NCL Bahamas Cruise Part 5: (Not So) Great Stirrup Cay

The final post in this series…

• NCL Bahamas Cruise Part 1: Miami Beach, Florida
• NCL Bahamas Cruise Part 2: The Trip to the Bahamas
• NCL Bahamas Cruise Part 3: People on the Cruise
• NCL Bahamas Cruise Part 4: Stuart Cove’s SUB Adventure

If I had to grade the cruise experience with Norwegian on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the best) I would have to put it at a 6.5. Now, if you’ve read my other posts about our trip you’re probably thinking something like “Why? You said you had such a great time and the food was awesome and and…”

Well, the bulk of the experience was great.  Unfortunately, my value of money spent on the cruise dropped significantly the moment we arrived to Norwegian’s private island: Great Stirrup Cay.  The trip, in effect, turned into a great movie with a really bad ending that almost ruined the whole flick.

First off, our itinerary got reversed due to a storm floating around the Caribbean.  Originally we were supposed to go to Great Stirrup Cay first and then Nassau.  This wasn’t Norwegian’s fault (obviously) but the result of doing so really accentuated the island’s issues.  You see, there were a limited number of things to do on the island and (as a result of the nearby storm and choppy waters) a number of excursions were cancelled.

So Great Stirrup Cay went from very little to do to almost nothing.

Then there’s the island itself.  The best description I can give of (Not So) Great Stirrup Cay is this: instead of being an island with some construction going on, the place was a nothing more than a beach on a busy construction site.  Check out these photos:

“Sorry, I’m Closed” along with most of the other things to do on the island.

Paradise? Hardly. More like most construction sites like ones I’d find in South Florida.

Right next to the main beach. Seriously.

Luckily, the other bathroom was open.

Nothing says tropical paradise like “yellow tape.”

Look! Another beach… behind more construction supplies lying around.

No comment.

We started walking along the “nature trail.” Look! Two by fours in the wild!

More construction and supplies along the path.

Oh yeah… THAT’S safe to just leave lying around.

You’d think they would have taken time to at least bury the plants.

A hose in it’s natural environment: my vacation.

Between the main beach and the small shopping area.

Construction crews driving through the tourists. CLASSY.

Again – is it really so hard to bury the plants? Really?

This is the first thing you see when your pull into the island. I’m not kidding.

Note Shannon’s look as we depart the island after just a couple of hours.

I understand that destinations like this will occasionally be under renovation, but Great Stirrup Cay was like eating at a restaurant with a half finished dining room and a kitchen that wasn’t ready to open.  The cruise line shouldn’t be promoting this destination or even letting people on the island when it is painfully obvious that it is nowhere near completion.  Read: I felt like I wasted my time and money going there.

At my office, I have a friend who LOVES going on cruises. She and her boyfriend were excited at the prospect of having another couple to travel to islands with. I was happy to report that Shannon can, in fact, survive sea travel… but it was disappointing to report that (for my money spent) Norwegian Cruise Line really dropped the ball on an entire day of our vacation.

I guess that’s why there are so many others to choose from.

So it goes.