Tampa’s newest pirate ship, The Lost Pearl, sets sail this weekend

TAMPA, Fla. - The Lost Pearl, Tampa’s newest pirate ship makes its maiden voyage for public cruises this weekend in the waters of Tampa Bay.

The 90-minute, interactive, cruise portrays the story of Blackbeard’s ghost, a pirate that stole treasure from The Lost Pearl. Those aboard ship must save it.

“We get the kids and we train them to be pirates,” explained Katherine Grace O’Sullivan, a.k.a “Amazing Grace”. “We teach them how to load the cannon, how to fire the cannon, we teach them how to stay low and limber by playing a game we call ‘under the yardarm’. It sounds a lot like the limbo, but it’s not. We pirated the music through. We also teach them how to pass cannonballs back and forth quickly to each other in the heat of battle and we teach them how to take orders.”

Though The Lost Pearl is a kid-oriented cruise, the adults aren’t left out.

The ship has a full grog-bar with beer, wine and liquor. 

“You can drink rum punch out of a pirate cup on the ship,” said Jennifer Richardson, marketing director for Pirate Water Taxi.

The lost Pearl previously sailed as a pirate ship in Virginia Beach.

It took about seven days to sail the boat from Virginia into the waters of Tampa Bay.

The Lost Pearl is part of the Pirate Water Taxi fleet.

“We have the dining cruises, the Yacht Starship, the water taxi…Tampa needed a pirate ship, so people could come on board and experience a swashbuckling good time,” Richardson said. 

The Lost Pearl can hold up to 125 passengers. 

LINK: Learn more and purchase tickets here.