Great Stirrup Cay (Yay or Nay)

[barb65]

Just booked a future cruise with NCL that includes Great Stirrup Cay (Bahamas). Yay or Nay thoughts from anyone who has stopped here. One of the offers at GSC is if you get any of the spa services at Silver Cove on GSC, you are entitled to their upscale buffet and (hopefully) their beach.

[complawyer]

contrary to the other post, we've been there twice, and for a 3rd time, i wouldnt even bother to get of the ship. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

Great!!

[barb65]

Duplicate post. Sorry.

[HuliHuli]

23 minutes ago, complawyer said:

contrary to the other post, we've been there twice, and for a 3rd time, i wouldnt even bother to get of the ship. 

I guess I wouldn't get "of" [sic] the ship either, but I WOULD certainly get off the ship on the earliest possible tender to enjoy the sand, food and drink throughout the cay.  It's a YAY!

[ggTexasGal]

53 minutes ago, barb65 said:

Just booked a future cruise with NCL that includes Great Stirrup Cay (Bahamas). Yay or Nay thoughts from anyone who has stopped here. One of the offers at GSC is if you get any of the spa services at Silver Cove on GSC, you are entitled to their upscale buffet and (hopefully) their beach.

Honestly, quite a few factors could determine if you will enjoy GSC or not.  1) Does tendering bother you?  2) How long will your ship be at GSC?  3) Will sea/weather conditions allow the tenders to go to the island? 4 ) Are you looking for a laid-back beach vibe &/or, want some games to play?  Want to snorkel?  Want to just relax, enjoy beach, listen to some music (or not) and have all you can eat /drink (IF you have drink package)?

I have no experience with the spa. That aside, We have enjoyed GSC every time we have been there.  Sadly, it has been too long since we've had that pleasure!

Here is a nice thread that was started by FreestyleNovice:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2706578-everything-great-stirrup-cay-silver-cove-villas-lagoon-spa-etc/page/1/

 

[barb65]

13 minutes ago, ggTexasGal said:

Honestly, quite a few factors could determine if you will enjoy GSC or not.  1) Does tendering bother you?  2) How long will your ship be at GSC?  3) Will sea/weather conditions allow the tenders to go to the island? 4 ) Are you looking for a laid-back beach vibe &/or, want some games to play?  Want to snorkel?  Want to just relax, enjoy beach, listen to some music (or not) and have all you can eat /drink (IF you have drink package)?

I have no experience with the spa. That aside, We have enjoyed GSC every time we have been there.  Sadly, it has been too long since we've had that pleasure!

Here is a nice thread that was started by FreestyleNovice:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2706578-everything-great-stirrup-cay-silver-cove-villas-lagoon-spa-etc/page/1/

 

Thank you. Most helpful!

 

[HowardK]

37 minutes ago, HuliHuli said:

I guess I wouldn't get "of" [sic] the ship either, but I WOULD certainly get off the ship on the earliest possible tender to enjoy the sand, food and drink throughout the cay.  It's a YAY!

I agree! It is fantastic. You just bring your key card- no worries about bringing anything else- lots of nice food and BBQ- I went in 2010 and 2013 and it will be part of my next voyage

[HEATH3913]

I was there January 2020 and it was a nice beach day. Water was pretty cool and I forgot to put in my contacts so I couldn't use my snorkel. If you have the drink package, you can get free or maybe just tax drinks. I had some fish tacos that were decent. Also there was a buffet or other foods.

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, barb65 said:

Just booked a future cruise with NCL that includes Great Stirrup Cay (Bahamas). Yay or Nay thoughts from anyone who has stopped here. One of the offers at GSC is if you get any of the spa services at Silver Cove on GSC, you are entitled to their upscale buffet and (hopefully) their beach.

We've been there around 10 times. It is a great beach day! 

[HowardK]

Personally I wouldn't mind 2 days there after all of this just to unwind. They could do an overnight there and have music at night. 

I find it to be very stress free there

[Carnac767]

We've been there a few times and have watched it evolve over the years. In 2008 it was pretty basic.  It's added amenities and if you're looking for a fun day at the beach, you can have a great time.  The jet skiing is a blast.  Last time there we rented a cabana with three other guests we met through our roll call.  That was worthwhile.  It's a short tender ride to and from the ship.

[MsTabbyKats]

22 hours ago, complawyer said:

contrary to the other post, we've been there twice, and for a 3rd time, i wouldnt even bother to get of the ship. 

I'm with you on this one.

 

We used to like it....before the upgraded area was upgraded.  It was quiet, with it's own food shed.  Lots of room....no crowds.

 

Now...it's lounger to lounger (assuming full capacity).  Just too croweded.

We generally get off the ship late, find a spot, swim and go back to the ship to eat.

 

I really don't care if the ship misses the port, but I prefer they don't....just so we have the ship to ourselves.

I'm in the minority....I know.

 

Of course if you get the spa service and it comes with use of the beach and food service....that's another story!

Edited September 16, 2021 by MsTabbyKats

[complawyer]

personally, i just feel that any cruise line that uses a port like gsc, harvest caye, or the ones utilized by carnival and rcl, is just wasting a stop. with so many different and beautiful carribbean islands, rich in culture, history, food and local goods, i'd rather see those then somewhere like gsc.  i've posted before, sharing a beach with 3-4000 of my closest friends is not my idea of a good time.

 

i'm staying aboard with a cold beer, chivas or a mojito, and if the stay in port in long enough, maybe all 3.

[vswan]

To me a perfect day is a day that I can get in the sunshine and put my feet in the sand and take a swim. I enjoy private islands. No taxi to get me there, food and drinks included with package. Not generally a lot of people walking around trying to sell me stuff. I don't care for all of the upgrades that are now upcharges, but some people really enjoy them. I enjoy a laid back beach day and this is one. If you are looking at a genuine island experience with history and culture, this is not it.

[complawyer]

i think it should go without saying that people who book carribbean cruises are looking for the island experiences.

 

obviously, some cruisers like you are not . i'm not knocking either your choices or grand stirrup caye itself, it's just another port where i wouldnt bother to leave the ship.

 

if this is a "perfect day" for you, the only thing i can say is "ENJOY"!

[mertziek]

We stopped there once in late 2019 and got a Haven cabana.  It’s nice but we will not do it again and will stay on the ship instead where it will be quiet.  Plus we can avoid the mob of humanity all trying at the same time to get off the ship onto a tender.  The 45 min tender ride can be bouncy, too, depending on the weather.  Remember all food, etc has to be hauled off the ship so the buffets are meh.  If you really enjoy the sand and water activities, you should enjoy it.  Personally I feel it’s overrated and cabanas are over-priced but we are not big beach people so YMMV.

 

[AndyCapn]

2 hours ago, mertziek said:

The 45 min tender ride can be bouncy, too, depending on the weather.

 

45 minutes? Did you swim? 

[ggTexasGal]

The tenders can take a while to get loaded/unloaded, but the actual rides from the ship to island, or from island to ship, are (usually) fairly quick.

A tender can be delayed during the "ride" by several things, each of which, relate to the safe "docking/loading/unloading" of all tenders at either (ship, or island) destinations.

[Oakman58]

I love riding in tenders, getting on and off in choppy water not so much.  The tenders that are used at GSC have a capacity of 450 people so It can take a bit of time to load.  The ride itself to the island doesn't take but a few minutes.  The last tender back to the ship can be very crowded.

 

[ggTexasGal]

1 minute ago, Oakman58 said:

I love riding in tenders, getting on and off in choppy water not so much.  The tenders that are used at GSC have a capacity of 450 people so It can take a bit of time to load.  The ride itself to the island doesn't take but a few minutes.  The last tender back to the ship can be very crowded.

 

@Oakman58  I agree with you!

 

On another note: The Norway 1 & Norway 2 had been lifeboats on the Norwegian Norway.

[bkrickles1]

I stated in the duplicate thread how much we enjoyed GSC and we did.

Cabana was great to have as a home base and there were so many fair to very good food options.

I'll add on to the others here regarding the tenders.

They are quick and easy if the water cooperates but, apparently, that's not the case usually.

We had a fine ride over to the island and it takes just a few minutes.

The ride back later in the day was a different story.

It took close to 30 minutes as the sea was too rough for the tender to get close to the ship for us to board. Even when they finally made the move to get us on board, it was so rough that we practically had to jump onto the ship. It was particularly difficult for people with limited mobility.

Apparently, this is pretty common, as we heard NCL skips this stop fairly regularly because of rough water.

We were sailing Encore in January, 2020.

[SplashOfWater]

We are not beach people but we enjoyed GSC. The last time we were there (a few years ago) we rented a clamshell for the two of us. We relaxed in the shade, dipped our toes in the water and had a nice buffet lunch on the island. We headed back to the ship in the early afternoon. Drinks are covered under the drink package (unlike Harvest Caye in Belize).

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, Oakman58 said:

I love riding in tenders, getting on and off in choppy water not so much.  The tenders that are used at GSC have a capacity of 450 people so It can take a bit of time to load.  The ride itself to the island doesn't take but a few minutes.  The last tender back to the ship can be very crowded.

 

Aren't the ships sailing below capacity right now, or has that changed? I wouldn't think it'd take too long if the tenders hold 450 people at a time.

[MsTabbyKats]

1 minute ago, DCGuy64 said:

Aren't the ships sailing below capacity right now, or has that changed? I wouldn't think it'd take too long if the tenders hold 450 people at a time.

Tenders were generally "nose to nose" pre-pandemic.  I'd think now they would limit the capacity.