Grand Cayman - Pirate Encounter or Boatswain's Adventure Marine Park

[texfinn]

HELP! I am really struggling with which excursion to do in GC.

My DH is going scuba diving, leaving me and DS(4) and DD(7) to explore GC on our own.

I currently have a tour booked with Moby Dick tours to visit the Stingrays. I am second guessing this because 1) it is non DCL and I am doing this alone with the kids and 2) I am worried DS will FREAK and not get in the water with the stingrays.

So -- I am exploring other options. The two options I am looking at are the Pirate Encounter and Boatswain's.

I am nervous about DS freaking out about the "pirates" on the Pirate Encounter and am worried that we will actually be bored at Boatswain's and it is an expensive excursion if we only stay an hour or so.

Any advice on any of the above? I would love some feedback -- especially from someone who had done the excursions with young kids.

THANKS!!!!

 

[cinjam]

We did Boatswain's on our 2/7/09 cruise. My DS's were 4 and 7 when we cruied (just turned 5 and 8). We loved it! It was about a 4 hour excursion: we got there around 9:30 (can't remember exactly) and left at 2:00pm.

We all played with the turtles when we first got there and then went back again to play w/them again at the end of the excursion. DS8 & my DH did the scuba in the lagoon while DS5 and I played on the beach on the scuba lagoon. Then we headed over to the other lagoon to swim and play a bit. We also went to the bird exhibit. Lunch was included. The time went very fast!! I would say the turtles were a HUGE hit with my kids - they were allowed to touch them as much as they wanted to. Again, we had an excellent time and would do it again.

It was pricey through Disney, a lot cheaper if you do it on your own. But, I like the security I feel when I book my excursions through Disney, so I went that route. Here is their web site: http://www.boatswainsbeach.ky/.

Feel free to ask questions!!

 

[cakesnjammom]

thanks for the link...loved looking at the pics!

 

[disneyfaninaz]

We did Boatswain's on our 2/7/09 cruise. My DS's were 4 and 7 when we cruied (just turned 5 and 8). We loved it! It was about a 4 hour excursion: we got there around 9:30 (can't remember exactly) and left at 2:00pm.

We all played with the turtles when we first got there and then went back again to play w/them again at the end of the excursion. DS8 & my DH did the scuba in the lagoon while DS5 and I played on the beach on the scuba lagoon. Then we headed over to the other lagoon to swim and play a bit. We also went to the bird exhibit. Lunch was included. The time went very fast!! I would say the turtles were a HUGE hit with my kids - they were allowed to touch them as much as they wanted to. Again, we had an excellent time and would do it again.

It was pricey through Disney, a lot cheaper if you do it on your own. But, I like the security I feel when I book my excursions through Disney, so I went that route. Here is their web site: http://www.boatswainsbeach.ky/.

Feel free to ask questions!!

Sounds great. We are signed up for this excursion as well. I didn't realize lunch was included. Do you get a voucher or is it a set menu?

 

[texfinn]

Thanks everyone for their input! I think I settled on the Pirate encounter mainly because it is a 2.5 hour excursion versus a 4.5 hour excursion and somehow, don't see myself maintaining my sanity wiith the 2 kids (and no DH) for 4.5 hours!!!

Boatswain sounds good though so hopefully next time because yes, even though this is our first DCL -- I do believe there will be a next time.

 

[cinjam]

Sounds great. We are signed up for this excursion as well. I didn't realize lunch was included. Do you get a voucher or is it a set menu?

It was a buffet style with jerk chicken, cheese burgers, rice, & macaroni salad. It was simple, but pretty good. There was no voucher, I beleive we just showed her our wrist bands or our excursion tickets - can't remmeber which. But when we approached the buffet, she looked at us and said, "you guys are with Disney, right?" Could have been those Disney stickers we all had on our shirts (the ones they give out at the start of each excursion)

 

[cdndizzylizzy]

Thanks everyone for their input! I think I settled on the Pirate encounter mainly because it is a 2.5 hour excursion versus a 4.5 hour excursion and somehow, don't see myself maintaining my sanity wiith the 2 kids (and no DH) for 4.5 hours!!!

Boatswain sounds good though so hopefully next time because yes, even though this is our first DCL -- I do believe there will be a next time.

We did the pirate encounter in 2008 - we really enjoyed it - the pirates are not scary - they are funny! They sail around the Magic and fire fake cannons at it, and shout at the people looking at the pirate ship from Deck 4. They also yell at Mickey and tell him to come on out and fight - it's all very funny! Swimming in the ocean after jumping off the plank (or walking down the ladder into the sea) was absolutely wonderful - warm, turquoise blue, clear water - be sure to bring a waterproof camera to take a picture of yourselves in the water with the Magic in the distance behind you. It's a reasonably priced, shorter excursion that was a highlight of our '08 cruise - hope you have fun!

 

[Waltworshiper]

We did the pirate encounter too. My boys 10, 9 and 6 all loved it. They got to walk the plank for a swim, swab the deck, and take a pirate oath. I had the same concern about the stingrays, that's why we didn't do them either. Unfortunately, the day we did the pirate cruise was quite windy and we were not allowed to drop anchor in the harbor where the ship usually goes. It was about a 20 minute bus ride to Geogetown from where we were docked. The pirate ship picked us up rigt from where the tender dropped us, so we did not have to take the bus in, unfortunately by the time the pirate cruise was over, it wouldn't have left enough time to go explore the town. We just went back to the ship and enjoyed lunch, then the pools while they were not so crowded.

 

[MMitchell29]

Can someone point me to information and/or prices about the priate encounter please