Visiting Great Stirrup Cay is an absolute highlight of any NCL Caribbean cruise! Great Stirrup Cay is a private island in the Bahamas’ North Berry Islands owned by Norwegian, and is only accessible to NCL cruise ships. It is a beautiful island with three beautiful beaches, palm trees, and all the island vibes. While my parents (and many others on our cruise) elected to stay on the ship this day and enjoy a crowd-free day, I’m so glad my brother and I chose to get off! We had a great day laying on the beach, sipping Trulys, and lounging in the crystal clear water. Here are my top tips for visiting Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas!
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Book your tender as soon as possible
At the time of writing (January 2025), visiting Great Stirrup Cay is only accessible by tender. What that means is the ship will anchor offshore and you will take smaller boats from the ship over to the island. The good news is that NCL is working on building a dock! This dock will be able to accommodate 2 ships and it should be ready in late 2025. Until then however, tendering is the only way to get to the island! While tendering is completely free, you do need to reserve your tickets ahead of time. On our cruise, this process opened 3 days prior to docking in Great Stirrup Cay.
To book your tickets, you can visit the shore excursion desk, use any of the touch screens around the ship, or do it on your stateroom TV (like we did). As soon as this process opens, reserve your tickets right away! The earlier you do this, the earlier group you will be placed in, and the earlier you’ll get to the island. The tendering process was lengthy. We were in group 9 and sat around for over an hour waiting for our group to be called. And when it was, we were directed to the Encore Theatre where we waited some more to board the tender. It was a long and slightly annoying process, so try to be on the early end of things!
What to bring to the island
Packing for a day in Great Stirrup Cay is pretty simple. You’ll need all the basic beach necessities – bathing suit, reef-safe sunscreen, and sunglasses. There are plenty of restrooms and showers on the island if you want to change when you get there, or after spending time on the beach before heading back. One important item though is that no towels are provided on the island. They all need to be brought from the ship and then brought back with you. Early in the morning before your tender group is called, make sure you secure all the towels you will need for the day! My brother waited in a long line up on the pool deck, but they also ended up being passed out outside the theatre where we waited for our tender. Don’t forget to snag these!
As a whole, the beach here is very soft and not rocky at all. In the water though, there were some larger rocks so I would recommend wearing water shoes. We wore our water shoes the whole day, starting when we got off the ship. It was super convenient to have them on the whole day, from going in the water to walking around the island. We also packed small floating loungers (like this one) that ended up being a great idea! They fold up really small in your luggage and don’t require a lot of blowing up. We loved using these in the water to have a relaxing float in the clear blue water!
Food and drink on the island
Good news: all food on the island is complementary! Even better news: if you have the drink package on your cruise, drinks are included here as well! The Jumbey Beach Grill is the large open-air buffet located in the middle of the island. We loved stopping here for a classic island lunch. We had hot dogs, burgers, grilled corn, potato salad, fresh fruit, and more classic fixings. There was a bar right next door that offered canned drinks like beers and seltzers (wild berry Truly fans rise up!). You’ll also find food trucks and stalls sprinkled throughout the island. You’re never far from food!
There was plenty of seating both out in the sun and under shelters. We didn’t spend more than a minute searching for a table, even during the lunch rush! If you’re looking for cocktails or frozen drinks, you’ll find the Bacardi Bar, Patron Bar, and Bertram’s Bar as well. Even with two ships in port, the lines were never terrible and we were served pretty quickly! Click here for more info on food and drinks on the island.
It’s possible not to spend any extra money
While it’s no secret that cruise lines will try to nickle-and-dime you at every chance, stay strong! It’s very possible (and easy!) to have a great day visiting Great Stirrup Cay without spending any extra money! While they do offer activities like zip lining, renting wave runners or paddle boards, or even boating out to other islands, it’s really not necessary in my opinion! If you are interested however, a full list of all the shore excursions can be found here. We had a perfectly fine day just laying on a free beach chair, bopping in and out of the water, and enjoying the complementary food and drink. There is plenty of entertainment and music on the island as well, so you will never be bored!
Plan for long tender lines back to the ship
At the end of the perfect island beach day, make sure you plan plenty of time to get you back to the ship. Tenders run about every fifteen minutes. However, it could be more if there is more than one ship in port and the tenders are servicing both. Thankfully we decided to head back to the ship a little early (around 3:00 pm) and had no trouble getting on. Later that evening on the ship, we heard from others that the later ones were packed and the lines were long. Keep in mind that these tenders are also servicing crew to and from the island, so they will be even a little more packed than usual. Pay close attention to the last tender times and try to catch 1-2 tenders before that, just to be safe.
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