2026 DAY 2: GREAT STIRRUP CAY

Well today is our first big day...a port day. I'm not used to the first full day being in a port as it's usually a sea day so this will be a change and an adventure but I'm throwing caution to the wind and rolling with it.

It's been 14 years since I have been to GSC. Wow, it seems like only a few years ago. Prior to that, it had been 23 years since I had been here. Geesh! Every other time we tried to come the weather was just too bad to tender and we missed the port.

HISTORY OF GREAT STIRRUP CAY

Great Stirrup Cay is located in the Bahamas and is part of the Berry Islands. NCL purchased this island from Belcher Oil Company in 1977 with the intentions of developing the island as a private getaway for their cruise passengers. NCL was one of the first cruise lines to offer this exclusive island experience for its passengers.

In 1988-89, NCL constructed 4 new buildings and the Dive center. In addition to this, a seawall was built to help reduce beach erosion.

In 2010, NCL embarked on a 2-year, $25 million construction program to make several enhancements to the island. The first enhancement was the construction of a new marina basin with 4 docks for island tenders, a new 8,500 sq ft dining facility with 2 bars and 4 picnic pavilions. The next phase is expanding the beach areas, installation of private cabanas and a new straw market.

There is a lighthouse, constructed in 1863, that still remains on the property and is fully automated and solar powered. It stands almost 80 feet tall and the light is visible for over 20 miles away.

There is also a helipad located on the island and there is around 250 acres of land here.

GSC has a daytime average temperature from December to April of around 75 degrees and from May to November it is around 85-93 degrees.

The average sea temperature from May to November is 81-86 degrees and around 77 degrees from December to April.

After having such a terrible night...the little pill worked and I managed to get 3 hours of sleep before I just couldn't sleep anymore. The explosions had stopped at this point and I was out of bed by 6am. The ship was moving like a turtle and we had friends following us.

We slowly passed Royal Caribbeans private island Perfect Day at Cococay and they had 2 ships there today.

As we were pulling in close to our private island there was a beautiful rainbow. I hoped this was going to be a good sign of what was to come today.

Then it became a full rainbow. Can you see it?

Off in the distance you could see the new water park they were building and not finished yet.

We dropped anchors and the tenders started coming. As I inspected it, I really didn't know how "Karl" was going to be able to go ashore. I had read prior to coming that you had to be able to get up and down a few stairs to get on/off the tender. Now I seen what they were talking about. I was 99.9% positive they would not allow the hubby to carry him on the tender. I would imagine it would be a liability factor that they would not take.

We were not in a hurry to get off the ship as we did not plan on being on the island all day since we would be leaving "Karl" behind by himself more than likely. So no rush for breakfast however after being up for several hours my now completely depleted stomach was telling me otherwise. It's time to eat!

With the kids having an ADA room, it comes with some perks and by perks I mean perks FOR ME! They had a doorbell. hehe #evilgrin Yep, I put that thing to full use this cruise sometimes to let them know I was at the door and other times to be annoying when needed. Just saying... Thiers was just a doorbell though. I can remember our Bermuda trip years ago my youngest son ended up with an ADA interior assigned to him and his doorbell had FLASHING LIGHTS inside. Now that was some fun! But not this time. Darnit!

We got up and headed for the buffet. I expected it to be more crowded than it was but it was manageable. Maybe others were sleeping in? Maybe they were already on the island? I wasn't sure. We did manage to find a handicapped table but I can tell you the rest of the cruise this wouldn't be the case. Most of the tables were only for 2 people and anyone would sit at them when they couldn't find a seat anywhere else. You never really noticed things like this until you are in this situation and needing one. Those that read my recent Vegas trip...remember the hubby confronting someone that sat at a handicapped table that wasn't handicapped after I had been waiting for the previous people to move? Yea, good times.

During breakfast I had a talk with "Karl". Prior to getting on the ship I had asked him how he felt about the tender ports and if he was unable to go, would he be ok with staying on the ship while we went ashore for a couple of hours without him. He said he would be fine no worries. I also had to have a talk with Sakari and she agreed that she would be ok leaving him behind for a few hours (although I could tell she was nervous and also didn't want to hurt his feelings by not staying behind). Then today rolls around and he stalls with his answer then replies "Oh I'm getting on that tender and going ashore I can guarantee that". I explained to him that I had seen the tenders and there was no way NCL was going allow him to be carried. He said "Watch me". We decided to head down to guest services to ask because he was determined. Then they said "Yes, you will be able to go ashore using the tender for handicap and when you are ready, head to deck 6 to wait". Well alrighty then I guess he's coming along. This would result in multiple "I told ya. I told ya I was going one way or another. I told ya" from "Karl".

We went to the rooms, grabbed our bags (and I left a sticky note on my mirror to let Ging know that I wanted an ice bucket with ice daily if possible) and then headed to deck 6 where we would find others waiting. They had taken one of the main elevators and put it out of service to use only for those with mobility issues. They took him down and an employee pushed him onto the tender and into an area they had saved for handicapped. They would only allow 1 companion with him so Sakari stayed with him and we sat a row over. They did make him transfer onto the chair and then stored his wheelchair.

Here we come...

Here is the pier they are working on. They previously had it open for cruisers to use but closed it down months before our cruise in order to finish it. I've read that not much activity was going on and people complaining this is why it was taking so long but the day we were here, there were plenty of people working on the pier and machinery.

I remember this little cove where we pull in from the last time we were here. So pretty.

Here is the tender and the elevator they have on it where they took "Karl" down to the next floor to get off.

Once off the tender they had a beach wheelchair waiting for him to transfer into. Then Sakari went to go check in his wheelchair at security for the day. I was so happy to see they had these and there were plenty of them too! We made him the official bag carrier.

We stopped for pictures:

The worker started pushing him toward the beach and ask us where we wanted to go. Um...it's been years since I've been here and I don't know really. He had mentioned the pool was "over there, but you can't use it unless you rented the cabana". Say what? There's a pool now? And we were not allowed to use it unless we paid extra? What a crock off crap! Carnival doesn't make you pay. I would later read online (if it's true) that anyone can use the pool but there are cabana's if you wanted to rent some. That has me a little upset because I know at some point we would have liked to use the pool and of course get pictures.

I had asked to take over pushing him but the worker continued. It started getting me worried that they were going to take "Karl" somewhere and have him transfer and take the wheelchair back. That wasn't going to work. Eventually Sakari grabbed the chair and said she'd take over from here and the worker let go. Ok, that's better now.

We headed toward the beach and it was crowded.

We did end up finding 2 chairs, which was fine because I had no intention on hanging around and wanted to snorkel. As I'm gathering my things to head out toward the water I hear "Karl" say "I'm ready to get in the water. Take me to the ocean!" As I got out into the water I would look back and see they had pushed him down to the water in his chair. Can you spot them in the sea of people?

Then I would see the hubby pick him up and take him to the water (pic is zoomed in)

I headed straight out to begin my adventure. It's a sandy bottom so honestly the snorkeling is not the greatest but they would have some sunken metal pieces down there with coral growing on it. I remember this from the last time as well.

I spotted a Pink Tip Anemone.

I really wasn't having much luck so headed all the way across to the opposite side where they had rocks along the jetty. There had to be something better over there...and there was.

You had to be really careful in this area because of the rocks along the side. A lot of them hung out over the water and if you were snorkeling and decided to stand or raise up, you could hit your head. I'm usually hyper aware of my surroundings when I'm snorkeling but it's easy to get caught up in all the beauty down below.

These would be the only Christmas Tree Worms I spotted today. 😟

I was far out at this point and still following the rocks along the jetty. Here is how far I was from the beach:

I had made it out to the ropes and started to head across. It was somewhat deep in this area and I started noticing more fish.

I had read years ago that they had a snorkel trail with sunken statues and you could book a "snorkel excursion" with NCL. But, this would be something you could do on your own. I had never got to see it last time we were here because we stayed pretty close to the shore because Sakari and Brayden were only around 5 or 6 years old.

It was really hard to make out what some of these things were when I found them and had to look them up from online videos. I didn't see half of what was shown in the videos and not sure if I just didn't look far enough or what.

This is a shell (or fan?) and has an anchor in front of it and a vase.

A large shell, treasure chest, a vase and some type of animal standing on its hind legs.

A large block with a face on it:

This was easy to spot: a large skull with a crown on it.

A very large Spotted Grouper came out from under the rocks ledge and had a Spanish Hogfish with it.

A group of very large blue Parrot fish swimming by. One of them was really large.

I was pretty far out and at this point I might as well just swim back to the ship. Geesh

A Stingray was far down below passing by:

I had been snorkeling for quite some time. I was getting tired and decided to head back in. I take one look at the shore and think Oh Em Gee how am I ever going to make it back. I swam and swam and was so worn out and my anxiety was increasing. I hate snorkeling alone and feel so much more secure when I know there's someone with me. But there wasn't...there wasn't anyone. I was all alone. I felt like I was about to panic at this point and still had a long way to go. Why did I do this? I should have just came back down the rocky area and then walked the beach. Life decisions gone wrong.

Eventually I rolled on my back to kick and started thinking about my scuba training and how it helped me calm down. I would randomly have anxiety when diving but after I got certified I learned to control it and haven't had an issue (not like I've been diving much since then but I can put myself into another head space and slow my breathing).

I was never so happy to finally make it to shore. I checked my watch and I was snorkeling for 1 hour and 1 minute and dove down a depth of 5 feet. The water temp was 87°. My highest heart rate was 143 and we all can figure out when that happened.

I had no idea WHERE I was actually at and didn't see my family anywhere to let them know I almost died on that trip. I was lost, confused and exhausted. I would aimlessly wander the beach trying to figure out where our chairs are and finally seen my beach bag. As I sat down I noticed there was a sun hat on the top. Hmmm, that's not mine. I dug in the bag to find a beach towel and there's all kinds of stuff that don't belong to me. Oops! I have to be in the wrong place. What are the chances that someone else had the same bag as me? I continued to look around and eventually found our chairs and bag....and my family who had a swarm of seagulls around them.

They must know that Sakari is a bird mom and felt comfortable around her. She said she found some bread floating in the water and they were after it.

"Karl" couldn't wait to tell me that he was swimming by himself. Sakari had went and rented him a snorkel vest and face mask and he was loving every bit of it.

Eventually we decided to head back so that we could go get some lunch. The hubby was dragging "Karl" back to the beach. I have to admit, I was a little nervous on how he was going to pick him up and be able to make it out of the water with the sand rushing out from under his feet and sinking all at the same time.

We headed over to get lunch and they had a pretty wide variety of food and multiple stations throughout the building so you didn't have to wait in long lines. I didn't take any pictures because I didn't have my camera or phone with me at the time. Just so you know, the drink station is at a different building and so is the desserts at and opposite building. There was plenty of seating at tables under a covered area beside the buffet. Our bellies were full. I don't think I've seen "Karl" eat this much since his accident. I think he's making up for lost time. He's doing really well with his food consumption.

We headed back to our chairs and I decided to grab the camera's and go on a walk to take pictures of the area all while dragging the hubby along. He was so enthused about it. 🤣

The hubby put "Karl" on a lounger and the kids were relaxing as we left.

The bathrooms:

The beach area we were staying in...of course the most popular because it's the first place you come to. That's the norm for people... find a place as soon as you arrive and I was no exception to this game.

We came across a very large iguana when we were heading to get food. By the time I came back around to take pictures, he had multiple friends that had joined him.

The lunch pavilion, the covered area beside it where we ate, more seating in front of the buffet and the dessert building:

Heading out and over toward the beaches:

See how this area doesn't look crowded at all? We should have came down here instead and had the place to ourselves, although there was very little shade.

Zipline off in the distance:

They have paddleboard and mat floats for rent:

Well, this would be all of the tour since I wasn't allowed to be over by the pool area since I wasn't renting a cabana. 🙄

As we got closer to where our chairs were we see a bit of a commotion in the area with people running toward our chairs to see that evidently "Karl" wanted to get back in the wheelchair and Sakari had picked him up to transfer him over to it and couldn't manage to get him up high enough and she was panicking. They were going down in slow motion and it wasn't onto the chair either. I could see the fear in her eyes...the tears starting. We had arrived just in time for the hubby to grab him, pick him back up and put him in the wheelchair. You could see Sakari was visibly upset at her inability to help him and the worried look on her face wondering what would have happened had she dropped him.

After this traumatizing event, they were ready to head back to the ship. We gathered our things and went over to security to get "Karls" wheelchair and back on the tender we went.

This time there was no place for "Karl" to sit in the handicapped section so they just pulled him to an area and applied the brakes.

Goodbye Great Stirrup Cay. It's been an experience for sure. If we ever get a chance to come back we WILL visit the pool and we WILL go down the beach further.

We headed back to our rooms for a shower and I noticed that Ging had cleaned the room but didn't leave an ice bucket. Maybe I'll catch him in the hallway at some point. I really hate that we cannot bring a carton of pop with us on NCL any longer. I always buy the soda package even when I brought my own pop. This is just such an inconvenience. I like my caffeine first thing in the morning just like the hubby likes his coffee when he wakes up.

Speaking of soda package..."Karl" decides at this point that he wants to buy himself one. We head to a bar where the lady there is completely confused about it so he heads to Guest Services. He "buys" the package and they make him a new key card with "soda" printed on it. He comes back up to the bar to get his drink and lets me know that he put his credit card on his account for his expenses. Then the hubby goes to get a pop and BOOM...his card no longer works. What the heck? DEACTIVATED! Now he's at Guest Services to figure out what's going on because before this my NCL cc was attached to his account (remember the hubby and "Karl" are booked in the same room). So he tells them to put my card back on there as it was for him. No can do. They now need ME down there. Geeze! I head down and the lady is completely confused at this point (same "accounts" lady). I explained several times regarding my card to be used for the hubby AND our room. It took forever for them to figure this out. Has this never happened before? In all these years cruising? Annoying to say the least. Just an FYI, the soda package will cost you $105/pp for the week.

Meanwhile, Sakari and "Karl" head down to the Thriller Dance Class (one of her favorites).

So I knew prior to this cruise that SOMEWHERE there was a pop machine that you could scan your card and hold the cup up underneath it. I was on a hunt for it. I know that I had read it was on the back of the ship somewhere. We looked and looked and after awhile, finally gave up and went to the bar. I just wasn't finding it. I had no idea where it was. So frustrating. I ask several employees and they pointed me in a direction. It wasn't there. Asked someone else, another point in this direction on that floor. Still nothing. Eventually another employee comes along and tells me that it is on the 8th floor at Indulge. At this point I had no idea about this area as we hadn't explored it yet.

Once we made it back down to the 8th floor and to the back of the ship, we discovered an entirely different area of food. Then I had a "Ahhh ha" moment. This is the area they were referring to online that you could sit at a table and order your food. Got it. This place goes off in so many directions with stations and nothing like you would picture in your head. I was easily confused and needed my GPS (the hubby). We just couldn't find a pop machine anywhere. I knew I had read it was "smaller" but had no idea what I was looking for. I had pictured something like the drink machines they normally have at the buffet. We ended up having to ask someone and it was right where you would think it would be...by the drinks. #facepalm 🤦‍♀️Yes, I had walked by this machine at the bare minimum 3 times already. I just didn't picture it to be so small like a coffee machine.

"Karl" had done nothing but talk about hitting up the casino since before vacation since they can gamble at 18 and above. This would be Sakari's first time and they were excited.

I'm over here with my "Awesome Win" at $11.62 and feeling proud. I moved onto one of my favorite games as well.

"Karl" came over beside me and said "Let me show you how it's done" and started betting $5.00 a spin. I could do nothing but gasp and tell him how crazy he was. That was until he hit for $92.50.

He kept repeating "You gotta take chances in life. Hit the big button". I kept refusing so he reached over and hit it for me several times...and it took my money. So, I gave a few choice words and got up and went to another machine. Now I'm back on track with a $37.50 win. That'll show him.

Sakari hadn't brought her money with her down to the casino so "Karl" gave her $100 to play on...so here they come again...having to sit right beside me. This time I insisted Sakari sit beside me so that "Karl" couldn't reach my buttons.

"Karl" kept encouraging Sakari to bet bigger. He was almost nagging...so she finally upped her bid to $7.50 a spin then this happens:

Yep, she won $360. They moved on to another and "Karl" continued to win.

Sakari kept encouraging him to quit. He was waayyyy ahead and he was getting a little too cocky thinking he was going to continue to hit big as long as he continued to play big money. Eventually I had to tell him it was time to go back to the room to get ready for dinner in order to drag him away from there. He has spent a lot of his winnings but he walked away with over $400 and Sakari $280 and cashed them in. He quickly confiscated Sakari's money saying it was his $100 he gave her to play with. She didn't think that was too cool but he played it off like "This is our money going into our winnings pot for the future". Um ok. At the bare minimum she should have only given him his $100 back he gave her. She was a little salty after this.

We decided to get dressed up and use our first specialty dining coupon. I had decided between Cagney's or Le Bistro. The kids took a look at the menu and decided on Le Bistro and to collect one of the bottles of wine this time around. This would be the first time that they ask me if I wanted to open the bottle with the meal or take it back to the room. I opted to take it back to the room to have prior to going to one of the many party's they throw during the week.

I can't tell you what we ended up ordering because I forgot to take a picture of the menu. But...I can tell you it's always funny to watch them bring out a bowl with a few small mushrooms in the middle and you think...that's it? And then they pour the soup around it and it is AMAZING.

Everyone knows not to touch their food before I get a picture...so they patiently wait.

Time for some dessert and it was AMAZING as well.

The service was good, the food was good and we loved our experience there. Now time to head back to the room to change for the 80's party. I absolutely LOVE the 80's and listen to the music whenever I get a chance. Those were the days and I love going to the 80's party on the cruise ships. Then off we went.

Sakari managed to find a duck on the way. It would be the first duck of the cruise. It happened to be a graduation duck. How appropriate!

Now what's different about the Prima is where they hold their parties. It's located in the theater and the chairs in there actually push back against a wall. Think like school bleachers do. It's pretty cool. Then it becomes an entire auditorium/dance room. I actually liked this better than having it outside on the ship or in a small crowded atrium. You didn't have to worry about the weather or anything. This should be the standard on all ships from here on out...just saying.

It reminded me of Sakari's Sweet 16 Glow party she had. Ok now, they are playing my jam and the music took over my body and me and Sakari was dancing the night away. The hubby joined in and at one point "Karl" was doing tricks and spinning with his wheelchair and popping wheelies. Then him and Sakari were dancing and he was smiling from ear to ear.

Everyone noticed and spread out in a circle around him and he "showed off" for a bit as they all cheered him on.

There was a girl that came up and was talking to Sakari as we stood there. Hmmm, did she happen to cruise with someone she knew again? This has happened before. They talked for awhile and then the girl left. I would later get the story that the girl ask her how old she was and said they had a group of girls the same age that met on the ship and was making friends and ask her to come over and dance/join the group. I guess Sakari said something to "Karl" about it and he said he wasn't interested so Sakari stayed behind and told them thanks but not at this time. Her entire demeaner changed at that point. She was either agitated, sad or rethinking life choices. She said she wanted to leave so we did shortly after. She wasn't dancing anymore and was ready for bed.

Time for a shower before bed and I would turn it on and got sprayed with cold water. The shower head was turned on me. Well that'll wake you up for sure!

It was an uneventful night after that and I closed my eyes as I dreamed about Aqua Net, shoulder pads, neon colors and singing Michael Jackson songs as I drifted off to sleep. 💤