Great Stirrup Cay

[CruisingCleo]

We will be on the Riviera for the transatlantic leaving Miami on March 22. The first stop will be Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahama’s. Does anybody have experience with a stop there? Is it nice? How  are the restaurants and the bars? We saw a video where  the food  did not look appetizing at all. Would it be a good idea to just go to the beach for a few hours  and then  return to the ship? 
We just want to have a relaxing day, so are not planning any  excursions.

Edited November 11, 2022 by CruisingCleo

[LHT28]

AFAIK it is  NCL's private island

all about  the beach & water sports  so you could just go to the beach 

check the restaurants  then decide   if you want to tender back to the ship

 

 

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

AFAIK it is  NCL's private island

Correct

1 hour ago, LHT28 said:

all about  the beach & water sports  so you could just go to the beach 

check the restaurants  then decide   if you want to tender back to the ship

That's what we do.

[Yesimapirate]

Do they set up it any differently for Oceania then NCL?

 

We've been there on NCL (before they built some of the villas).  We weren't impressed. 

[AMHuntFerry]

Oceania culinary staff typically do a lunch BBQ on the island.

[CruisingCleo]

48 minutes ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Oceania culinary staff typically do a lunch BBQ on the island.

Now that sounds quite nice. Much better than what we saw on this video: https://youtu.be/jPksFpQsEIs.

 

 

 

[AMHuntFerry]

Tendering was not available last December due to wind, so I can't give first hand experience. We are not into the private island experience or sunning on a beach, so had booked a kayaking shorex in hopes of spotting some sealife. If you are a "wanderer", you can walk to a lighthouse (not the one with the zipline) and old cemetery. I can't post the link to the site where I found great info, but if you google "Unusual things to do on Great Stirrup Cay" you should get a hit.

Edited November 11, 2022 by AMHuntFerry

[MEFIowa]

17 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

Tendering was not available last December due to wind, so I can't give first hand experience. We are not into the private island experience or sunning on a beach, so had booked a kayaking shorex in hopes of spotting some sealife. ...

Were you on the 12/13-23/21 W. Caribbean cruise on Riviera? The last stop was here but we couldn't tender.

 

But we did tender at Harvest Caye in Belize, another NCL private island. With the zip line over the water in front of the beach. Wife and I spent the day at the beach, getting there early to find the perfect spot in the shade. We didn't eat there. Did look at the shops and stores and places to see. Not a whole heck of a lot. So, we spent 95% of our time in the water or on the sand.

[AMHuntFerry]

3 hours ago, MEFIowa said:

Were you on the 12/13-23/21 W. Caribbean cruise on Riviera? The last stop was here but we couldn't tender.

 

But we did tender at Harvest Caye in Belize, another NCL private island. With the zip line over the water in front of the beach. Wife and I spent the day at the beach, getting there early to find the perfect spot in the shade. We didn't eat there. Did look at the shops and stores and places to see. Not a whole heck of a lot. So, we spent 95% of our time in the water or on the sand.

yessirree!

We liked walking through the (shady!) animal display on Harvest Caye. I'm always leery of live-animal displays since they can be exploiting the wildlife; I don't know where on the conservation-exploitation spectrum this display lies, but the enclosures seemed well done (e.g., large and faux-natural environment).

[MEFIowa]

5 hours ago, AMHuntFerry said:

yessirree! We liked walking through the (shady!) animal display on Harvest Caye. ...

Lots of blue morpho butterflies in the one display. My wife freaked out when she almost ran into the lizard, who was outside his display.