offer

the island of Ocean Key has welcomed its

first visitors almost 4,000 passengers

have disembarked one of msc's cruise

ships and begun exploring what the

island has to offer but all that walking

has given many an

appetite food in the main restaurant is

proving popular but long cues are

forming as staff get to grips with the

new setup and feeding

demand While most guests fill up before

going back to the beach across on the

North Island there's a different pace to

lunch The Ocean Club is for the VIP

guests and here service needs to be five

stars how are you everything's fine

everything's good can I have some your

drinks it's just a spectacular place the

staff has been totally phenomenal this

entire time they meet your every need um

every desire the ocean Club is a slice

of luxury with Colonial decor and food

you can't get

elsewhere it's just spectacular uh it's

been just a great experience but this

island has to keep all its guests happy

and across in the main buffet restaurant

the food is going down well how is

everything so far okay like the island

yes very nice it's the first time too

well it's first time for me too yeah

first time for everyone so every enjoy

yeah keeping everyone fed is a job that

never stops with food being delivered to

trucks and cafes across the island all

day it's Chef Tony's job to keep a tally

on where it all goes and what's the most

popular today we've cooked uh about

2,000 hot dogs ribs 250 kilo jerk

chicken

175 Burgers

2,800 and salad in the region

of 100 200

uh 700

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kilo with being a new island and a new

layout some of the guys got lost so they

took a lot longer to get to where they

should have done than they did but on

the whole I think uh it went very well

as you see the line was only to the door

not a mile down the beach so very happy

with that there's plenty to learn on an

that Prides itself on its environmental

awareness food waste is a big no no and

that will need to come down we're going

to find TW e for next week now we have

an idea of what the guests would like to

eat so it makes it easier for us so we

can suck up on the things that went and

then reduce the item so it didn't go so

[Music]

well it's not just a reduction in food

waste that will keep this island green

ocean key is plastic free and the

Island's own water Supply system is

coping with the demands of 4,000

visitors it's also waste-free with

guests encouraged to take their trash

away with them and out in the ocean the

environmental efforts made by MSC aren't

going unnoticed the shallow waters are

attracting marine life while further out

guests are able to dive in the newly

restored coral reef to learn about its

protection and see the natural wonder in

a controlled setting with a range of EXC

excursions the day flies

by and as the sun sets there's no let up

in the amount of work left to

do guests enjoy a drink in one of the

many

bars but behind the scenes the Bahamian

staff are preparing for a very

spectacular

show Island cleaners and lifeguards

ditch their work uniforms and transform

into colorful performers and as the

clock strikes 8:00 p.m. they emerge to

wow the

[Music]

crowds leading the pack is Lighthouse

tour guide yanela

amazing ladies amazing amazing

[Music]

but the junk canoe is just the appetizer

with the guests lured to the beach

they'll be dazzled by the lighthouse

it's been fitted with more than 20,000

LEDs which on Michelle's command will

burst into life with a dramatic light

show if the technology works

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

859 after a long day entertaining the

first guests to visit Ocean Key general

manager Michelle McGregor is moments

away from the grand finale a traditional

junkan new parade has brought the

visitors down to the Beach it's it's so

beautiful it's great I'm just so proud

of them it's

great and now Michelle is about to

trigger the final surprise a huge light

show beaming from the Island's towering

Lighthouse but in rehearsals the lights

haven't worked so it's a tense

moment jeppe

jeppe go for it go for it

[Applause]

perfect

timing it work this is

amazing I'm so happy I'm so

[Applause]

happy against the odds after 3 years of

toil the lighthouse show has brought

down down the curtain on the opening day

and it's a moment to

savor perfect ending to a great day

perfect I love

it it took 3 years to transform ocean

key from a junk-filled pile of sand to a

flourishing Island and in its opening

weekend more than 10,000 guests explored

its beaches and discovered what the

island had to offer it's the realization

of a vision and one which for a long

time looked like it might never be

achieved 3 years ago the island looked

nothing like it does now it's been a

roller coaster ride and I think

personally I've lost about five Stone uh

big tractor

tire old old rusted cans this is exactly

a a reminder of how badly the island was

treated by its previous

owners it's gradually Dawning on me what

we've actually

achieved I still can't believe that

we've got ships and guests here for

Michelle opening day is just the end of

the beginning her role is to manage the

island for the months and years to come

I'm having mixed feelings actually right

now I'm completely exhausted I'm

completely

drained it's been hectic it's been a

crazy 3 months um crazy three years just

to try to get everything done and ready

everyone's been working overtime doing

nothing what they're supposed to be

doing in order to get it fixed in order

to get it ready in order to get it

operational and for Gareth it's been a

journey not just for him but for all the

staff who have been

involved we searched the Bahamas looking

for the right personalities we knew what

skills we could give them we knew what

skills they had to bring to the table um

I see them doing what they've been

trained to do and they're doing it with

a smile on their face and they're doing

it without ever done it before but doing

it in such an amazing way that's exactly

what we set up to do and I'm super happy

about that it's a journey which began by

clearing away thousands of tons of metal

junk and by reshaping the sand to form a

blank Island canvas a super sized Lagoon

was dug out to create vast new new

beaches the team constructed over a 100

buildings and planted more than 4,000

trees at sea coral reefs were relocated

and marine species protected as the

island secured a Special Reserve status

against the harshest elements it seen

hundreds of people working in unison a

feat of planning engineering and

teamwork to get this Island open

[Applause]

we have built more than a Paradise

Island some people never travel in their

lives and have never been to the beach

and all of a sudden they get these

amazing oceans you can't beat it this

ship right now has 5,000 guests and you

the island feels like you have it to

yourself to see their faces and their

enthusiasm this is why we're doing it is

to make our our guests happy

[Music]