Great Stirrup Cay question

[LuvTheSea14]

They have a shore excursion to snorkel there for 29 dollars. If you have your own snorkel equiptment do you need to book this? If you book it do they take you out to snorkel where you cannot go alone? Thanks

[swoosh2005]

They have a shore excursion to snorkel there for 29 dollars. If you have your own snorkel equipment do you need to book this? If you book it do they take you out to snorkel where you cannot go alone? Thanks

you only need to get a vest from them-no charge

you can go out on your own

[Stillfloatin']

We took our own equipment with us, picked up a free vest at the stand and snorkeled on our own.

[Maryfrei]

No, they don't take you anywhere you can't go on you own,

[trish1c]

There were people in the water far from the life guards but I didn't think that was such a brillant idea.

 

If you get out past the life guards, the water & current get rough but the view is great.

[dancing girl]

Just wanted to be sure I understand this. I have booked 3 at a cost of 29.00pp. are you saying that we dont have to pay this in order to get off the ship and snorker/bar-b-que ? ( we have our own snorkel gear). I understood it to be that in order to get off the ship at this pvt island you had to pay the 29.00 fee. can you clear this up? Thanks

[smeyer418]

Just wanted to be sure I understand this. I have booked 3 at a cost of 29.00pp. are you saying that we dont have to pay this in order to get off the ship and snorker/bar-b-que ? ( we have our own snorkel gear). I understood it to be that in order to get off the ship at this pvt island you had to pay the 29.00 fee. can you clear this up? Thanks

The Beach and the BBQ are free. The 29.00 is the rental fee for the snorkel per person. Cancel it. They have free snorkel guides and cards to see the fish. Its a lovely day at the beach but except for drinks(free ice tea) its without cost...except to rent equipment. We promise.

[mbisson]

dancing girl-Just one slight addition to what smeyer said...They will require you to wear a snorkel flotation vest, but if you don't have one they will loan you one of those for free (as stated in post #3). So if you have your other gear, cancel that reservation. :D

 

-Monte

[babywewe]

I took my own mask and rented the fins for 15bucks! I dont own my own fins but have a mask. I love snorkling ...its so much fun!

 

The snorkling is not so good their...but still fun. The beach gets crowded so snorkling is a great way to go out into the water and have your own space.

[zazou]

Is there locker for our things? or we have to always keep someone at the beach with the stock?

 

thanks,

[TC Cruiser]

I want to know about the lockers too. My wife and I would like to be in the water at the same time for once! :cool:

[smeyer418]

no lockers....leave your valuables on the ship. You only need your room key(which is ok if it gets wet). There is a small straw market which you need cash for(or some of the stalls take credit cards-not your ship board account) but a small amount of cash is ok....

[lukes]

As has been said , there is no need to pay for anything on this private Island of NCL's. The day at the beach and BBQ are free (or already included in your cruise price if your wish to look at it that way). You only need to pay $ 29 if you intend to rent snorkel equipment, if you have your own or are not snorkeling then you don't pay anything. You can leave all your valuables on board. The chairs are free, and plenty for everyone, you do need to bring towels ashore with you (provided from the ship) none are available on the Island. There will be games and activities and live music. There are no lockers but again you don't need to take anything ashore. You only need your room key, and you can use that to purchase drinks. There is a small market (t-shirts, hats etc) that takes cash. Leaving things unattended was not a problem everyone left bags, camera's etc. I left my own camera unattended for a period of time, and believe me there were much nicer ones left unattended all over the place. It is a nice day at the beach, relax and enjoy. Please note that this is a tender Island, so getting an early tender gets you a better location on the beach, but there were more then enough chairs for everyone. Also because this is tender Island if the weather /seas are in any way rough they will skip this Island which was explained to us happens on approx 25% of sailings in the winter months.

[TC Cruiser]

A digital camera can get snatched up in a hurry. That's why people want the lockers.

[swoosh2005]

There were people in the water far from the life guards but I didn't think that was such a brillant idea.

 

If you get out past the life guards, the water & current get rough but the view is great.

 

last week we saw 2 groups on those big round floats -who were way past the little island offshore of the beach-They were being rescued by the lifeguard on the jetski-being towed back in

(if you happen to read this here-I have photos of your rescue)

[trish1c]

last week we saw 2 groups on those big round floats -who were way past the little island offshore of the beach-They were being rescued by the lifeguard on the jetski-being towed back in

(if you happen to read this here-I have photos of your rescue)

 

Denise -- you weren't paying attention -- I saw at least 4 groups have to get rescued. Those big rafts are not that easy to control if a current gets you, it is not possible to just paddle back to safety. Nobody was willing to get off the rafts & actually kick / swim the raft back to a safer location so they got towed (which can be fun even for the rescuers).

 

For those wondering what we're talking about -- in addition to snorkling you can rent individual rafts to float around on or these big 6 foot in diameter round rafts that hold several people. They are lots of fun. The kids have a blast trying to stand on them.

[brennan5!]

How much is the rental fee for those big rafts?

 

Lisa.

[trish1c]

Lisa -- I think the rafts were a $20 deposit. I didn't rent one.

[swoosh2005]

I had to crop and cut it down but this should give you an idea about the size of the rafts-taken from tender ride back to ship last week

[sierramyst44]

We brought our own snorkle gear and used the free vest ( which is required), we also brought along our own rafts to use for floating, they fold up nice and flat for packing and made things fun for us. We left the digi camera back on the ship and opted for the inexpensive water cameras for this port. We left our things on our chairs, towels, cameras and yes even some cash. I never once worried that a fellow cruiser would swipe any of the items.