Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas

This private island is owned by Norwegian Cruise line.  We last visited in October 2019. Ships anchor and transport guests by tender to the island. 

Beach chairs are plentiful and complimentary.  We were instructed to pick up pool towels from the ship and bring them with us for the day if we wanted a towel.

We stepped on to pretty, white sand.

At the entrance, there are complimentary beach wheel chairs available for guests who need them. Unfortunately, they don’t provide someone to push them.

This is basically a beach day on our cruise itinerary.

 There are some shore excursions available here: a visit to Singray City; a catamaran and snorkel tour; a kayak tour; and swimming with the pigs, but most people just hang out at the beach, though some go parasailing or rent a wave runner.  A zip line is currently under construction and should be available soon.

The island has snorkel equipment for rent. When we visited, (2019) fins and snorkel could be rented for $19. Vests were $6.  Stand-up paddle boards were $27, and foam floats were $16.

There were three food venues on the island, and all of them were complimentary.  The taco shack offered fish, beef, or chicken soft tacos.

Jumbey offered burgers, hotdogs and the fixin’s.

And on the far end of the island, a food truck offered BBQ, ceviche, and they even had potato chips – my favorite snack food.

Guests who purchased the NCL drink package could use their package on the island, and those without a drink package could purchase individual drinks with their ship key card. But there are several drink stations for complimentary ice and water, tea and fruit punch and desserts.

I am always on search of the quietest section of the island.  Upon entrance, most people miss the turn to the immediate right past the straw market where there is a fairly calm swimming area with swings.  But to find the calmest area we needed to walk all the way to the far end of the beach.  Otherwise, the music is playing and the entertainment staff is encourage guests to line dance and play beach games.

Ahh, this island does have a good many palm and mangrove trees, so shade is available.  We left the ship early enough to secure a nice, shady spot in the calm section of beach so we could read, nap and watch the water.  If we had not found a spot with natural shade, I was prepared to rent an umbrella or a clamshell for the day.  Umbrellas were $21 and clam shells were $40.  I walked into the water a couple of times to cool off.  Upon stepping into the water, I noticed very quickly that the water is very rocky and those rocks could be slippery.  Water shoes are a must!

I enjoy the cruise line’s private islands.  In a few months, I plan to visit Royal Caribbean’s re-vamped island of Coco Cay.  As we tendered to Great Stirrup Cay,  we could see a Royal Caribbean ship docked at Coco Cay and the newly constructed water park there. Be on the lookout for a post about that port.