Chris Nielson

As it turned out, the rush to get on the island was not a great as expected so the tender we boarded was not full at all and the ticket was not necessary. Towels were handed out as we boarded the tender and you could get an extra one just by asking for it. It’s a short ride to the island and the boat pulls right up on shore and then a ramp drops down to let people disembark on the beach. At first look, I did not like the island’s beach area. There are beach chairs, but no lounge chairs, and the chairs are very crowded together. Thumbs down to NCL in this respect. There are, however, a lot of beach umbrellas available.

The lagoon is beautiful with powder white sand and crystal clear water. There is a large coral jetty on one side of the lagoon which several people walked up on to take pictures. You get a great vantage point to take pictures of the ship as well as the lagoon itself. The jetty is not smooth by any means, so make sure you wear shoes before you start climbing. A good assortment of island activities is available, from snorkeling to parasailing. Beach mats, floats, etc. are available for rent at a reasonable charge. Mats were five-dollars and the floats were ten-dollars for the day. The beach area never really filled up completely so we had some space around us. Attendants were walking around to offer blender drinks and anything else you’d like from the bar.

There is a path you can follow which leads to the other side of the island and a lighthouse. Along the path we came across the friendly resident cat, which I thought was funny since RCCL has a cat on their island also. The cats seem to have a good deal with the cruise lines – they all look well fed and well cared for. Continuing along the path we got some beautiful ocean views, and then a sign that indicated we were leaving NCL’s part of the island. You’re free to continue to the lighthouse so we kept moving. We came across some small deserted buildings that were all falling apart and you could see what was left of electrical poles, wires, etc. Everything looked long since abandoned and I wondered what used to be here. I later found out that the army used the island as a lookout post during World War II, and then the Air Force set up a satellite tracking station on the island at some point after that. The military is long gone from the island and all that remains are these few buildings and a helipad that is marked by a sign reading, “Great Stirrup Cay International Airport”. There is an arrow pointing up that reads “Departures”, and an arrow pointing down that reads “Arrivals”. This was a great place to take a picture.

We finally found the lighthouse which is surrounded by some other deserted buildings and a lot of foliage. You can’t enter the lighthouse but you can get some nice pictures. A little bit past the lighthouse was a lagoon called “Shirley Park”, which also showed some signs that it had been used for greater things in years past. The lagoon had some sailboats in it and we could see some people on one of the beach areas. This is another great place to take pictures. The path to the lagoon is quite rocky and overgrown in some areas so make sure you bring shoes if you decide to take this walk to the other side of the island.

We made our way back to the NCL side of the island where a large barbecue buffet was set up with burgers, hotdogs, ribs, salads, etc. and even some pizza if you wanted that. Fresh, cold water was readily available and free of charge. The food was not bad at all, very similar to the island barbecue that RCCL offers on their private island. After some more sunshine, a swim in the lagoon and a few drinks for good measure, we boarded one of the tenders and headed back to the ship.

Ask a Question About a Caribbean Port