GREAT STIRRUP CAY, Bahamas -- Time is relative. And it's never felt more relative than during a one-day preview of Norwegian Cruise Line's new Great Tides Waterpark, where each hour seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.
My husband and I, along with our two kids, were among the first guests to splash, slide and swim through the attraction on Sept. 1, a few days before its official opening on Sept. 4.
To be sure we weren't the first to set foot on Great Stirrup Cay. NCL has owned the 270-acre island since 1977, when it became the first cruise line to offer an exclusive private destination.
Nearly five decades later, that concept has proliferated across the industry, and NCL is now further investing in Great Stirrup Cay amid a far more competitive landscape. (Case in point: While eating breakfast that morning on the Norwegian Getaway, my kids and I could spot Royal Caribbean's Perfect Day CocoCay, home to the Thrill Waterpark, in the distance.)
During a ribbon-cutting ceremony, NCL president Marc Kazlauskas said the Great Tides Waterpark opening was "about celebrating the next chapter of a story that began nearly 50 years ago."
"Families vacation together, but everyone enjoys time differently," he said. "Our goal is to create experiences that offer something for everyone."
During a panel discussion about the waterpark one day later, NCL chief sales officer John Chernesky described private island competition as "an arms race," with Great Stirrup Cay now a frontrunner.
"We definitely have had a beautiful platform to work from," said Chernesky. "And we have not just caught up but hopefully leapfrogged the competition to position ourselves with the best of the best."
A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place at the Great Tides Waterpark on Sept. 1. Photo Credit: Norwegian Cruise Line
Good times, good eats
Great Tides Waterpark certainly has packed a whole lot into a relatively compact, easy-to-navigate footprint.
The park comprises four main sections. Tidal Tower is a 170-foot structure with the park's tallest and longest slides. Cliffside Cove offers two cliff jumps (one high, another even higher) and several fast slides. Splash Cay was built for younger kids, and Wandering River is NCL's "not-so-lazy river" that moves at a relatively fast 6 miles per hour, said Kazlauskas.
For my husband and 8-year-old son, both daredevils, the main draws were Tidal Tower, which offered plenty of rollercoaster-style drops and twists, and Cliffside Cove, for obvious reasons.
Travel Weekly reporter Christina Jelski's two kids at Splash Cay. Photo Credit: Christina Jelski
But don't sleep on the centrally located Splash Cay. It has some basic slides but also features some of the best-designed kiddie slides anywhere because they are essentially condensed versions of the big-kid slides, complete with momentary blackouts, colorful see-through shapes that create trippy lighting effects and a surprising level of speed.
My 8-year-old, who usually turns up his nose at anything resembling a baby slide, kept circling back to Splash Cay to enjoy a few runs with his younger sister and get soaked by Splash Cay's giant NCL-branded tipping bucket.
Come lunchtime, there was a similar level of variety. A buffet, included with admission, serves classics like freshly grilled burgers and hot dogs as well as corn on the cob, potato salad and jerk chicken.
Beyond the buffet, the park features three food truck-style stands that sell their fare a la carte. At the barbecue-focused Low Tide Smoke, the pulled-pork nachos were my favorite, served in a red Doritos bag. The tender pork was topped with pico de gallo and spicy pickled jalapenos.
At the seafood-focused Catch of the Cay, my husband enjoyed a crispy shrimp roll topped with a sweet pepper relish.
Tidal Treats: Bubble waffle sundaes. Photo Credit: NCL
As for the kids, their favorite bites were from Tidal Treats, where they sampled the Tropical Fish-Shaped Waffle Cone, an Instagrammable taiyaki-inspired treat, and the Ultimate Chocolate Brownie Sundae, which came wrapped in a Hong Kong-style bubble waffle.
It was more elevated than your standard waterpark fare, though it does come at an extra cost, with dishes ranging from $10 to $15. The value seemed especially good for the Tidal Treats desserts, which were so large that I ended up finishing both of my kids' treats. (No complaints there.)
Evolution in progress
Exact pricing for Great Tides Waterpark is a work in progress. Chernesky said NCL is still testing its dynamic pricing and wasn't able to announce a set range, though he pointed to one upcoming sailing with passes listed at $99 per person as an example. Pricing for children, currently free for those under 3, is also under review and likely to evolve, he added.
"We obviously want to be competitive in price," said Chernesky. "We don't want to take advantage of people, but we want to really give them a great experience."
Capacity is another area that could evolve as the waterpark gauges guest experience. NCL has currently capped daily attendance at 1,200 guests, though the park can accommodate up to 1,800, said Mark Kansley, NCL's chief experience officer. He added that the current cap could be adjusted, depending on demand.
One of Great Tides' biggest selling points will be line waits of "a couple of minutes at most," he said. We found that held largely true on a day where 1,000 guests were in the waterpark for the preview. There was little to no wait, even for the park's most popular thrill slides.
As for what's ahead, Kansley said roughly 36% of Great Stirrup Cay is currently developed, leaving considerable room to grow.
"Watch this space," he said. "I'm sure there's a lot more coming."