RCI Pirate ship excursion

[jaredcoreymama]

Has anyone done RCI Pirate ship excursion? We were thinking about doing this with our two boys (7 and 10)

[newcruiser30]

I was wondering this too...but we don't have kids! Is it fun for adult too?

Thanks!:)

[jaredcoreymama]

Anyone ever done this before?

[tharris264]

Like the previous posters I had been looking for feedback on this excursion but found very little. We decided to book this excursion in hopes that our kids (10yr old girl and 5 yr old boy) would really enjoy it. We just got back from our cruise and I am sorry to say this excursion was a complete waste.

 

The day started with the cruise ship not being able to tender on the side it was orginally supposed to due to the high winds and swells so most of the excursions were cancelled and the ones that were not were delayed a little so the ship could go to the other side of the island to tender.

 

A boat arrived shortly after we arrived on the island to take us out to the pirate ship. There were only about a dozen passengers. The crew of 5 was dressed up in pirate attire as expected and once we boarded the ship a couple of them kidded around with the children. Once we got underway they introduced themselves. They then lined the kids up and had them give a pirates oath and they got out a bucket of brushes and had the kids scrub the deck for a little while. After that they tied one of the fathers up to the ship and accused him of silly crimes like not taking his son to Disney Land in the last 5 years and they proceeded to pour a bucket of ice water over him. They made him promise to take his son for ice cream after the excursion if he wanted to be freed. They have a tiny cannon that they shoot off with a pelletless shotgun shell. They are supposed to shoot it at your cruise ship but they couldnt get it to work. They later fixed it and shot it off towards a tender ship.

 

You may be thinking it doesn't sound to bad so far and the first 20 minutes were fairly entertaining for those of us with kids. The problem is that after that initial 20 minutes that was it and even during the first 20 minutes the pirate crew didnt show much enthusiasm it was more of going through the motions. They basically sat around the remainder of the excursion. The ship isnt very big so it doesnt take but a few minutes to tour it. They never let the sails down and actually sail the ship they just use the motor.

 

At the beginning they tell you there is rum punch and fruit punch in the two coolers and also sodas. Most excursions I have been on with drinks they either bring them to you or have someone you can go up to that fixes the drinks for you...it would have at least given one of the crew something to do.

 

Its to bad because there is so much more they could do to make this interesting and fun for both kids and adults but they just dont seem to care. They could tell stories about pirate lore and buried treasures. Have a sword fight or maybe have one of the crew walk the plank.

 

In the end everyone looked bored and not a single person left them a tip.

[viper88]

We took this excursion on our Mariner cruise last August. Our family of 5 had a wonderful time. Our children 10, 7, 3 loved it. After the entertainment part of the excursion, we had a swim stop. Everyone could walk the plank or jump from the top deck of the ship. I would recommend it to you.

 

You can go to youtube.com and search for grand cayman pirate excurion. There are a few videos, so you can check it out for yourself.

[tharris264]

Glad to hear you had a good time on the excursion viper88. They did stop the boat for a short swim break but with the high winds which made the air a bit cool my daughter was the only one to get in for a swim. Maybe the weather played a part in why everything seemed underwhelming. The crew just didn't seem very motivated to make sure everyone was having a good time. The female (Winch Mary I believe) just stood around and did absolutely nothing except get out the tip box at the end. My wife had to ask her if she could take a picture of her with my daughter which she did with no enthusiasm. I dont think it was just us expecting to much as it was obvious looking at the other passengers that nobody was having much fun.