Great Stirrup Cay (GSC) is a privately owned island by Norwegian Cruise Lines in the Bahamas. As much as I wanted to visit a beach in Cuba, there were too many historic and cultural elements to experience there.  Besides, the final day of the Sky cruise would be spent on GSC from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Cruisers had to get tender passes for a short ride to the piers.  Unlike Havana where I was able to work around the excursion prices, everything for GSC must be booked through the ship.  I wanted to go kayaking and jet skiing, but the remaining times overlapped.  I reserved the wave runner excursion for $99 for single riders and $139 for double.  The ticket was delivered to my room early in the morning and also served as my pass to board the tender.

The group of Quinceañera girls were organized in their own activity.  They were well behaved and at no time did it feel like the large group was taking over the island.

The Norwegian Sky has an open bar concept that carried onto the island.  There was food set up for lunch.  Bring along some cash to purchase souvenirs.  The t-shirts with the beads were very reasonable.  Havana had way better deals on clay, jewelry, and wood work items so pass on those.

The Sky offers reservations of clam shell cabanas.  I do not recommend paying and extra $35 for a rental because there are plenty of lounge chairs available in shaded spots.

The space around the bars were the most crowded, but not to the point where you could not find a beach chair.  For more privacy, walk towards the left. 

The water temperature was warm and very clear.  Several fish swam around me.  I did not like the sand texture.  It was rough and a sure way to ruin a pedicure.

I went to the meeting place for the wave runner excursion.  We watched a quick safety video.  I met some cool people who turned out to be marathon runners also. 

We rode the jet skis around Berry Islands for a good hour. 

We stopped at an area known for starfish. 

The guides allowed us to jump off the wave runners and swim for about 20 minutes.  I had a ball!  Its moments like these where I pause to thank God for everything!!

I had about an hour to relax at the beach before catching the last tender to the ship. 

GSC exceeded my expectations and the open bar and lunch made it even better.