Everything... Great Stirrup Cay - Silver Cove (Villa's, Lagoon, Spa, etc)

[Jmill2826]

Can anyone confirm if there’s specific times tendering if we booked silver cove? Is there still preferred tending for this?Afraid we paid $900 to only have 3 hours (short time a GSC) and a full boat.

[Burrata]

Jmill2826

 

Husband and I booked a Silver Cove cabana February of 2022. (Getaway) I asked at the excursion desk about a specific tender time but was told to wait for when tenders were announced. 

 

Ended up on the tender after waiting in line with anyone who had any type of excursion 😐

 

When we got to our cabana it was obvious there was an earlier tender.

 

We still enjoyed our time but it would have been nice to be there a little earlier.

 

 

 

[HBCcruiser]

When we were in the SC Villa this summer there was an envelope in our cabin with the Villa info. It also included a VIP tender ticket. You did not receive that? 

 

 

[Burrata]

nope, no VIP tender

 

[HBCcruiser]

1 hour ago, Burrata said:

nope, no VIP tender

 

😳

[Jmill2826]

Interesting! And every NCL shore excursion rep has a different answer for me!

[ggTexasGal]

12 minutes ago, Jmill2826 said:

Interesting! And every NCL shore excursion rep has a different answer for me!

Unless you are in the Haven (or a suite) onboard, you won't have quite the same advantage with priority tender boarding. 

Having said that, be prepared to head down to the tender boarding area as soon as you are able.

Your Shore Excursion Ticket does give you the ability to go ahead of anyone without a ShorEx ticket.

Still, you might have to be prepared to go even earlier than you would typically guess, and might still stand around waiting to go.

[JayX]

We have our booking in for this Sunday in one of the 2 bedrooms, there’s 12 of us so made the most sense and can’t wait. 
 

Have a few questions I’ve not seen answered specifically over this thread if anyone can be of help. 
 

Food to start, because of course! Are the giant shrimp I’ve seen in a video or two pretty much a guarantee to have in Silver Cove? They look fantastic and I’m dreaming of them already. It looks like they’re available in the main buffet, so hoping they’ll be there. I also saw a mention of lobster tails, but no real comparisons of the regular buffet and our one. If anyone has done both I’d love to hear the differences. 
 

Also in the public area there’s a few extra choices of places food and drinks wise… I’m guessing mainly to spread people out and we’re not really missing anything? I saw a taco truck at the west end of the lagoon too but nothing like the beach grill. 
 

Is the amount of beach chairs the same for each villa or do we have a few more for the 2 bed due to how many people we might have. Not that I expect everyone to want to be there at the same time, I love how many options there are on the private patio for sure. 
 

We need to get back to the boat for 6pm, as we have dinner reservations early due to the party size. Is there an easy way to work out the best time to leave so we don’t miss out on too much island fun, but also don’t run late?

 

Thanks!

[amygutman]

Question to the group: Is anyone noticing difficulties in booking villas, as in they are not showing on available excursions?

 

We have an upcoming cruise in <90 days and nothing at all on the website. We spoke with / emailed the excursion desk / Haven pre-concierge and they do not know when they are going up for bookings noting "highly unusual...but we are looking into it and will let you know as soon as you can book". 

 

I checked for other ships docked on the same day (even the Oceania site) to see perhaps if all villas had already been booked, but the shore excursions department told me that there are NO reservations available for that date.

 

Definitely a first world problem, and will not ruin an otherwise lovely long weekend, but we do enjoy booking these and sharing with new friends we meet on board. 

 

Any thoughts?

Warmest, Amy

[vacation44]

Wanted to thank everyone who has been contributing to this thread.    Very helpful in researching what cabana would best suit us.

[vacation44]

On 2/1/2023 at 5:51 AM, amygutman said:

Question to the group: Is anyone noticing difficulties in booking villas, as in they are not showing on available excursions?

 

We have an upcoming cruise in <90 days and nothing at all on the website. We spoke with / emailed the excursion desk / Haven pre-concierge and they do not know when they are going up for bookings noting "highly unusual...but we are looking into it and will let you know as soon as you can book". 

 

I checked for other ships docked on the same day (even the Oceania site) to see perhaps if all villas had already been booked, but the shore excursions department told me that there are NO reservations available for that date.

 

Definitely a first world problem, and will not ruin an otherwise lovely long weekend, but we do enjoy booking these and sharing with new friends we meet on board. 

 

Any thoughts?

Warmest, Amy

Were you able to reserve one?

[amygutman]

2 hours ago, vacation44 said:

Were you able to reserve one?

YES!!!!

My apologies if I did not update the boards. Kept my eyes out twice daily checking the listed excursions, then finally the bookings for all of the cabanas and villas showed up. We booked a "basic" villa - no bedrooms (which we do not need), and this will be our splurge for the cruise. 

 

Glad we jumped on them; they went from being posted, to only the 2 bedroom available within about 5 days (at 1299$ ...lord have mercy). Not sure if we are sharing GSC with another ship as I cannot imagine all but one of the villas being booked by one ship. 

 

The pre-concierge actually called me the day after I booked to make sure I was happy with the one we chose. Thought it was a very nice touch. 

 

Any luck on your end?

[rather be in Hawaii]

They look amazing but cost more for a half day excursion than we paid to upgrade to a 2 bedroom 2 bath haven suite on a ten day cruise. 😊😊

[vacation44]

50 minutes ago, amygutman said:

YES!!!!

My apologies if I did not update the boards. Kept my eyes out twice daily checking the listed excursions, then finally the bookings for all of the cabanas and villas showed up. We booked a "basic" villa - no bedrooms (which we do not need), and this will be our splurge for the cruise. 

 

Glad we jumped on them; they went from being posted, to only the 2 bedroom available within about 5 days (at 1299$ ...lord have mercy). Not sure if we are sharing GSC with another ship as I cannot imagine all but one of the villas being booked by one ship. 

 

The pre-concierge actually called me the day after I booked to make sure I was happy with the one we chose. Thought it was a very nice touch. 

 

Any luck on your end?

Wonderful news for you!   I also check two times a day.    Do you remember how many days out they showed up on the excursion listing?

 

[amygutman]

4 hours ago, vacation44 said:

Wonderful news for you!   I also check two times a day.    Do you remember how many days out they showed up on the excursion listing?

 

@vacation44 I booked Feb 7th for an April 26th cruise = 78 days. Usually excursions are posted at 120+ days so it was a bit of a wait. The pre-concierge and shore excursion staff said the villas are not showing up until about 60-80 days but unsure why. 

 

@rather be in Hawaii As for the cost, I agree...it's not cheap. With discounts, shore credit and some credit $ from our TA, it was about 550$ for the day (I believe 799$ without discounts). We literally spend all day there, so for a 7-8 hour day, that's 68-78$ an hour. If we were to do an GSC family excursion + zipline, it would also add up to a pretty decent expense. It is a huge splurge, but we usually find someone / family to share our fun with for the day. It spreads our good fortune and a great way to make good friends. 

 

Good luck on your villa search...it's definitely an (expensive) personal choice, but one we look forward to and we are always on the lookout for awesome people to share!

 

Warmest, Amy

[BigDaddy75]

Does the tram take you only to the reception center or do they take you to Villa as well?  My father in law has a hard time walking. We wanted to rent a lagoon villa so he can rest comfortable while we are on the beach. It seems like the lagoon villas are on the other side of the island.

[Slk1z]

3 hours ago, BigDaddy75 said:

Does the tram take you only to the reception center or do they take you to Villa as well?  My father in law has a hard time walking. We wanted to rent a lagoon villa so he can rest comfortable while we are on the beach. It seems like the lagoon villas are on the other side of the island.

There is a tram that will take you most of way.  But you will need to walk a little once you get off the Tender to the excursion's pavilion.  Once you check in there, another short walk is required to get to the tram.  ( The tram will take you to the Check-In lounge for the Villa's and then right to the Villa)  

[amygutman]

12 hours ago, Slk1z said:

There is a tram that will take you most of way.  But you will need to walk a little once you get off the Tender to the excursion's pavilion.  Once you check in there, another short walk is required to get to the tram.  ( The tram will take you to the Check-In lounge for the Villa's and then right to the Villa)  

@Slk1z and @BigDaddy75 am not sure if it’s an “official” thing, but I know golf carts are used to transport items from the main areas to each individual villa. 
 

Another thread (my apologies for not being able to link as it’s been a while), mentioned that these golf carts have also been used to transport older folks and folks with limited mobility. It might be worth discussing with your butler prior to arrival to the island. That way, a golf cart may be available to take the cruiser from the larger tram directly to the Villa.
 

As with all things in the haven, and with the villas, anecdotal prior experiences don’t always hold true, but it never hurts asking!

Warmest, Amy 

[BigDaddy75]

Haven guests have priority tenders off the boat.  Some Villa guests have said the same.  What about the tenders back to the boat. Do they get priority back to the ship?

[cruiseny4life]

9 hours ago, BigDaddy75 said:

Haven guests have priority tenders off the boat.  Some Villa guests have said the same.  What about the tenders back to the boat. Do they get priority back to the ship?

We've been to Great Stirrup Cay twice, as Haven guests, not Villa guests. We never noticed a place for Haven guests to receive priority tender back to the ship, however it was never necessary. The tender was always a walk-on. No line. No wait. No nothing. Of course we did go back to the ship late in the day. We tend to get on the island as early as possible (thank you priority tender to shore), then stay on the island until almost the last tender call. Perhaps there is a lineup at other times of the day, but we've not experienced a need for priority tendering back to the ship. 

[BigDaddy75]

I’ve seen many pictures of the lagoon at GSC and I seem to get a different feel for the beach every time.  Some angles it looks rather flat but others look very steep.  From the NCL intro, the basic Villa side looks extremely steep and the corner bridge sort of confirms it.  From the reception and 1BR/ 2BR Villa side it looks more flat.  Has anyone who has visited noticed a difference?  Seems like like a silly question but from someone with knee  issues it makes a difference. Thanks! 

[elidance]

hi all,

just wanted to see if anyone has been to GSC specifically silver cove recently.  i don't see any recent reviews of the villas.  we are booked for an "ocean villa" on a cruise in November, after reading many older reviews.   seems like these ocean villas are closer to bar/buffet, and that the water might be better for swimming (idk if this is true.)  however, these villas are older (?).  from pictures - it looks like maybe the lagoon villas have a chaise couch while the ocean villas do not -- idk if this is only difference or not.  we don't need a 1 or 2 bedroom, just a studio.  seems like the studio lagoon villas are on the far end of the map.  anyone have any recent visits to silver cove to comment on any of this?  thank you 🙂

[efan82]

Anyone else have bed bugs brought back from GSC villas?  Noticed signs there, but figured it would be ok. Nope. 

[elidance]

omg really?  eek. 😞

[MajorThor]

On 7/6/2023 at 12:06 AM, BigDaddy75 said:

Haven guests have priority tenders off the boat.  Some Villa guests have said the same.  What about the tenders back to the boat. Do they get priority back to the ship?

Just came back from GSC on Sat 7/8.  We did not have the Haven but the villas.  We had the first tender off the ship (met in a separate area) and no priority back on ship.  We had a looong line to get on the last tender back to ship at 5:30.  But soooooo worth it.