Suggestions for Key West

TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My husband and I will be on the Oct. 1 sailing of the Wonder and will be in Key West on day 3 (which will be a Saturday). I am looking for any suggestions on what we should see or do. Should we book an actual excursion, or just walk around on our own? Is it possible to walk to the southernmost point, or do we need to take one of the trolleys? Thanks for any help!!
 
rob0519

rob0519

Well-Known Member
We booked something called the Train Tour after we left the ship. It takes you through most of Key West and you can get on and off at different locations. We saw more than if we tried to do it all on foot. I think the cost wad like $30 per person. The one negative is, the Train only stops to let people on and off, so there's not a lot of chances to take pictures from the vehicle.
 
B

Bolna

Well-Known Member
Depending on where you dock, you either are rather far out from the town or in the middle of it. We were lucky and got the dock directly at the town. We just walked through the town, stopped where we saw something interesting (I bought a lovely necklace from a local artist). We visited the Hemingway House which is quite a bit away from where our ship docked. We also so the Oldest House which is directly on Duval Street and has a lovely garden. It is free. It was rather hot, so walking was a bit tiring. But if you can walk around WDW, walking through Key West is not worse. I really thought it was a lovely town with interesting houses and shops to look at. And you certainly have your choice of places to have a drink or a meal. It was great to be able to just walk off the ship and go and explore on our own.

We did not go to the Southernmost Point as I did not see any point in doing that and my boyfriend had been there. I have heard that it gets rather crowded, so the general advise is to go there early in the morning before the crowds arrive (and also before it gets too hot). I think I am just generally not impressed by landmarks that are just special because of being the "most something". I have been to Land's End in Cornwall, UK, and while it is interesting to think that if you look out to the West the next land you meet is North America, it is also overrun. And to be honest, there are spots along the cost of Cornwall that are just fare prettier than Land's End. So I expected the Southermost point to be similar. But then I am not American, so there might be a different level of attraction if this is really the furthest point south of your home country. :)
 
sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Ooooooh Key West! One of my favorite ports! Been there twice on the Magic and loooove it like no other.

Both times we docked there we were on the Navy pier (not the main cruise pier that dumps out into Mallory Square area). When the ships dock at the Navy pier they have trolleys there when you step off to haul you into town. The drop off/pick up point is right there in the thick of everything. Door to door service. It's nice plus you get a little bit of stuff to see coming and going.

I'm trying to remember which half of the day y'all are getting on the Oct 1 Wonder. Tracey & I *may* still land on that sailing, too. ((He's getting ready to sell his boat so a lot rides on how much over payoff he ends up fetching for the thing.)) Do you recall your port times??? Is it the early one?

Anywhoo, first trip to Key West was a 12:30 all-ashore. We rented a golf cart thing and did some riding around before heading over to the airport. That's when we did the private sea plane tour. That was awesome. I booked it all by myself for Tracey's 40th birthday. I want to say the golf cart was like $99 and the sea plane tour (complete with 2 water landings & takeoffs) was around $595. We had 4 of us for the ride so I didn't feel like that was all that unreasonable. That trip when we passed the Southernmost Point on the way to the airport there was a bit of a lineup on the sidewalk for photo ops. On our way back the line was gone so we quickly parked and ran over to the thing. Worked out good.

The second trip to Key West was the early morning all-ashore. Again, we rented a golf cart ($99) and tooled around a bit. We scoped out some places we wanted to go so we knew where to walk to. Nothing was open that early so it was fun to quietly hum along just looking at the houses and soaking in the island's waking up time. After we returned the cart (parking is scarce along Duval) we strolled to the places we wanted to go. And I got to go shopping at the Lilly Pulitzer store for the first time....thus starting my obsession with all things Lilly.

If/when we get back via a cruise ship I'd like to do a jet ski tour. They look fun, last 2 hours, and circumnavigate the entire island. Not unreasonable on the cost especially if you catch the early time. I did some calculating on the early tour time. Tracey & I could make the tour, return to the ship to refresh, then still have plenty of time to head out and grab a chocolate dipped keylime pie on-a-stick from Kermit's as well as hit up a few of our favorite shops before all-aboard.

Ps. The Southernmost Point is no longer the actual Southernmost Point. It's the Southernmost naturally occurring point. The island was actually extended out in length when they dredged up the ship channel and deposited all that material into "new" land. ;)
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
sweetpee_1993 said:
Ooooooh Key West! One of my favorite ports! Been there twice on the Magic and loooove it like no other.

Both times we docked there we were on the Navy pier (not the main cruise pier that dumps out into Mallory Square area). When the ships dock at the Navy pier they have trolleys there when you step off to haul you into town. The drop off/pick up point is right there in the thick of everything. Door to door service. It's nice plus you get a little bit of stuff to see coming and going.

I'm trying to remember which half of the day y'all are getting on the Oct 1 Wonder. Tracey & I *may* still land on that sailing, too. ((He's getting ready to sell his boat so a lot rides on how much over payoff he ends up fetching for the thing.)) Do you recall your port times??? Is it the early one?

Anywhoo, first trip to Key West was a 12:30 all-ashore. We rented a golf cart thing and did some riding around before heading over to the airport. That's when we did the private sea plane tour. That was awesome. I booked it all by myself for Tracey's 40th birthday. I want to say the golf cart was like $99 and the sea plane tour (complete with 2 water landings & takeoffs) was around $595. We had 4 of us for the ride so I didn't feel like that was all that unreasonable. That trip when we passed the Southernmost Point on the way to the airport there was a bit of a lineup on the sidewalk for photo ops. On our way back the line was gone so we quickly parked and ran over to the thing. Worked out good.

The second trip to Key West was the early morning all-ashore. Again, we rented a golf cart ($99) and tooled around a bit. We scoped out some places we wanted to go so we knew where to walk to. Nothing was open that early so it was fun to quietly hum along just looking at the houses and soaking in the island's waking up time. After we returned the cart (parking is scarce along Duval) we strolled to the places we wanted to go. And I got to go shopping at the Lilly Pulitzer store for the first time....thus starting my obsession with all things Lilly.

If/when we get back via a cruise ship I'd like to do a jet ski tour. They look fun, last 2 hours, and circumnavigate the entire island. Not unreasonable on the cost especially if you catch the early time. I did some calculating on the early tour time. Tracey & I could make the tour, return to the ship to refresh, then still have plenty of time to head out and grab a chocolate dipped keylime pie on-a-stick from Kermit's as well as hit up a few of our favorite shops before all-aboard.

Ps. The Southernmost Point is no longer the actual Southernmost Point. It's the Southernmost naturally occurring point. The island was actually extended out in length when they dredged up the ship channel and deposited all that material into "new" land. ;)
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All ashore is 7:45 am according to the website. The jet ski tour sounds interesting. I think Brian would really like that. I may have to look into that more.
 
ChuckElias

ChuckElias

Well-Known Member
Last time I was in Key West was 2006 on the Magic. We also did the little train ride tour. It was good, because my dad wouldn't have been up for a lot of walking around. So we got a nice overview of the island. After the tour, my dad went back to the ship and the rest of us walked around the island, ending up at Hemmingway's house. That was a fun tour, actually. I liked it a lot. Then we stumbled across the "Mile 0" sign at the end of Route 1. So I have a fun picture of all of us standing under the sign. And, of course, we did some shopping, got a frozen key lime pie on a stick, and (some of us) stopped for a drink at Sloppy Joe's. Then back to the ship. It was a really good day!
 
R

Ralphlaw

Well-Known Member
We were supposed to do a glass bottom boat thing, but the weather made that impossible. We therefore checked out the aquarium, and then we took some kind bus/trolley tour which was pretty good. Our snarky bus driver was the highlight of that. My memory otherwise is of lots of chickens walking around, real messy bathrooms, and otherwise okay touristy stuff.

If not for our kids, I imagine my wife and I would have hit a bar or two and sat down to eat. We were at the downtown pier, so we decided to just jump back on the boat for a "free" lunch.
 
HollyAD

HollyAD

Well-Known Member
We have visited KW a few times but not by cruise ship. I must recommend eating lunch at a little place called Garbos! Look it up on TripAdvisor. It was an amazing little food stand located walking distance from cruise ships. It is close to some of the marinas if you book jet skis or para sailing. We did early morning para sailing one morning and it was BEAUTIFUL! Anything by water in KW is beautiful. Check out TripAdvisor and find some cool places to grab and drink or food. KW has some of the best food and drink spots you will find anywhere! I know DCL is geared toward families but KW is a very adult place overall. You can hop a trolley tour for $18-$20 with the online coupon. Just google KW trolly companies and print out the coupon. It will be a nice tour and you can hop of at Southern Most point. The drivers also give you lots of info about KW. Enjoy!
 
TheMouseFan

TheMouseFan

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
sweetpee_1993 said:
The Wonder is the only ship in town for your Key West day so you'll be at the regular pier right there at the square. Should make getting to the marina super easy. So glad you found a tour that appealed. Maybe (fingers crossed) we'll be joining you. ;)
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Yeah, I called this morning and talked to someone. I was worried about the 8am check in with a 7:45 all ashore. He checked for me and said we would be steps from the check in booth when we exited the Wonder. Hopefully it will work out and you will be on that sailing! I would love to meet you and Tracy to say hi!!
 
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sweetpee_1993

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
TheMouseFan said:
Yeah, I called this morning and talked to someone. He checked for me and said we would be steps from the check in booth when we exited the Wonder. Hopefully it will work out and you will be on that sailing! I would love to meet you and Tracy to say hi!!
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I talked to Tracey briefly today (he's out of town again) and he said his project lead is wanting them to pick up more hours again. OT provides easier $$ to travel on and makes him need the break that much more. ;) We'll see. If we do go on that sailing we'll likely book that same tour. It's one we've wanted to do for a while now. I love the thought of doing the tour but still have time to refresh and get out on-island a bit.
 

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