Anyone try Pirates of Antigua?

[rez4jc]

We are scheduled to go out on the Black Swan while we are in Antigua. Has anyone done this? It looks fun on their website: http://www.piratesofantigua.com

[w8ing2cruz]

I would really like to hear more about this tour also. We leave in three days and I'd like to know what the time frame is and if there is rum punch available on the whole trip? Also, do they pick you up right at the port or do you have to take land transportation to get the the Black Swan? thanks in advance for any info.

[bcs819]

Interested in this as well. Sent email asking about pier pickup, departure/return times and what the open bar includes? Anyone know?

[bcs819]

anyone...bueller?

[PINEVIEW01]

:confused: anyone know?

[marhun2430]

We wanted to do this but on the shore excursion list it says for Gem sailings only- I have been talking back and forth with them to see if you can get tickets separately but there is a slight communication breakdown -- would love to do it though!

[rez4jc]

We are booked on this excursion Feb. 20th. I posted this asking if anyone had any experience with Pirates and the Black Swan. Since no one has responded, I'll let you all know when I return. I'll get back to my house (reality) on Feb. 27th. Give me a couple of days to unpack, kiss the kids, & dog and I'll let you know how it was.

 

Since Oceania does not offer this as an excursion, we booked directly through them, and they said we could walk to the Black Swan from our ship.

[bcs819]

We have this booked for our 2/29 sailing of the Jewel. I booked directly with them for the 1-4pm sailing. Pricier ($95 pp) than we would like, but the only booze cruise we could find in any of our 5 ports ( we like to do one). WOuld have preferred to do the Prickly Pear Island thing some have posted about (also open bar) but they have not returned any of my multiple emails :(

[OCruisers]

Anyone :confused: Please, more info on "Priates of Antigua - The Black Swan" would be appreciated! :)

[lovetheislands]

We were booked for this last week on our Serenade cruise through RCCL...

 

Tickets in hand, we arrived on pier at 8:45 a.m. to meet ship's excursion which was to leave at 9:00 a.m. and return by noon. The Black Swan is docked in the same port as ship - maybe 150 yards away.

 

At 9:05 a.m., ship's excursion of about 35 of us walked over to the Black Swan to board. It was already almost completely full - there was a Holland America ship also in port and I believe some of the passengers were from that ship and others likely booked independently. There was literally NOWHERE to even sit down as the ship was already VERY crowded. We have 2 young children (8 and 5). I am NOT a trouble maker but a make-lemonade-out-of-lemons-girl but I looked at my husband and kids as everywhere on the ship we tried was crowded and people saying "it is full" and asked "do you want to get off?"

 

Even kids said yes. We walked off and I (nicely) demanded our tickets back. When opeartor asked why, I told her they'd oversold the excursion and that there was nowhere to sit down on the entire ship (it was CROWDED even standing). She immediately gave my tickets back and I took them to the RCCL Excursion agent on the dock, who initialed them and subsequently refunded our money with no questions asked.

 

We ended up having a lovely day in Antigua thanks to the lady at the Tourist nformation Desk at the port who called a private operator to take us on beach and snorkel tour for $180 for 4 people (about what Pirates was costing us).

 

I hope those that actually made it on the Pirate ship with a seat enjoyed it...but no Black Swan for us!!!! Nor would I ever book with them again...I could not blame RCCL - the ship was crowded by Black Swan independently before our excurison even arrived.

[OCruisers]

:eek: That's terrible! Thanks for your time to inform us!

[bcs819]

Hello-

 

I just wanted to add that we had been scheduled to do the Pirates of Antigua last month when we were on the Jewel for the afternoon sailing, from 1-4. About a week before, I emailed to confirm our reservation, and received a response from them, that due to low participation on that particular day, they were switching us to the 9am sailing. No one had notified us, so we would have missed the sailing entirely, and we were NOT interested in going on a booze cruise at 9 in the morning. I responded that we were no longer interested and cancelled our reservation - when we arrived in Antigua, you could see the pirate ship from the pier, and it sat there all day. We went off on our own for 2 hours or so, and walked around the pier area, and it never left.

[Dr.MomW]

Hi,

 

We took the 1pm trip on 4/23. We were on the Crown Princess, the only ship in port. The ship had booked both excursions for the day (am and pm). The pirate ship was crowded and we did not get seats right away. Seats did open up, however, because so many people chose to dance the whole trip! There were lots of rum punch and beer. The music was loud. The ship stopped at Deep Bay and the rope swing and plank were made available. There was a small pontoon-like boat that shuttled people back and forth to the beach. We had 1 hour to swim etc. My 3 sons (ages 6 to 12) had a blast. One got to be the Captain for a while. The crew was very funny. Even though it was a "booze cruise", the Captain was clear that he would shut off any one who "overdid" it. That wasn't necessary. Overall it was a really fun trip. We also watched the am ship coming back, and they also were having a blast!

[OCruisers]

Thanks for this, Dr.MomW!

 

We've noticed that it's ALWAYS a good plan to take children on the one offered in the MORNING!

 

:D Now that we no longer travel with children, we love to go in the afternoon!

[amcess721]

What age of kids are allowed to go on this excursion?

I see the website says "under 5 free"

NCL's site says "participants must be 4 years old"...

We'll be in port on a Thursday, so we can't boook through the ship itself.

I think this sounds like fun but we'll be traveling with our 15 month old.

Has anyone seen kids younger than 4 on board?

(PS - hubby and I aren't drinkers so that's not an issue)... I know people are saying it's a "booze cruise" ... but it seems like it can be a lot of fun without the booze too.

Thanks.

[OCruisers]

Any other reports on this?

[dande123]

Has anyone gone on this excursion lately? Was wondering how it is?