Umbrellas at Great Stirrup Cay

[CanadianTwosome]

I recall seeing a post some time ago where someone said that all of the umbrellas had been removed from Great Stirrup Cay due to their being dangerous in high winds. I'm also pretty sure I saw one more recently talking about umbrellas being plentiful... Can anyone who has been there recently tell me what the current situation is? After the first post (no umbrellas) I bought a couple to bring along, but if I don't have to pack them, I would be happy to leave them at home... and it's almost time to pack!! YAY!!! :)

[terrymtex01]

We were just there a month ago and they had tons of umbrellas. Also, if all of them happen to be being used when you get to the island (if you are late tendering, etc) there are a lot of palm trees with tables and hammocks under them and the trees provide a lot of shade and they are just a few steps further off of the beach than the umbrellas. That is the area we always go to when we are on their private island.

[GOTTA-GO]

There were umbrellas on 8 Dec - We used one!!

 

Foot wash getting back on the landing craft was nice..

[*Wink*]

Are other ships ever there on the same day?

[bakerintn]

Are other ships ever there on the same day?

 

There will only by one NCL ship there on a given day.

[terrymtex01]

There will only by one NCL ship there on a given day.

 

agreed.. I honestly do not think the island could handle more than one ship load of people.

[islandgirlejfan]

agreed.. I honestly do not think the island could handle more than one ship load of people.

 

As much as I love GSC, it's almost too small for one ship load of passengers....it would be crazy with two ships there!:eek:

I believe this is one of the smaller islands and personally the size ships that anchor there now, I think it's safe to say that NCL has outgrown the island.

[JerseyGem]

There were umbrellas in November, but the ones I looked at were mesh- that is, they didn't give complete sun protection. If you need better protection, bring an umbrella. I saw a few people with umbrellas that clipped onto their chairs- I wish I'd thought of that! And yes, there is shade, especially if you walk off to your right as you exit the tender. Without an umbrella, though, you'll need to move your chair as the shade (sun) shifts as the day progresses.

 

GSC is indeed small, but we had a wonderful day there.

[CanadianTwosome]

Thanks very much to everyone who replied!! My only concern was having some respite from the sun if we needed it, but I feel confident that we'll be fine. I'll leave the umbrellas at home and use the space for something more important... like that extra pair of shoes... yeah... :p

[smeyer418]

Thanks very much to everyone who replied!! My only concern was having some respite from the sun if we needed it, but I feel confident that we'll be fine. I'll leave the umbrellas at home and use the space for something more important... like that extra pair of shoes... yeah... :p

 

 

I bring my own and my own chair too....but there have always been plenty.....

[smpd24]

anyone have photos they want to share? :)

[LittleBlue]

I found this link someone posted on another topic, it shows alot of pictures of great strirrup cay.... and many other things about the sky!

 

http://schplinky.smugmug.com/Norwegian%20Sky

 

Check it out its a great link, the GSC looked very crowded though.

great info.

[MSH2007]

Thanks very much to everyone who replied!! My only concern was having some respite from the sun if we needed it, but I feel confident that we'll be fine. I'll leave the umbrellas at home and use the space for something more important... like that extra pair of shoes... yeah... :p

 

You might want to bring a sweater. We were in GSC on 12/9 - It was very windy and a little chilly. The umbrellas were up - but some were blowing around. We were kind of surprised because the tender was really rockin and rollin = but it was a fun ride over to the island. Have a great trip.

[wendywr]

anyone have photos they want to share? :)

 

I do!! :D We were there on 12/19, so I was probably with the last group to be there.

 

We went snorkeling and saw Lion fish there! Can you believe it?

 

There was a TON of chairs there. Tons. There was also a lot of umbrellas, though we chose to relax in one of the hammocks in the shade. I was not at all impressed with the "straw market" there, it was the same stuff we saw at the other ports, just more expensive and much smaller selection.

 

My one big criticism was this: They REQUIRED everyone to wear a vest to snorkel. However, they wanted a rental fee of $5 a vest. Most people complied, but I did see a few people snorkeling without vests. The water was quite shallow (no more than about 10-12 feet in the area you were allowed to swim or snorkel in) and surprisingly cold.

 

Anyway, without further ado, my photos of Great Stirrup Cay.

The beach:

more beach:

 

 

 

 

One of the lionfish we saw (kind of difficult to spot):

[wendywr]

The light house:

 

And the "international airport"

[Azure Moon]

wendywr, nice pictures. What kind of camera did you use for the underwater picture?

Oh my goodness, that had to have been very cool to see the Lionfish!

Hope we get lucky next month and see him too :).

[dcpolet1]

I recall seeing a post some time ago where someone said that all of the umbrellas had been removed from Great Stirrup Cay due to their being dangerous in high winds. I'm also pretty sure I saw one more recently talking about umbrellas being plentiful... Can anyone who has been there recently tell me what the current situation is? After the first post (no umbrellas) I bought a couple to bring along, but if I don't have to pack them, I would be happy to leave them at home... and it's almost time to pack!! YAY!!! :)

I was there last week and there were plenty of umbrellas and chairs. The island was destroyed a few years ago and they redid everything.

[MSH2007]

Those were great pics Wendy. I wish I was there living in one of those houses on the beach:). It is so cold in Ohio tonight!

[CanadianTwosome]

Thanks so much for the pictures!

 

While I appreciate the warning, I'm not too worried about the temperature. I'm a hardy Canadian! I'll bet no matter how cold that water was at GSC last week, it was not as cold as our local lake at the height of summer here. I remember swimming in the ocean in Spain one December and having people stop and ask us if we were Canadian, since apparently Canadians are the only ones that ever swim there during the winter.

 

At the moment, it's -40 with the wind chill, and I don't expect it to be much different in January (though it's usually colder than December). I always carry a sweater or jacket of some kind, but I doubt I'll be wearing it. :)

[wendywr]

Yeah, the water wasn't *THAT* cold, but it was significantly colder than it was in St. Thomas. I did get used to the water, but ended up feeling really cold and needing to get out and warm up after an hour or so.

 

Camera: I bought a Canon PowerShot SD1100 that I thought would be nice and portable. This trip inspired the purchase, but I did want something smaller than my SLR. I loved the camera and was thrilled with the battery life and quality of pictures. I got almost 600 photos before needing to recharge, and I had the view finder on a lot.

 

To do the underwater photography, I bought a waterproof bag for my camera. This is the one I purchased: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UXOFSK .

 

Azuremoon, we saw a half dozen or so of the lion fish. They were all around this artificial reef type thing that NCL had made. I'm trying to remember where that reef was- we just jumped in and stumbled upon it. It seems like it was more towards the opposite end of the snorkeling area from the rocks. I'm sure if you ask a NCL employee, they'll show you the general location of the reef.

[smpd24]

Thanks for sharing your photos and for the link to the other ones.

 

Just wondering, what else is there to do at GSC?

[Azure Moon]

wendywr wrote: "we saw a half dozen or so of the lion fish. They were all around this artificial reef type thing that NCL had made. I'm trying to remember where that reef was- we just jumped in and stumbled upon it. It seems like it was more towards the opposite end of the snorkeling area from the rocks. I'm sure if you ask a NCL employee, they'll show you the general location of the reef."

 

Awesome!!!

 

Thanks for the tip on where to look for the Lionfish and about asking an NCL employee if I need help in locating them :cool:.

 

I have a saltwater aquarium and always wished I could have a Lionfish, but prefer leaving them in the ocean. Plus I wouldn't want to mess with venomous fish. My peaceful false percula thanks me :D. But I'll be in 7th heaven if I see some while snorkeling :).

Also, thanks for the camera information and link. I've been debating on buying an underwater camera or buying a case to use one I already have. The hardbody cases are more expensive than I'd like to spend, so I'll take a look at these soft ones.

[Carol_Hill]

Lion fish may be pretty to see in the water, but their barbs are poisonous! Plus, they are actually a threat to other sealife in the area, as they have no natural predators and they are voracious eaters! :(