REMEMBERING ROBERT

His Hi contribution ib i to cruising and to his local Caribbean communities was immense, and he will be missed by more than just his friends and family.

A Life in the Caribbean

While working for Cayman Airways in 1984, Captain Robert Hamaty and his wife, Carlene, founded the Tortuga Rum Company. They introduced the first rums of the Cayman Islands primarily to appeal as a souvenir to the growing tourist and cruise passenger business. In 1987, they opened the first Tortuga duty-free liquor store; later that year, they introduced the now world famous Tortuga Caribbean Rum Cake.

“Robert’s passing was terrible news to hear,” says Bill Panoff, publisher of Porthole

Cruise Magazine. “We’ve known each other for 35 years; he was like a brother to me. His contribution to cruising and to his local Caribbean communities was immense, and he will be missed by more than just his friends and family. When I spoke with Robert earlier this spring, he was optimistic about the future of Caribbean tourism and it’s heartbreaking he won’t be able to see that recovery himself.”

Hamaty leaves behind his wife and two children, Monique and Basil. Both children followed in their father’s footsteps; Monique and her husband Marcus run the Tortuga Rum Company operations in Miami while Basil was first a pilot for Cayman Airways and now a rum distiller.

Famous Tortuga Rum Cakes

The secret to what made the cakes so popular was a secret four-generation-old recipe passed down through Carlene’s family. By 1990, the demand for rum cakes was so great that they had to expand operations to mass produce rum cakes for buyers all over the world.

The Tortuga brand is well-known by the more than 20 million annual Caribbean tourists and cruise ship passengers who cruise every year. Tortuga Caribbean Rum Cakes are the No. 1 export of the Cayman Islands and were also named the 2020 “Best Cruise Souvenir” by Porthole Cruise Magazine for the 15th year in a row.

As a 24-year heart transplant survivor, Robert was an ardent supporter of both the Cayman Heart Fund and the Jackson Memorial Miami Transplant Institute. In lieu of flowers, his family asks that you make a donation to either organization.

The T cruise and travel industry lost a familiar face in June as Robert Hamaty, co-founder coo of the Tortuga Rum Company, passed away at the age of 72. The company’s comm famous rum-flavored treats and souvenirs have been a staple of the Caribbean Carii since they first began back in 1984. Hamaty was originally born in Jamaica, but spent much of his life in the Cayman Islands where he served as the Jamaican honorary consul cons in the country alongside running his business.