$1500 Cape Cod Challenge Day 2: Pirate Cruise & Beach

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Day two of our budget vacation started off with beautiful breezy weather. We slept in and my husband got up and made everyone pancakes.

I packed lunches in our cooler and then we were off to Hyannis to take part in the Pirate Adventures Cruise on the Sea Gypsy (www.pirateadventurescapecod.com). According to the website, the pirate cruise leaves from the harbor and is geared towards ages 3-11.

Reservations are required, but truth be told, I called them the morning of the cruise at 8am and was able to get a same day reservation for the 2pm sailing. I didn't want to book too far ahead because I wanted to make sure we had great weather.

There are restaurants on the harbor,Baxter's or Tugboats, that sell seafood and have great views of the ships. What I was happy to discover however, is the same view is available for free at the picnic tables on the grass right in front of the Pirate ship!

We arrived early for our cruise, parked in the metered parking in front of the dock and got our cooler out of the trunk. We set it up on a picnic table and enjoyed lunch before sailing. There is also a public restroom in the area.

After lunch we still had a few minutes to spare so we walked up and down the dock looking at the fishing boats. There was a man cleaning these enormous fish right there in front of us...a free yet disgusting show for the kids! Just what the boys wanted to see. 😊

When it was about 1:30 we checked in at the Sea Gypsy. The cost of the cruise is $21/per person. They sell pirate skull caps for $6 and eye patches for $1. They do free face painting on the dock for the kiddos, give them free beads, and let them borrow a pirate vest for the trip. Lots of kids (including mine) came dressed in their own pirate t-shirts or outfits from home.

The actual cruise is an hour long and was the cutest thing I've ever seen. The children really got into the story. They looked on a map for sunken treasure, and battled a rogue pirate named Slash with water cannons. The captain and crew of the Sea Gypsy were great with the kids. In the end all the children got a handful of pirate treasure to take home with them.

I was thinking ahead and before we left Buffalo, I went to the Dollar Store and bought pirate play sets that included a sword, treasure coins, a hook, and eye patch. When we got back to the condo I presented the kids with the playsets and they used the playsets to re-enact their own Slash Pirate Adventure.

There's one note I wanted to make about the trip: the children on our sailing all looked to be between 2-7 years old. There was one older child, closer to 11 on the ship, but he didn't look like he was participating in the activities. I would suggest your child would have the most fun if he/she was 7 years old or under. If you have an older child and would like to do something similiar, you might check out Fire Tug Tillie (www.firetugtillie.com). I noticed them on the same docks and their flyer says, "tailored for ages 7-11". The kids learn basic sailor skills, knot tying, and fire water cannons on that trip.

After our pirate cruise, we headed back to the condo. Dad took the boys across the street to the beach for a little while and I started dinner. We had bbq hamburgers and hotdogs. It was a great day!

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Photos

Pirate cruise
The captain sizes up his new crew members.

pirate cruise
Searching the map for sunken treasure.