Black Raven Pirate Ship — Attraction in Saint Augustine

My 5 yr old back in May said all he wanted was to go on a pirate ship and get a treasure from the queen so I searched and found 3 hours from us was Black Raven in St. Augustine Got my family of 8 coming paid for us for this trip then took a weekend off of work all us did. I am never able to get away from work I work 2 jobs and I'm the only ACO in my town. Anyhow we located a airbnb for us paid well over 600.00 for the Friday thru Sunday stay. We left outer town at 11 am got to air bnb by 3:30pm Friday the 9th and checked in all excited get a call about 5:30pm they needed to change our 11:15am Saturday trip because not enough to fill the spot.at that time i was told we needed to fill the treasure box that we went with gifts which can be brought in or bought in their store and they will put them in the chest that the queen will present to the birthday boy on the ship.So we were rescheduled to the 1:15pm trip so knowing we need to check in a hour before departure and me being cautious to not ruin this exciting trip for my son and my 2yr old grandson we got there at 12pm to check in and get additional gifts from on site store. While there the mechanic comes in sweating stating something to the lady inside that "that is if they can get the part today because it's a saturday" at which time I'm nervous and ask the store personal what is going on she says they need a part for the ship and it should be here before departure I said whew okay. Fast forward our whole day was put on hold waiting around went to walk around in 97 degrees with a 2yr old and a upset now 6yr old wasn't exactly a grand time.so we rented a 8 seater golf cart which was not really convenient due to amount of people walking and no places to park along with the parking meters charging per hour and max 4 hrs so we carried on finding things to do til the next ship sail. Needless to say I get a email first then a call that the part won't be here in time so we are now rescheduled to the 4:15 boat ride. I ask what happens now come check in before 4pm before I could check in we now exceeded parking and 4 hrs golf cart we borrowed had to be returned so we used one car out the 2 we brought and dropped golf cart then re parked paid meter again and get a call the part never came. I asked can someone come sing happy birthday on ship give the cupcake to him and get his treasure chest. I was told no he can not go on the ship but they can meet me on the dock at 4:30 by the boat if I'd like. So I agreed to that and a refund for the trip I booked. I did get my refund but seemed no one gave a concern that I explained how much we put into this to make this happen for my child. As the 2 ladies left the dock after giving my son his stuff out the chest they said now we are done lets go to the pub and have a beer. Im glad they had a good time. Our whole day was waisted i am only leaving this review in hopes another child isn't let down if they would of just been honest friday we could of planned our get away accordinly. Things happen but the care from this buisness for a excited child...

While my family spends a good amount of time in Saint Augustine being locals we often will steer clear of some of the more tourist focused attractions during the peak season just to avoid crowds. My wife found a Groupon for the Black Raven and my 2 daughters love pirates so As part of my father's day weekend celebration we decided to become scallywags and give up our land lubbing ways for an hour and a half with captain Chase and his crew Lady Red, Jamison, Lady Mermaid our bar wench, and our attackers Captain hook and Mad Dog.

First let's just get one thing straight, this is not just a casual cruise, this is a show on water and these characters take their roles seriously and obviously enjoy entertaining as from the very start there was song, jokes, and fun for all ages!

All of our crew had wonderful voices as they led us in shanty, salty, songs of old while stomping out the rhythm to row or draw the sails to!

I want to make it clear that you are not physically drawing or rowing but the fun of singing clapping and joining the energy is encouraged!

While there is so much more that happens I would be remiss to divulge too much as I think part of the experience is not knowing what to expect.

The ship is clean and safe, there are bathrooms aboard as well as a full bar that is available for a charge after the ship gets underway.

All in all I can't speak highly enough of these actors and the professional level delivered as part of our adventure and would recommend this to all families young and old to come out and add a little salt life to your everyday and immerse yourself in being a scoundrel of the Black...

Really mixed reviews on this one. The cruise was OK. Really geared towards younger children, who seemed to have a good time. Bought drinks on board. NEVER do that! They were the horrible... worst drinks I ever had! Then, told the owners of my experience. They did NOTHING. Wrote me notes telling me about the drinks I bought, all of which were completely incorrect. Would not refund the my money. Because of such a poor customer service experience, I will never do business with these people again! Too bad as I just moved here and would have taken others who came to visit. They lost a customer forever over $30. Sad!

I have to add to this additional info to my review after the owners response. First of all, your reply is full of inaccuracies. I ordered 2 drinks, 2 different kinds. Before the bartender had even served the first two, I did order a third because I had missed one member of our party. When I got all 3, they were horrible. Not even drinkable! So we threw all 3 away. Then I tried to address it with you and you treated me disrespectfully versus solving the issue. So when I write a review on here, you fill it with things that didn’t happen in order to try and blame me. I reported the drink issue directly to you and since then, it’s been YOU accusing ME of something instead of addressing g your poor customer service!!! I wish I could give you ZERO stars. And I certainly hope no one else spends their money with you knowing how you treat people! Enough said! You can keep up the bs Iff you want but it will only reflect more poorly on you and how you treat people when they have...