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| Above, the Norwegian Sky and tender boat off Great Stirrup Cay. Photo by Armand Vaquer. |
Last year's cruise to the Bahamas with Norwegian Cruise Line's Norwegian Sky included a day at their private island, Great Stirrup Cay.
We had a good time shopping and doing some jet skiing there, this was the first time I have been to a cruise line's private island resort. Norwegian is building a dock at Great Stirrup Cay to accommodate their ships. Currently, they dock off-shore and ferry passengers on tender boats.
It appears that this practice of taking customers to private islands instead of showing the world is not sitting well with some cruise customers.
Business Insider sees this as a growing trend with cruise lines. There are reasons why cruise lines are doing so and they discuss this in a new article.
They begin with:
Cruises have always been a vessel for exploration — a way for travelers to see the world. But over the last few years, these floating resorts have increasingly narrowed their focus to just one type of destination: theme parks in the middle of the ocean.
Cruise ships touch virtually every corner of the earth, from Antarctica to Albania, Madagascar to the Mediterranean. They're often the most convenient and affordable way to see several countries in one trip, which is why bookings have remained buoyant despite uncertain economic tides foundering the rest of the travel industry.
However, these exploratory roots are quickly becoming overshadowed by more lucrative, purpose-built beach resorts that not all travel traditionalists may be happy about.
To read more, go here.
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