On The Town

Urban Pirates booze cruise

The best way to see Baltimore is from a boat filled with rum and pirates.

This past Saturday, some friends and I celebrated a bachelorette party on the Urban Pirates “Bring Your Own Grog” cruise in Fells Point. Since 2008, Urban Pirates has been launching daytime family cruises and nighttime adult cruises on their 52-foot custom built pirate ship, “Fearless.”

While the family cruises are certainly popular, we opted for the nighttime version, where 25 ticket-holders can board the ship with any alcoholic beverage they’d like (cans and coolers are encouraged, though). Once on the ship, an animated group of pirate performers makes the experience a lot of fun—with costumes, an entertaining soundtrack, water cannons, and various games along the way.

The entire cruise takes about an hour, as the ship leaves from Ann Street pier, sails along Tide Point, Locust Point, Federal Hill, and the Inner Harbor (shooting tourists with water cannons was, admittedly, a highlight). Then the ship turns back around. From a local standpoint, the cruise was a really unique way to see Baltimore, from the waterview. Plus, the whole experience was a blast and a great way to get ready for the bars in Fells Point.

Urban Pirates runs four nightly trips every Friday and Saturday. Tickets are $25 and many of the cruises book up early (ours did about a week in advance). This would be a great way to show out-of-towners the city, or also just have a fun night out with friends—but be sure you all like Captain Morgan rum!

[Image: courtesy of flickr.com/photos/bogray]