Cyrpus Holiday Day 7 - The Black Pearl Pirate Ship

Day 7 was probably our best and most memorable day in Cyprus as we enjoyed a four hour excursion along the South and East coast of Cyprus on a life size replica of the Black Pearl pirate ship as used in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. The ship was absolutely spectacular in every little detail and the crew gave us a real pirate adventure. The seas were super calm today and despite some sea sickness on the previous day, everyone was absolutely fine today.

 

We arrived at the harbour for 11am to board the stunning replica Black Pearl pirate ship.

Joshua and Brandon with a scary looking pirate.

The main deck of the ship. There were 3 decks in total.

View of the cannons over the side of the ship.

We managed to get the buggy up on to the sun deck and set up camp there for the day. Brandon enjoying the view from up high.

View of the main deck looking through the ships bell.

The Black Pearl's pirate ship flag.

Joshua and Brandon up on the helm.

Brandon took this nice picture of me at the bow of the ship. Not quite a Titanic pose!

Brandon getting his picture done with a pirate that looks like Slim and a rather busty looking piratess!

Little B found the treasure on the ship.

On board the ship the crew were dressed up as characters from the Pirates of the Caribbean and really did a fantastic job of entertaining everyone on board. Normally you would expect kids to get bored and sea sick as you travelled from one location to another. However on the Black Pearl they had kids activities planned for each of the journeys so that the kids were entertained and kept their minds occupied. During the days voyage they had to design a pirate flag, complete some pirate training and go on a treasure hunt to name just a few of the activities.  During our voyage we were entertained by Captain Jack Sparrow, Hector, Black Beard, Squid Head and a lady pirate who's character name I did not get.

Hector and Captain Jack Sparrow summon the kids to the main deck.

Brandon gets cracking designing his pirate flag which he had to wave whenever we passed by another ship or boat.

What a great skull and cross bone.

One of the sites we took in was the highest point in Cyprus standing at 492m which was apparently caused from an earthquake. 

 

At our first swim stop we were given the opportunity to either jump in from off the main deck into the sea or drop down a ladder from the back of the boat. Joshua immediately wanted to try jumping off of the ship until I got him up there and he realised it was a good 20ft drop. So as with the Nemo on the previous day Joshua bottled it and I had to man up and show him that I could do it.

 

Me poised on the side of the Black Pearl putting on a brave face before leaping into the depths below.

And off I go, just look at the colour of that water.

Kersplash. I am down there somewhere. That's a long way down.

So for the first swim stop Joshua and Brandon put on life jackets and just jumped off of the back of the ship. Holly was asleep but they did have a life jacket small enough for her so on the second swim stop I managed to get her in the water. 

Joshua really didn't need a life jacket as he is such a good swimmer.

Tina and the boys cooling off at one of the swim stops.

Brandon needed his goggles and the life jacket as he really doesn't like sea water.

Another picture of Brandon with one of the fake pirates on the ship.

Once Holly woke up me and Brandon gave her a tour of the ship and Brandon wanted this picture taken with his sister.

Brandon finds an old pistol and goes on a hunt for Black Beard.

Uh oh, who's that steering the ship?

We passed by the famous Cyprus caves and then onto the Bridge of Love shown in this picture.

Lunch on board the Black Pearl was a really nice meal of rice, chicken, potato, coleslaw, bread, salad etc. As we queued for our dinner the lady serving behind the bar took a real liking to Holly and very generously gave her a lovely pink sleep suit with the pirate symbol on the front and Black Pearl written on the back. Hector was also standing by the bar as we got our lunch and could see that I was struggling carrying a baby plus 3 plates of food and kindly helped us to get all our meals and then carried them up to the sun deck for us. 

After the first swim stop and lunch Hector and Captain Jack call the kids to the deck to commence their pirate training.

Brandon and Joshua proudly show their Black Pearl bracelets earned for completing their pirate training (Joshua also managed to get one for Holly).

Another picture of the boys with the fake pirate.

The first bad character that appeared on board was Black Beard.

Joshua and Brandon would not get their picture taken with Black Beard as they thought he was a real pirate. So I thought I would take Holly down and get a picture taken with her and Black Beard to prove to them that there was nothing to be afraid of. This plan back fired big time. Holly saw Black Beard and reached out to touch his beard. All of a sudden she screamed in complete shock and fear so loudly that just about everyone on the deck turned around and looked. We have never seen a reaction like it from Holly, it was pure blind fear, she was petrified. I said to Tina afterwards that it is amazing that she does not know about good/bad and that some pirates are nasty, she has a complete blank canvas yet something within her instincts told her that this was a bad character and she reacted accordingly.

Me and my kiddlywinks with the real captain of the ship.

So later in the day we had a second swim stop and Joshua once again said he wanted to try jumping off the upper deck of the ship. So once again I took him up there and he took one look down and bottled it. Then I had an idea. I asked him if he would jump off if I did it with him and held his hand. He jumped at this idea and so we were off. Once he had made that initial leap and realised it was fun, there was no stopping him. He was like a yo-yo jumping off, swimming to the back, running through the decks of the ship and then jumping off again, and again, and again.

After jumping in tandem with me, Joshua finally plucks up the courage to jump off the Black Pearl solo.

That's one big leap for a little boy! And a long sea swim to the back of the ship to get back on board.

Great shot of Joshua flying through the air with a good 15ft drop into the depths below.

 

Under the water Joshua goes with a splash.

Then up he pops and he races to the back of the ship so that he can do it all over again.

The back of the Black Pearl for the not so adventurous.

Brandon wasn't interested in the second swim stop so instead he stayed on board the ship whilst the crew did some face painting on the kids.

Our voyage came to an end and finally squidhead appeared on board the ship carrying the ships stolen treasure. After a brief battle with a drunk Jack Sparrow, Squidhead was beaten and the loot of sweeties was shared amongst the kiddies.

 

Squidhead with the ships stolen treasure.

We all had an absolutely fabulous and memorable day at sea. The boys are now certified pirates and so when we get back to the hotel I start to ease off on the beer and start drinking lots of rum and coke! Anyway half way through our holiday now.....