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New England Pirate Museum
Rating Details »
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
14 reviews for New England Pirate Museum
This place is the best deal going in tacky Salem. It's actually fairly factual, and fun. Great tour guides, who actually seem to give a crap, which is rare in most touristy places. Good work, dudes...the missus' was impressed, and so was I. You all need a raise...you probably ain't makin' crap, but you should be.
The place itself needs to cleaned up a little (ok, a lot)...it smells pretty moldy and it's probably not healthy to be breathing in. The mannequins are sort of old and dusty, and they smell pretty bad (and coming from me, that says a whole lot). It's cheap to get into the place, though, and I thought it was a pretty good value for the dough.
Not sure why it's closed in the winter...seems like it would be a good thing for kids to do on cold days...? Maybe the owners bag it and go to Florida for the winter...who knows.
All in all, a good deal...go there and enjoy it for what it is.
Oh yeah, I actually spotted a couple of biker chicks riding by...woo hoo!
Ride safe.
Arrr! Lower ye expectations and leave yer pride in yer footlocker!
The New England Pirate Museum is every bit as silly as it sounds. It's small, cheesy and it's difficult to discern fact from fiction (assuming there is some fact mixed in there somewhere). But given the right frame of mind, it can be a lot of fun. So if you're cruising Salem looking for some laughs (or if you're 10 years old) the New England Pirate Museum might be just the place for you.
People thought this was:
- Useful (3)
- Funny (5)
- Cool (4)
I thought the Pirate museum was fun. our tour guide was great and hilarious, and told us a lot of cool facts about pirates and especially pirates of the New England waters. There were cool displays and also he told us about all the different pirate flags and what they meant and we saw them on display. Before this tour I had always thought Skull and Crossbones was the only flag for pirates. I did not know pirates had different flags.
Pretty interesting stuff. Gift shop is pretty cool too. Lots of piratey things for sale matey! Har -Harrrr!
Worth a stop if in Salem :-)
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
- Cool (1)
This should be rated as the top 10 attractions in the city! We visited here with my then 5 year old child during Halloween and we were very surprised. The inside is made up like a pirate village and a very large pirate ship. There are characters dressed up like pirates that tour you through. It is quite entertaining. Be warned though, during Halloween, every Salem attraction is out to scare you and any children that are with you. My 5 year old was okay until the end of this attraction and then someone jumped out of the wall of the dungeon here! This is well worth the trip and fees.
People thought this was:
- Useful (1)
I don't understand the people who are shocked by the fact that this place is a kitschy tourist trap with little actual historical value. I mean, come on. Was that point not made patently obvious the second your tour guide bounded down the stairs in a pirate costume from iParty and started in with the "Arrrrr"s and "Ahoy Matey"s? This place is freakin' ridiculous and awesome. You will see dusty life-sized pirate dioramas, and that's about it. Oh, and at the end if you put your hand in the fake treasure chest, the pirate "mannequin" sitting next to it will grab your hand and Arrrrr at you, or something to that extent. Cos it's not a mannequin! It's a man! Ahhhh!!!!!!
People thought this was:
- Funny (2)
ARRRR!!! So ye wants to know what the pirates were?! Step right up to the New England Pirate Museum. Admission is fairly inexpensive and it is child-friendly. You're whisked into chambers full of life-sized pirates decked out in all their piratey gear. The museum has recreated boats and scenes including a tavern and a hung dead pirate in a cage.
Times visited: 1
People thought this was:
- Useful (3)
- Cool (1)
Yes, this place is your typical tourist trap....BUT what a fun and cheesy time had by all! I took my visiting parents up to Salem this past weekend to escape the crappy Boston rain (which was not much better in Salem, but at least we went in the car). We bought the tri-facto museum pass that got you into the Pirate Museum, Witch Dungeon, and Witch Museum. I have to admit for $16 we were thoroughly amused for the whole day. The Pirate Museum was quite amusing as our tour guide was in costume and had us cracking up with his pirate knowledge wit. I actually learned a lot and found it all very interesting.
I wouldn't recommend it for really small children, as it might be a little scary due to the decapitated and mutilated mannequins.
Kitschy fun not too much historical information. Biggest claim to fame is the pirate deck inside the tour & the winding cave. Don't get too excited, the tour is very short and there's a pirate hiding in the cave to scare the crap outta' ya when you least expect it. The gift shop is extremely overpriced.
Age group: 4-11 years (some violence and violent imagery)
Eh. I suppose I was intrigued because of the "Pirates of the Carribean", but it wasn't too impressive. The tour is about 20 minutes or so, which is not too long for little kids, but not really very in-depth, but it does cater to tourists. The guides are enthusiastic, which must get tiring.
Great for kids who are too young or too scared to visit the Witch Trials place, with lots of pirate-y souvenirs to look at and buy.
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
- Cool (1)
This place is silly. The main goal of the Pirate Museum is to get you to buy their crappy souvenirs. That said, there are some good books on the shelves. You're supposed to pay for a guided tour, but somehow we ended up going upstairs not knowing this (and not paying) for a poke around while the cashier's back was turned. (I swear we didn't do this on purpose!) I liked the exhibits I saw, particularly the models, but overall the building and the staff were just *meh*. Like everywhere else in Salem, da papes are just trying to find ways to part you from your money. the Pirate Museum is no exception. Don't let the cool pirate dummy out front fool you. Yar! I'll plunder all ye doubloons!
People thought this was:
- Useful (3)
- Funny (4)
- Cool (2)
Not bad if you don't want to go to the Witch Museums for the 800th time, but not so good either. When we went (2003), I think it had either just opened up or our guide was a bit "green" around the gills cause he didn't seem too comfortable yet.
And I still haven't figured out if he really meant to put his foot through that barrel or not. Either way, we had a good time because we weren't expecting much. They had a nice little gift shop that had a bunch of pi-ratty things which could definately be the highlight of a trip to Salem for a little powder monkey ;)
Silly and stupid, but I kinda liked it anyway...in a super cheesy, ridiculous way, it provided us with a little bit of amusement. Not a place to return to again and again, but it's inexpensive.
Aye matey! Okay, we'll get all of the Pirate phrases out of the way up front. AARGGHHHH. Shiver me timbers. Ho, ho, ho and a bottle of rum! Alright, I'm done. So I went to Salem for the first time in my life and didn't feel like going to cheesy witch museums. After walking around and looking at everything, we settled on the Pirate Museum. I'm not sure why, but I felt like I was in the mood for that. You can only go through the museum via a guided tour. You go through about 4 rooms and learn all about the history of pirating. The rooms are dark, and smell musty, which actually gives it a more adventurous feel. I think a lot of kids come here, so the tour is kinda geared towards kids. There is a replica of a ship, tavern/brothel thingy, and really scary looking Pirates mannequins/dummies. They have hard, painted, scary faces and the eyes stare at you like they are going to spring to life and kill you. AARRRGHHHH. Some history is given on the life of a pirate, history of pirating in Salem/MA and some stories about actual swashbuckling bad boys. They show you Pirate flags, and have a scene on a boat where a young pirate just had his head cut off. Woo-hoo! Scandalous. I found it all interesting. The last "room" is a cave replica. It is super dark and just as I was about to leave I swear to God one of the "dummies" came to life and moved a little. It scared me slightly, but I didn't really jump. I think it was a real person put there to scare the kids. When I looked at it again, it wasn't moving and it was so dark I couldn't see the face clearly. Very clever though. That'll scare the crap out of those kiddies.
I thought the museum was small, the tour was short, and it was a little childish. But, it was also fun, funny, and an interesting time.
People thought this was:
- Useful (2)
- Funny (2)
- Cool (1)
I give it a three because of it being a good non witch place to take the kids. For adults only, more of a 2. Ok for the money value and I think it is one of the places that does a combo pass with some other tourist traps err I mean tourist places in town. The staff was friendly enough when I went there. The tour is ok on length time- I think about 20 or 25 minutes. Overall, alright. But not the best tourist attraction in Salem.