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Great Stirrup Cay Updates and Photos

bdaddyiii

By bdaddyiii,
in Private Islands

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mchelle77

mchelle77

Posted
Posted
Is your daughter an experience in parasailing? I saw this excursion but not sure what they meant by for children. My 14yrs old daughter wants to do this whilst my so and I don't. I would like to know:

How safe is it for a child without any experience to take part?

If we don't do it but only be there to watch her, do we pay the same fare?

Many thanks.

 

My daughter is 7, so we'll be going together :) And yes, you have to pay the full fare even if you just want to watch (my husband wanted to go videotape but we were told he'd have to pay full price. Stinks!)

 

I think there's a weight minimum, so she may have to go with someone else that's riding solo ... not sure how you'd feel about that. I'd call Shorex and ask to be sure.

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camly

camly

Posted
Posted
My daughter is 7, so we'll be going together :) And yes, you have to pay the full fare even if you just want to watch (my husband wanted to go videotape but we were told he'd have to pay full price. Stinks!)

 

I think there's a weight minimum, so she may have to go with someone else that's riding solo ... not sure how you'd feel about that. I'd call Shorex and ask to be sure.

I was not aware that we can do together. Have you done if before? The thought of the height scare me. Will they give any lesson/ briefing before taking off?

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js

js

Posted
Posted
Is your daughter an experience in parasailing? I saw this excursion but not sure what they meant by for children. My 14yrs old daughter wants to do this whilst my so and I don't. I would like to know:

How safe is it for a child without any experience to take part?

If we don't do it but only be there to watch her, do we pay the same fare?

Many thanks.

 

Not sure about paying but I can tell you my dd is 18, very smart, and nothing ever seems to scare her????!!!???, which scares the he&^ out of me since she will be going off to college in the fall, God help me LOL

Anyway, she and her friend decided to parasail in Mexico last year and that scared the life out of her, although not sure why. She is not afriad of heights, very bumpy flights don't seem to phase her but she was very nervous doing the parasail and said she will never do that again...thank you Lord Jesus LOL

 

Anyway, just make sure your dd really wants to do it before you spend the money and I do hope she enjoys it :)

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camly

camly

Posted
Posted
Not sure about paying but I can tell you my dd is 18, very smart, and nothing ever seems to scare her????!!!???, which scares the he&^ out of me since she will be going off to college in the fall, God help me LOL

Anyway, she and her friend decided to parasail in Mexico last year and that scared the life out of her, although not sure why. She is not afriad of heights, very bumpy flights don't seem to phase her but she was very nervous doing the parasail and said she will never do that again...thank you Lord Jesus LOL

 

Anyway, just make sure your dd really wants to do it before you spend the money and I do hope she enjoys it :)

 

Thank you for sharing this info. I think she is still young to do this activity. There are plety other things for us to enjoy the day there.

 

Good luck to your daughter at college. She will be fine (if she did the parasailing, she will survive the college.)

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ladybug1s

ladybug1s

Posted
Posted
Thank you for sharing this info. I think she is still young to do this activity. There are plety other things for us to enjoy the day there.

 

Good luck to your daughter at college. She will be fine (if she did the parasailing, she will survive the college.)

We did this for the first time last year, not here but parasailed. No experience , but I believe the children 7 are not allowed? Too young? Double check.

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js

js

Posted
Posted
Thank you for sharing this info. I think she is still young to do this activity. There are plety other things for us to enjoy the day there.

 

Good luck to your daughter at college. She will be fine (if she did the parasailing, she will survive the college.)

 

Thank you very much. Enjoy your cruise and spending time with your family!

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mchelle77

mchelle77

Posted
Posted
We did this for the first time last year, not here but parasailed. No experience , but I believe the children 7 are not allowed? Too young? Double check.

 

They're allowed, I already booked it and have confirmation. I booked through Shorex, there's no age minimum - just a weight minimum/maximum.

 

If you're scared of heights, then it's insane to even consider doing this excursion - go to YouTube to see examples of this. After the anticipation of it, there's nothing scary about it, looks really peaceful if you ask me. I wouldn't want to get dunked though :)

 

I think 14 is FAR from "too young" for this excursion! However, I personally wouldn't want my daughter (even at 14) going alone. OR with a stranger. If you don't have someone to go with her, I wouldn't book it. They may even require an adult to go with her, not sure.

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ladybug1s

ladybug1s

Posted
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THe butt drop is scary as hell! I was afraid of sharks and did not know they were going to put my #ss in the water! Thought something happened! And I'm terrified of heights. But more afraid of the sharks. We did this in the Atlantic Ocean , Myrtle Beach South Carolina.

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mchelle77

mchelle77

Posted
Posted
THe butt drop is scary as hell! I was afraid of sharks and did not know they were going to put my #ss in the water! Thought something happened! And I'm terrified of heights. But more afraid of the sharks. We did this in the Atlantic Ocean , Myrtle Beach South Carolina.

 

I didn't know this was an option either, but I think as long as you tell them not to, they won't. (And I plan on telling them not to! :lol: )

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  • 2 weeks later...
bdaddyiii

bdaddyiii

Posted
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Thanks for the picture of the clam shell. Was not my vision, thinking of a clam shell! LOL

Were there lockers? And when did you rent the clam shell, wondering if you can do so online. Also, were you worried about your camera and belongings if there was not a locker? We are going next month.

No lockers that I saw. You can reserve the clam shell on the ship or when you get off the ship go to the clam shell area and you can rent it there they just need you S&S card. We got to pick the one we wanted and they set it up. I was not to worried about my stuff since the only people on the island were NCL employees and other passengers.:cool:

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  • 3 weeks later...
The Islanders

The Islanders

Posted
Posted
Let's hear and see what GSC looks like now that a few weeks have passed....

recent cruisers, what did you see?

Thanks for sharing!

 

How is the lazy river coming along? Not open yet.

The adult beach section? Didn't see it where we were.

Cabanas? Quite a few but I don't know if we would rent one as they are so far away from everything. (food, drinks, etc.)

 

We loved it! It is so much nicer than before. More bars, more food (nice size buffet), larger beach.

 

One thing I would highly recommend is the Eco Adventure Boat tour. Captain George and guide John were a riot. Very funny and personable. First we stopped at a spot and they threw hot dog buns in the water and we were surrounded by yellow fin snapper. Then we went to the backside of they island and John caught 5 huge starfish and we all got the chance to take a picture with them. John also caught a "sea cucumber" and some live conch and we also saw a couple of nice size stingrays. All in all it was a really fun excursion and it is very kid-friendly. The best excursion we did all week.

 

Water was the same temp as the air so, it was nice when you were in but a little chilly when you got out.

 

Sorry, haven't downloaded the pics yet :o

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ajax6262

ajax6262

Posted
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I was there last week on Monday, and the cabanas were essentially done. We asked if we had to pay to use them and were told that since they were still technically under construction, that we could use them for free.

 

It was great for me and my family who were just looking to relax wanted some shade. However, they won't be for everyone. First, they are on top of the hill, so if you want to swim, it's a long walk down to the water, and then back uphill (in the sand) to the cabana. Second, you have to walk back to the primary beach to get anything to drink or eat, down the hill to get there, then back up the hill to the cabana. Same thing if you want to participate in any of the activities.

 

But again, we enjoyed it. The noise from the primary beach was gone, and with being set back and up on the hill a bit, even the noise from the smaller beach was gone. The only things we could hear were the waves and our conversation with each other. It was quite peaceful, and my group appreciated the shade. I would imagine that once they are officially open and charging a fee that there will be waiters coming by to at least take drink orders.

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turning40withMickey

turning40withMickey

Posted
Posted
I was there last week on Monday, and the cabanas were essentially done. We asked if we had to pay to use them and were told that since they were still technically under construction, that we could use them for free.

 

It was great for me and my family who were just looking to relax wanted some shade. However, they won't be for everyone. First, they are on top of the hill, so if you want to swim, it's a long walk down to the water, and then back uphill (in the sand) to the cabana. Second, you have to walk back to the primary beach to get anything to drink or eat, down the hill to get there, then back up the hill to the cabana. Same thing if you want to participate in any of the activities.

 

But again, we enjoyed it. The noise from the primary beach was gone, and with being set back and up on the hill a bit, even the noise from the smaller beach was gone. The only things we could hear were the waves and our conversation with each other. It was quite peaceful, and my group appreciated the shade. I would imagine that once they are officially open and charging a fee that there will be waiters coming by to at least take drink orders.

 

Thanks for the update! The cabana sounds nice, away from the beach can be good or bad, depending on your needs. I am sure they will be charging for them when they are "done". How about the lazy river?

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ajax6262

ajax6262

Posted
Posted

I didn't look around much, but I know for sure the lazy river was not done, and didn't really seem to be all that close from what I did see.

 

One other thing about the cabanas that I forgot to mention was their size. They are quite large. We had 8 people in our group, and all fit comfortably. They had about 4 lounge chairs already in there, but we snagged some extras. You could easily fit 8 up there in 2 rows of 4. It also looked like they would eventually have power running to them. Not sure what the use would be for that though. Perhaps for something as simple as charging cameras/phones/ereaders. I didn't count, but it seems like there were probably between 8 and 10 cabanas total.

 

The whole island didn't feel unfinished, but there was just enough visible construction there that you can tell that there was still much to be done. It's going to be a pretty awesome place once it is finished. As is, my group loved it. Probably our favorite stop of the week.

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gaylemh

gaylemh

Posted
Posted
I just posted my review from my Pearl cruise over here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=33227204&postcount=17

 

You'll find a link at the bottom that has more pictures. :)

 

Did they let you move the chairs to another location? I can't see my 2 year old grandson staying put on a chair, when they are so close together, and we wouldn't want to bother the people around us.

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

Posted
Posted
Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing them! I can imagine your daughter's face on the hippo slide :eek:

 

If you can imagine that, try to imagine my husbands face as well. His looked pretty much like hers at the moment. :D

 

Did they let you move the chairs to another location? I can't see my 2 year old grandson staying put on a chair, when they are so close together, and we wouldn't want to bother the people around us.

 

I seen a few people in the back of the area of chairs (back row) that had turned theirs around. But I really didn't see anyone just move the chairs to another area...that I can think of. :confused:

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  • 3 weeks later...
1stTimeCruiser2008

1stTimeCruiser2008

Posted
Posted
Hate to say this don't flame me but Labadee looks so much nicer.

 

I was actually thinking the same thing. We were there this past March and LOVED it. Labadee was gorgeous and the most beautiful relaxing day of the trip.

 

The year before we stopped at Cococay (very close to GSC) and weren't impressed.

 

Can anyone compare GSC to Cococay?

 

Please don't flame me either. I'm excited to sail NCL for the first time and am keeping an open mind regarding GSC.

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

Posted
Posted
Your pic are AMAZING :)!!!!!! Can I ask what kind of underwater camera you used?

 

All of my pictures are taking with a Canon D10. It takes wonderful land, water and night pictures. That little camera amazes me so much that I stopped taking my dslr camera on vacations (not because the Canon D10 takes better pictures but because it does take great pictures and easier to lug around without having to worry about taking something heavy and lugging around lens and so on). :D

 

They do have an updated version that was just released (Canon D20). But that new release caused the D10 price to drop (I originally paid around $400 for mine when it first came out) and now they are around $200+. :D So, I purchased a second D10 for the hubby. No more fighting over who gets the camera in the water while snorkeling now. :p

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