Looking at Princess Cays and Great Stirrup Cay

            This week, we take a new look at two cruise line private islands - - Princess Cays and Great Stirrup Cay.   Private islands are ports of call that are owned and operated by a cruise line and only that cruise line’s ships (and those of affiliated companies) can call there.  Essentially, they are beach resorts where passengers can relax in the sun or participate in the water sports and activities available on the island.  Both Princess Cays and Great Stirrup Cay are located in the Bahamas.  

            Princess Cays is Princess Cruises’ private island although ships from some of Princess’ affiliates such as Cunard also occasionally call there.

            Ships calling at Princess Cays anchor offshore and usually use their lifeboats to ferry guests to the island.  You arrive at a dedicated marina that serves also to divide the resort complex in two.  There are more facilities north of the marina but the south side is rather pretty with its palms and carpet of sand.

            The island itself is long and narrow.   All of the beaches are on the western side of the island and all of the facilities face the beaches.  On the other side of the island is Paradise Lagoon, which has been left in its natural state.

            The complex reflects its owner’s style.  It is sophisticated but at the same time relaxed.  Princess Cays is big enough to accommodate everyone but not so big as to be overwhelming.

            Princess Cays continues to quietly evolve.  In the last few years, they have added a Sanctuary area.  As on the Princess ships, this area is adults-only and designed for pampering.  Also, the southern beach area has grown since the last time I was there.

            Beyondships new and expanded photo tour of Princess Cays begins at http://beyondships.com/Princess-PrincessCays.html      

            Like seemingly everything else at Norwegian Cruise Line, Great Stirrup Cay (GSC) is on the move.  The island is being transformed by a $25 million improvement project that began in 2010.

            It used to be that GSC was a quaint beachcomber-type of experience.  You were tendered ashore on former landing craft which would run up onto the beach, drop their front gate and you walked out onto the island’s one and only beach.  While this meant that you were close to the beach from the moment you landed, it also meant that part of the beach was the exclusive province of the tenders and off limits for recreational purposes.  In addition, the few buildings on the island - - bars and dining facilities - - were rather flimsy looking wooden structures that were not very impressive.

            Still, it made for a fun day at the beach.  The lack of sophistication helped to underscore that you were hundreds of miles from civilization with its work days and petty annoyances.

            While still an escape from the everyday, GSC is an altogether different experience today.  It is truly a private beach resort.  The tenders now arrive in their own marina.  You enter through a gate into the resort complex.  On the way to the beaches, you pass a new Bahamian market.  On the hill, there are the new dining facilities consisting of the kitchen/serving building and covered dining pavilions.  Like the rest of the new buildings at GSC, these are substantial concrete structures.

            The main beach is now dedicated to recreation, which means much more room.   In addition, there is now a second beach that rises up from the water to a ridge where luxury cabanas are under construction.

            Norwegian has also spread tons of sand throughout the complex.  In the old days, it was mostly rock away from the beach.  Now there is seemingly sand everywhere, which with the giant palm trees makes for a much more picturesque scene.

            But there is more to come.  Norwegian is busy building more facilities on the other side of the island.  These are to include an aqua park and a sting ray experience.

            Beyondships’ photo tour of Great Stirrup Cay is at http://www.beyondships.com/NCL-GreatStirrupCay.html    

NCL's Great Stirrup Cay - - Photo tour

That competition in the cruise industry is alive and well can be seen not only in the fact that the cruise companies are continuing to invest millions in new ships with new features but also in the fact that the lines are also investing millions in upgrading their private destinations. For example, Royal Caribbean has recently upgraded both its private island at Coco Cay in the Bahamas and its private resort peninsula at Labadee, Haiti. Not to be out done, NCL is in the process of a radical transformation of its private island Great Stirrup Cay or GSC as it is sometimes called. NCL was the first cruise line to create a private destination.

In 1977, it purchased GSC, a small uninhabited island in The Bahamas atoll, in order to be another port of call for its ships doing Bahamas and Caribbean cruises. The idea made a great deal of sense for several reasons. First, the prevailing wisdom in the cruise industry is that most people will choose the cruise with the most ports of call all else being equal. GSC would provide an additional port of call. Second, the cost of going to this port would be much less than going to a port where the ship would have to use pilots and pay to dock. Third, almost all of the money spent by the passengers at this destination would go to the cruise line.

At first, these private islands were little more than beaches that were accessed by the ship’s boats. However, over time, bars and dining facilities were constructed, sports facilities added and facilities for various types of shore excursions constructed. Now, the private destinations are essentially private resorts.

Last year, NCL began a $20 million dollar transformation of GSC. The first step was to build a marina where the tenders that bring the passengers to the shore could dock. Heretofore, passengers came ashore in landing craft, which lowered their ramps onto the beach itself. This was inconvenient for less fit passengers and it also meant that a large part of the beach could not be used for swimming or sunbathing.

Another part of the transformation is the new dining facilities. Gone are the old wooden structures and in their place are more substantial and more spacious places where the food is prepared and where it is consumed.

The sports facilities have also been expanded and NCL now offers jet ski and kayak tours of the area around the island. The transformation process is ongoing. Standing on the deck of a cruise ship anchored offshore one can see that other areas of the island are under construction. These will result in new beach areas and facilities such as a sting ray experience.

Beyondships’ updated and expanded photo tour of Great Stirrup Cay is at http://www.beyondships.com/NCL-GreatStirrupCay.html I have also included a page to show what the island looked like before the current transformation.