Changes in Attitude: Key West with no excursions necessary

[DVCNuts]

Honestly, this is one of my favorite ports. Lots of fun, everything worthwhile in walking distance, clean, safe, friendly, and no need to book excursions. Unlike Grand Cayman, where you almost need to book an excursion either through DCL or on your own, Key west can easily be explored on foot.

I have been to Key West many times on business (REALLY! No kidding) and already knew the fun places to walk around and what not to miss. I wouldn't even begin to suggest that this will appeal to everyone, but anyone I have observed doing this seemed to be having a great time.

First things first, start with Brunch Sunday at Palo. You can watch the ship pull in to Key West while you feast on decadent goodies. We reserved 11am—perfect timing.

We docked near Mallory Square. This is the PREMIUM spot to dock without being forced to depart before sunset. I hope the Magic always gets to dock there. The Carnival Pride docked nearby, but the Fun Ship passengers couldn’t walk to all the Fun Stuff. A big gap in the pier forced them to take a very long walk, or hop in a shuttle. I found this to be one of the most beautiful cruise ship docking areas of any of Disney’s ports of call (Castaway Cay being the exception, of course). It’s about as close to hopping off a cruise ship at the Magic Kingdom as you will ever get. It doesn’t have the “third world” cab driver/hairbraiding/trinket selling atmosphere we have found in other ports. Although, you can easily find the fake tattoos and body jewelry just a few short blocks away.

If you want the Key West tour, you can do the conch train on your own and save money of you book it on the Internet, or better yet-- hop in an air conditioned pink taxi cab and they'll show you all the same things-- plus a few they don't tell you about on the conch train. Cabbies are very friendly. Ever see “Taxicab Confessions?”

For adults who might like to wet their whistle, I would suggest walking up Duval Street. Virtually every bar and shop worth seeing can be found there. If you are so inclined, you can walk with alcoholic beverages as long as they are in plastic cups. Walk up as far as the "Gay and Lesbian Visitors Bureau" sign for some real local flavor, then turn back. Watering holes not to miss: Irish Kevin's and Sloppy Joe's for great live music and lots of atmosphere-- always busy. Also, Rum Runners, Nick's and Captain Tony's across the street. You can also find the big chains-- Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, Fat Tuesday's and The Hard Rock Cafe, but I prefer the Key West one of a kind places. There are many others in between—plenty for a pub-crawl if that’s your thing, but just be sure you make it back to the ship!

What about the kids? To each his or her own, but we left ours on the ship. They won’t get much out of the Conch Train, and I doubt you want to take them bar hopping. Besides—it’s the second day of the cruise, and I’m sure they will still be very excited to see and try all the new things on the ship.

For everyone, including the kids... don't miss the sunset in Key West, around 8:10pm when we were there, so we didn’t have to miss dinner or the show, but it would be worth it to do so. Our server said he would totally understand if we were late to dinner that evening. And we’ve already seen “Morty The Recycled C’Est Magique” so that was a no-brainer. Sunset in Key West is like a druid tradition. You can watch it from deck 10. Unobstructed view that people pay $$$ to see on sunset dinner cruises—an option you may want to consider. Or for real local flavor, walk a very short distance to Mallory Square, where everyone gathers to watch it every evening. It has a street carnival atmosphere with live performers.

We really enjoyed ourselves in Key West, and had some nice pool time in the afternoon. This was one of our favorite days of the cruise.

 

[Lisa F]

Thanks for the great report! We don't have kids yet so it all sounds great to us. Just a few questions:

Which is a better place to see the sunset, from deck 10 or from mallory square?

The idea about having palo's brunch at 11 am that day sounds FABULOUS. The one thing that happened on our first cruise is that we were so overwhelmed with everything to do that we booked our Palo stuff during other things we might've been interested in. I checked the navigators and this time seems IDEAL.

How long does it take to do the conch train tour? I have heard that snorkeling is also fabulous in key west, is that true? Is it possible to do the conch train thing AND snorkel AND make it back to the Magic to deck 10 for a 5:50 sunset? Or is that just asking too much? (we are going in january)

What kind of night life is there in key west? We are not really into clubs/bars but if there are entertaining things to see after dark in mallory square or something, we do have a few hours before dinner.

Thanks for any help!

Lisa

 

[snelsonbrown]

First thank you for the wonderful remarks about enjoying Key West - of course being born and raised there when it REALLY was a paradise was quite an honor for me (4 generation conch) - Duval Street has everything to offer adults, but for children it really doesn't -the conch train in an hour and a half long and gives a lot of insight to the way KW was ------I understand some of the long standing conchs visit Crabby Dick which is just past Southard Street going South and are most happy to share history of KW ------at one time where Mallory Square now stands was nothing but fishing port -----we had a huge show place there on the corner of front and Duval where Sally Rand once preformed with her fans ----between Caroline and Greene was all Spanish restaurants --this was in the 30's and 40's -----Two Friends Bar was off limits to ALL of the KW girls for this was the place sailors hung out :-D ------my grandfather was the first latin professor at San Carlos there on Duval Street and he also taught Mrs. Pauline Hemingway spanish for the charge of twenty five cents - as I said many times I didn't not like Mr. Hemingway for he did not like children and took steps to keep us away ----a chest of pirates gold was found just accross the street from Mr. hemingway's home sometime in the 50's while the owners of the property were digging to have real water in their homes - the gold was taken and made property of the State of Florida ---another interesting tidbit of KW ------oh in case you are interested there is a spanish lime tree right by the Southern Cross Hotel there on Duval Street - spanish Lime is a tropical fruit that you can get hooked on (Nope they are limes)------awesome.
Always
Shirley

 

[DVCNuts]

Thanks Shirley! And the kids LOVED their baskets. Jamie especially liked the Space Shuttle. Deanna got a lot of Character autographs in the notebook.

Lisa: This of course is all my humble opinion, but I would skip the snorkeling in Key West unless you are absolute snorkeling junkies. I am sure the snorkeling is fine there, but you will be in the BEST snorkeling spot in the Western Hemisphere 2 days later-- Grand Cayman. The reefs are amazing with huge, colorful tropical fish by the thousands. Nothing compares!

I understand (as Shirley points out) the Conch Train lasts about 90 minutes. It's an open-air bus that looks like a train. Again IMHO, I wouldn't be caught dead on that thing. But different strokes for different folks, right?

I think your best view of the sunset will be from deck 10. I think the best place to watch the sunset is in Mallory Square. Depends on whether you want to watch it from the sidelines with the players or from a luxury suite!

Key West is ALL about nightlife. But it mostly happens in bars. You don't have to drink to have a good time there. People watching is outstanding. Just sitting in a bar watching a live band is great-- frankly, better than the live bands on the ship. You can also do Karaoke at Nick's. Rumor has it I once sang "Hot Blooded" there. I personally don't recall.

 

[atigeg]

DVCNuts is right, at least according to my hubby. He did the snorkeling in Key West and only rated it a little above Castaway Cay. I did the semi-sub there, and I'm inclined to agree. We did the semi-sub in Grand Cayman, and it was awesome!! Just teeming with sea life. We didn't have time to do the "regular" snorkeling because we went snorkeling with the stingrays, but I'm sure it would be gorgeous.
The Conch Train is 90 minutes, but they do a rest stop around 60 minutes so you could get off then. I did, but only because I had to...I was due back at the ship for a spa appointment.
Barb
Visit the Platinum Castaway Club at: www.castawayclub.com