Boatyard with a 6 year old?

[nator555]

I can't decide between Harbour Lights and the Boatyard. I think my daughter would possible enjoy the trampoline at the Boatyard but the fact that they give out free shots worries me. I would prefer not to have her around lots of intoxicated people if I can help it. I have done Harbour Lights before and I appreciated the atmosphere but I don't want my daughter to get bored. Any thoughts? Also any idea how deep the water is around the trampoline?

[SlotCarKing]

They only gave out free drinks once or twice the day I was there. Nobody was walking around drunk or throwing up or anything. The water gets fairly deep, I'd say out by the iceberg/trampoline is probably about 10 feet, but the water was fairly calm and it isn't too far from shore. There were younger kids playing out there with grown ups for most of the day. The rope swing and jump are about the same depth and distance.

Edited April 6, 2015 by SlotCarKing

[msamber0910]

Just got back from the boatyard, and I saw no free drinks or shots being passed around openly. No one was openly drunk or acting crazy. My children and I even were in bar area, which has tables surrounding them, to use wifi and even then saw families. It is pretty deep out by trampoline, but saw kids of all ages ( and adults ) on trampoline, rope swing and jumping from pier. It was a great relaxing day ( minus the same guy who kept trying to rent me a jetski!)

[OCruisers]

Boatyard is very Kid Friendly by day! :)

LuLu

[misterjohnny]

I just go back from Boatyard with my 3 kids (15, 13, 11). The water is deep by the toys, which is a good thing because that makes it safer to do all the fun stuff like flips off the trampoline and the rope swing.

 

As for the drinking, it wasn't over the top. Didn't see anyone drunk. The funniest part was watching a 17 yo girl try to talk her mom into letting her try the free shot - they announced that for 15 minutes the shots were free for 17 year old and up. She got shot down by mom, LOL.

[SteelerCruiser]

Also consider Lobster Alive which is right next to Boatyard and much much smaller and quieter.

[shark&minnow]

I agree with the others. The day we were there was quiet, I would have been very comfortable with children there.

[Domergirl]

We were there in February with our 3 daughters ages 11, 10, and 4. The older two girls loved it and stayed in the water all day. They swam out to the trampoline once and hung out there for a little while, but on our day it had been taken over by high schoolers who were just sitting and hanging out, so we didn't see anyone jumping on it all day. My oldest LOVED jumping from the rope on the dock. Both girls loved body surfing. I will tell you that on the day we were there, the waves were very strong. My 4 year old got completely pummelled and knocked over once...luckily we were right there with her. After that, she hung out in the sand. :( I even got knocked over by the waves once. Something to keep in mind, but of course that can be true of any beach!

 

We did not see any public drunkenness or anything inappropriate. I never saw free shots, but we hung out down on the beach, not at the bar...we just went up to the bar briefly when we wanted our own drinks.

 

We really had a great day at the Boatyard. Beware....the cab driver on the way there in the morning tried pretty hard to talk us out of going. I think it had something to do with the fact that the Boatyard provides free transport back to the ship...they clearly have a deal with a certain cab company to do that...and it seemed like our driver did whatever he could to steer us away from going!!! Also, get there early if you want chairs. We wasted too much time getting ready in the morning, and ended up not getting chaise loungers until others left.

[Putterdude]

Yes, the Boatyard has a bar but like others I didn't observe drunkenism, people were certainly having fun but probably no more so then around the pool on the ship. My impression was that the owner has a pretty tight control of things.