Key West...what to do?

[Love2Cruz]

BTW...there is a food truck right off the pier that has the best conch fritters in Key West.

 

[Steelers0854]

We are in the same boat, 4.5 hours at Key West. The only thing DW has on her must do list is eat the best key lime pie she can find lol. Thanks for all the suggestions thus far. I think we are heading to the Conch Shack, grabbing some pie at Kermitts before hitting mile marker 0 for the obligatory photo and then back on board. Seems doable in the time allotted, we will be 3 adults with no kids.

 

[AAAG]

You didn't mention if you are travelling with kids?\
We did the conch train - kids were bored - one fell asleep on it. Even I thought it was a bit too long.
The aquarium was fabulous. We wanted to go to the Shipwreck Museum but ran out of time.
we had key lime pie and walked to the southernmost point as well.

 

[Hillbeans]

On our 2014 Cruise, we all went to the lighthouse and then walked to the southernmost point and took the obligatory photos. There is a Walgreens close to the dock so it's a great place to pick up anything you may have forgotten before you go into international waters.

 

[KDG]

We docked in Key West in Oct. 2015. Our group of 4 adults/4 children walked to the main square (Whitehead?) where we met a shuttle that took us to rent 2 electric covered golf carts. We had not planned to rent these, but when we saw their availability, it made sense for our group. We rented them for a half day rate.

With those, we were able to visit the southern most point, drive the perimeter of the island, eat at Conch Republic Seafood, have key lime pie at Kermit's across the street, return the carts and still have time for browsing shops. After returning the carts, one dad took the kids back to the ship to swim while the other adults shopped. Having the carts allowed us to see and do many more things in our short amount of time in port. Since we had the kids, it saved a lot of time and walking.

 

[Neptune's Fork]

It's just enough time to walk to and tour Hemingway house and the lighthouse (right across the street from Hemingway house), or rent a scooter for a couple hours and you can cover the whole island that way. Key West is scooter city, there's way more of them than cars on that island.

 

[rwhistler92]

The day we are in Key West is my DD 7th birthday. She really wants to do the Butterfly and Nature tour.
Others of us want to go visit the Hemingway and Truman house.
Will we have enough time to do both if we are only there for half a day?

 

[phinz]

Hemingway's house. Go play with the polydactyl cats.

We won't get into the fact that Hemingway didn't own cats while in Key West, as confirmed by his son Patrick, nor will we talk about how the current owners created the myth to bring in tourists...

I love the Hemingway house. I'm a big fan of the Old Brute's writing and could spend an hour just browsing the little gift/book shop.

The day we are in Key West is my DD 7th birthday. She really wants to do the Butterfly and Nature tour.
Others of us want to go visit the Hemingway and Truman house.
Will we have enough time to do both if we are only there for half a day?

No. The Hemingway house is easily an hour and a half, or two, especially if you take part in the tour with one of the volunteer guides. The Butterfly Conservatory can take an hour or so unless you run through it. And Truman's Little White House can take an hour or more as well. Unless you don't want to really see any of them completely, I'd limit it to one or two things. The Conservatory is close to the Hemingway House, so you can do both if you make sure to watch your time. The Little White House is on the opposite corner of that side of Duval, close to Mallory, but I wouldn't plan on going there unless you really have a lot of extra time.

Keep in mind that the Hemingway House opens at 9, so if you arrive in port early you may not be able to get in until that time. Shortly after 9 the lines can get long, depending on how many boats are in port at that time. I've seen it around the block before. There can be a line at the Conservatory too, but usually that's for tickets, which you buy at the checkout counter. It can be dependent on how many people are shopping in the gift shop and how many employees they have working. Once inside, it's very humid but beautiful. You can do it quickly, but you won't get the full impact of spending time with the butterflies if you rush through it.

 

[Steelers0854]

Is the golf cart rental place near the dock?

 

[phinz]

Adventure Rentals is close to Mallory Square. I have a preference for Pirate Scooters. There are a lot of rental places in town. Depending on your cruise, you will either come in at Mallory Square/The Westin, or you'll be at the Outer Mole. The Outer Mole will have a shuttle that will take you to the Mallory Square area.

Rental shops in Key West

 

[chunkymonkey]

We went there last year on our first Disney cruise on the Magic. You can read the part in my trip report on key west starting here:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/ch...-trip-report-completed.3413542/#post-53734505

Although we were with other family my husband and I toured Key West separately from them. We did our own food/walking/drink tour. We walked down Duval street. We ate 2 different key lime pies, sampled hot sauces at Peppers of Key West. had a drink at Sloppy Joes, went to the Rum factory, and had great Cuban coffee and sandwiches at Cuban Coffee Queen. It was a lot of fun and it was perfect for the amount of time we had there. Lots of stores and stuff line Duval street so we ducked into any place we found interesting or to escape from the heat. I actually preferred Key West Key Lime Pie Co. over Kermit's but they were close. I just felt like Kermit's tasted a little more mass-produced. Both great though! But by far the best thing I had was the iced coffee at Cuban Coffee Queen which had ice cubes made from coffee. So good!

We didn't go on any tour or trolley but my in-laws did. They said it was fine but you don't really get to see things in-depth unless you get off and then have to walk on your own or wait for the next trolley. It was nice to have some shade from the heat though, it was hot!

 

[phinz]

An extra note: If you want to see what ships are in town while you're in Key West, what time they arrive, what time they leave and what pier they are tied up to, check this site out. If the ship's name is followed by an M, it's at Mallory Square. If it's followed by a B, it's at the Westin. If it's followed by an OM, it's at the Outer Mole.

Key West Cruise Ship Schedule

 

[cmph]

An extra note: If you want to see what ships are in town while you're in Key West, what time they arrive, what time they leave and what pier they are tied up to, check this site out. If the ship's name is followed by an M, it's at Mallory Square. If it's followed by a B, it's at the Westin. If it's followed by an OM, it's at the Outer Mole.

Key West Cruise Ship Schedule

Thanks for that! I love being able to see exactly what is near us.

But now that's prompted a question - is that schedule accurate, time-wise? For my cruise itinerary, per what my TA sent - we're there for 4.5h. DCL's site currently says 4h45m. According to that Key West link, we're there 7.5h. Now, I get why there could be a difference in straight-up ship arrival vs time we get off and likewise for departure, but out of curiosity - I googled it and cruisemapper says we're there 6h. I guess I should probably just not worry about it now b/c we'll do what we have time to do... but what is most likely to be the time frame we're *actually* able to get off the boat?

That may be a stupid question, and the answer may be "you get off the boat in the time range that the cruiseline posts", but it's been a while since my family cruised, 10+ years, pre-googling everything on earth... so it's not one I ever would have encountered in previous cruises.

 

[Hundredacre]

Mel Fisher museum is very cool and very close to port if you are interested in treasure and shipwrecks.

 

[phinz]

but what is most likely to be the time frame we're *actually* able to get off the boat?

You're quite welcome for the link. I would plan based on DCL's itinerary. They're more likely to know exactly when they'll be departing based on time to arrive at the next destination. They probably overschedule for ports specifically so that they don't overstay their welcome, and plan on leaving earlier than the port has on the schedule.

 

[Maddysdaddy]

When we ported in Key West on the Magic back in 2010, I don't recall how long we had in port, but I'm sure it must have been more than 4 or 4 1/2 hours, because we went for lunch at Margaritaville, went around the island on the Trolley, and still had plenty of time to tour the Hemingway House and then walk back to the ship.

We loved Key West and would love to go back for a longer vacation.

As others have noted, I would recommend contacting DCL to confirm just how long you are in port, which will then allow you the chance to better schedule your day.

 

[Steelers0854]

Adventure Rentals is close to Mallory Square. I have a preference for Pirate Scooters. There are a lot of rental places in town. Depending on your cruise, you will either come in at Mallory Square/The Westin, or you'll be at the Outer Mole. The Outer Mole will have a shuttle that will take you to the Mallory Square area.

Rental shops in Key West

Do you think we can just rent one when we get there or do we need to make advanced reservations?

Thanks for the info!

 

[monarchsfan16]

Thanks for that! I love being able to see exactly what is near us.

But now that's prompted a question - is that schedule accurate, time-wise? For my cruise itinerary, per what my TA sent - we're there for 4.5h. DCL's site currently says 4h45m. According to that Key West link, we're there 7.5h. Now, I get why there could be a difference in straight-up ship arrival vs time we get off and likewise for departure, but out of curiosity - I googled it and cruisemapper says we're there 6h. I guess I should probably just not worry about it now b/c we'll do what we have time to do... but what is most likely to be the time frame we're *actually* able to get off the boat?

That may be a stupid question, and the answer may be "you get off the boat in the time range that the cruiseline posts", but it's been a while since my family cruised, 10+ years, pre-googling everything on earth... so it's not one I ever would have encountered in previous cruises.

Key West is a unique port for getting off the boat. If your cruise is like ours was, you will have been to foreign islands before KW. If this is the case, they have to do an immigrations check before you can get off the boat. We docked around 10 am. Itinerary had shown all ashore around noon. The customs folks boarded the ship shortly after 10:30. EVERYONE had to report to show their citizenship documents and KTTW and get a sticker put on their key. It was a quick process. As soon as we cleared immigrations (as individuals, we didn't have to wait for the whole ship to clear) we were cleared to get off the ship. From what we saw from talking with our tablemates, every floor was assigned a time to report, in 15 minute increments. Last calls started around 11:30 or so. So some people got off the ship around 10:45. Others were closer to noon.

 

[phinz]

Do you think we can just rent one when we get there or do we need to make advanced reservations?

Thanks for the info!

Every place I've seen has a ton of the things.

 

[cmph]

Key West is a unique port for getting off the boat. If your cruise is like ours was, you will have been to foreign islands before KW. If this is the case, they have to do an immigrations check before you can get off the boat. We docked around 10 am. Itinerary had shown all ashore around noon. The customs folks boarded the ship shortly after 10:30. EVERYONE had to report to show their citizenship documents and KTTW and get a sticker put on their key. It was a quick process. As soon as we cleared immigrations (as individuals, we didn't have to wait for the whole ship to clear) we were cleared to get off the ship. From what we saw from talking with our tablemates, every floor was assigned a time to report, in 15 minute increments. Last calls started around 11:30 or so. So some people got off the ship around 10:45. Others were closer to noon.

Key West is actually our first port, departing from Galveston. I hope we won't have to do an immigrations check in our case!