Key West Excursion

[Jason Lee]

Hi there, this is my first time posting here. Thanks for any help in advance.

It'll be my 4th DC upcoming in Jan on the Magic including Key West, which I've never been to. I'm struggling to decide where to go for the day. Ship will stop from 7:30am to 4:45pm.

The issue is, we are going to have 4 families of 14 people in total, all in our 40s with 10 yrs old kids. They are not really interested into any museum there. We thought of joining the trolley excursion through DCL but apparently we have to stay in the trolley at all locations, which is what I don't like.

Basically this is what I'm planning to do, and trying to see if you guys think this make sense or there's better suggestion:

- We'll take UBER/Taxi straight from the port to the SouthernMost Point (I really want to take photo there!)
-We'll then walk back via Duval Street, probably grab lunch or something and souvenir.
-Check around Mallory Square and area close by for more souvenir and photo
-Back to cruise

I thought of joining the Hop on Hop off ourselves when we get there, but I'm not sure if we are interested into any other stops other than the SourhernMost Point....

Any comment/recommendation is welcome. Thanks!

 

[dcassetta]

Hi there, this is my first time posting here. Thanks for any help in advance.

It'll be my 4th DC upcoming in Jan on the Magic including Key West, which I've never been to. I'm struggling to decide where to go for the day. Ship will stop from 7:30am to 4:45pm.

The issue is, we are going to have 4 families of 14 people in total, all in our 40s with 10 yrs old kids. They are not really interested into any museum there. We thought of joining the trolley excursion through DCL but apparently we have to stay in the trolley at all locations, which is what I don't like.

Basically this is what I'm planning to do, and trying to see if you guys think this make sense or there's better suggestion:

- We'll take UBER/Taxi straight from the port to the SouthernMost Point (I really want to take photo there!)
-We'll then walk back via Duval Street, probably grab lunch or something and souvenir.
-Check around Mallory Square and area close by for more souvenir and photo
-Back to cruise

I thought of joining the Hop on Hop off ourselves when we get there, but I'm not sure if we are interested into any other stops other than the SourhernMost Point....

Any comment/recommendation is welcome. Thanks!

You can always book the trolley later if you decide you'd like to ride it. It's often less expensive to book after arrival as they offer discounts. Your plan sounds like a good one, it allows you to see a little bit of Key West. Is anyone in your party interested in a boat trip, to see Dolphins perhaps?

 

[a1tinkfans]

Sounds good. It’s lotsof the same kitschy stuff in all the stores, plenty of bars ( like sloppy joes) , places to grab a bite... if no one interested in Hemingway’s place, butterfly place, Mel fishers place, galleries ur plan sounds good. The trolley gives you an overview of the whole area... there are hop on/ off but with time... maybe just take the loop. Cheaper off the ship. you ll have time to do/see. Eating all together likely not easy tho.. so grab what you can. Mallory square stuff happens in evening... not sure you ll be able to “ see” anything with the timing.
Enjoy.

 

[Dug720]

Eating all together likely not easy tho.. so grab what you can.

This. Unless you are thinking Hard Rock or Margaritaville, most of the places are small and a party that large would pretty much be all their seating.

 

[AgentMama]

The southernmost point is interesting in person, the area for photos is very small and there is typically a line of people waiting to take the photo.

 

[richmo]

Well, my first thought is all 14 of you don't necessarily have to stay together. There's plenty to do...

What we did and would do again, is rent bikes and just wander around a bit. We rode over to Southernmost Point (be prepared, that can take a half hour since there can be long lines there), then had a nice lunch at a quieter local spot (Blue Heaven), rode by the Hemingway house/museum, then returned the bikes and walked around a bit downtown before walking back to the ship. There's several rental bike vendors within a few blocks of the docks and is a nice, inexpensive excursion (no need to book thru Disney). Only thing I'd be careful with is that it is a city and there is some traffic in places, so I'd want to make sure the kids are pretty experienced on bikes and good staying with the pack.

 

[KDG]

Hi there, this is my first time posting here. Thanks for any help in advance.

It'll be my 4th DC upcoming in Jan on the Magic including Key West, which I've never been to. I'm struggling to decide where to go for the day. Ship will stop from 7:30am to 4:45pm.

The issue is, we are going to have 4 families of 14 people in total, all in our 40s with 10 yrs old kids. They are not really interested into any museum there. We thought of joining the trolley excursion through DCL but apparently we have to stay in the trolley at all locations, which is what I don't like.

Basically this is what I'm planning to do, and trying to see if you guys think this make sense or there's better suggestion:

- We'll take UBER/Taxi straight from the port to the SouthernMost Point (I really want to take photo there!)
-We'll then walk back via Duval Street, probably grab lunch or something and souvenir.
-Check around Mallory Square and area close by for more souvenir and photo
-Back to cruise

I thought of joining the Hop on Hop off ourselves when we get there, but I'm not sure if we are interested into any other stops other than the SourhernMost Point....

Any comment/recommendation is welcome. Thanks!

Here is what our party of 4a, 4c did: we rented two electric vehicles (which were like semi-enclosed golf carts) and drove around the island at our leisure. We drove to Southernmost Point, took photos, then drove north along the shore, swung around to the west side and found a fun restaurant for lunch. After lunch, we had key lime pie, returned the vehicles, then walked around the Mallory Square and dock areas. There is a cafe with very colorful umbrella tables near the dock where we had a drink and snack before boarding the ship. We were able to see a lot of the island with the electric vehicles. You can search for rental companies online to reserve some or there will be representatives at the dock to help you. They will take you by tram to rent your vehicles. We enjoyed our day in Key West and hope to return for another visit.

 

[Jason Lee]

Thanks for all the great advise everyone! Now I wonder why I didn't use this forum for my previous cruises, there are loads of info and great replies from you all!!

One more question though, anyone tried the hop on/off trolley (not the one with cruise company)? Is it easy to get back on? I remember reading somewhere saying there's a long wait for the trolley or it's packed to get back on.......

 

[aboveH20]

Thanks for all the great advise everyone! Now I wonder why I didn't use this forum for my previous cruises, there are loads of info and great replies from you all!!

One more question though, anyone tried the hop on/off trolley (not the one with cruise company)? Is it easy to get back on? I remember reading somewhere saying there's a long wait for the trolley or it's packed to get back on.......

I’m currently in Key West, on a Road Scholar trip returning in Feb on the Magic. There was some confusion among our group, so be aware that there is a FREE hop on hop off bus (looks like a regular city bus except it says Duval Loop in big letters on it). There is also a paid hop on hop off trolley which ain’t cheap, especially for a group your size. We used the free bus, which is scheduled to run every 15 minutes. We never had a problem getting on the bus, we did see lines for the trolley.

Google both the Duval Loop bus and Key West trolley to compare the two and hopefully someone else will chime in with more info.

When we arrived on Sunday we saw a Disney ship from our balcony.

 

[Kpercyman]

We were just there and I highly recommend the Duval Loop bus. It is free, air conditioned and stops at all the main points. You can ride around and then decide what you want to do.

 

[Jason Lee]

Thank you so much for the info on the Duval Loop bus!! We'll definitely try that! Hopefully it won't be too crowded when we get off the cruise. There seems to be two cruise ships there according to the schedule. I'm amazed by their website that actually shows where are the buses in live!

I'll come back to write down our experience afterward for sure. Thanks everyone!

 

[mocodis]

we were there last week, we walked to kermits and had key lime pie and fudge.