Key West, Florida- A Quaint Tourist Scene
Key West, Florida was the first stop for Carnival Dream’s 8-day Eastern Caribbean itinerary. We cruised November 5-13, which is also hurricane season. This can work in your favor though because cruises are cheaper as this is considered “off-season.” However, it can cause problems like needing to skip ports, high winds, rough waves, and ya, hurricanes. We had Hurricane Nicole chasing us for most of this particular cruise. While we were fine, there were certainly some rougher waves and we did have to miss Half-Moon Caye, Carnival’s private island due to the high winds.
Don’t be mad at me but I was unimpressed with Key West overall. It was cute but cute in the same way every other tourist-type town looks. It was cookie-cutter quaint but didn’t make me want to stay. I also live in a major tourist city so I am jaded.
The Rookie Mistake:
Initially, I had booked a snorkeling excursion but I made an incredibly rookie mistake; I forgot when booking the excursion through a third party (Trip Advisor), to check the ship’s time against the location’s time. When cruising, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS stay on the ship’s time. My mistake though was not checking the ship’s time vs. local time when I was booking. Key West is an hour ahead of the ship’s time. I checked the itinerary which said the Dream would dock at 10 am, and set our excursion for 11 am. This should have been fine right?? NOPE!
ALWAYS Check Local Time vs. the Ship’s Time When Booking Third Party Excursions! Don’t be me!
The Dream docked at 11 am Florida time… CRAP! The worst part is we didn’t realize this until we arrived at the excursion pickup location when we were very politely informed we were a half hour late. The only other time available would make us too late to get back onboard so no snorkeling for us. Since we had not checked in though, we should be able to receive a refund. TripAdvisor said otherwise… I did not receive a refund which I admit still chaps my hide. However, I did learn a valuable lesson to pass on to you! Live and learn right? I should know better too but I totally forgot, ARGH!
After a quick and extremely grumpy (on my part) regrouping, we stopped in at Sebago Watersports who had an available snorkel excursion. While we opted to not go snorkeling, I added Sebago’s link because of the honesty of their representative. After a brief chat, we were told snorkeling conditions were bad because the water was extremely choppy. Choppy water conditions make swimming difficult and are rotten for snorkeling.
Key West, Florida- a Walker’s Paradise
The great part about Key West is how accessible the majority of the touristy places are all within walking distance. The majority of the tourist shopping is all an easy walk. There is also the Hop On, Hop Off, and the famous Conch Train if you are not into walking or want to go a bit further around the island. For lunch, we remembered a restaurant recommendation from the shopping talk for Two Friends Patio Restaurant. This was the high point of the day and worth the stop. I ate their crabcake and the yummiest crab bisque!
After lunch, we found the teeniest public beach EVAR I think. I am not even going to tell you where because it was so small. My friend was thrilled though. She’s been to California and Corpus Christi but there is nothing quite like the blue of Caribbean waters. She was so excited! I admit I was rather “meh” about it but I’ve seen better. I was happy for her though. At the time, I thought better was coming.
Walking around Key West is nice; it’s full of touristy shops that essentially have the same items on repeat. We did have some Key Lime pie which was good but I admit we were underwhelmed. The Key Lime Bakery was a lovely little shop and the staff was incredibly friendly. They also own the cute shop next door (the two shops look separate but are one large shop inside). The lime taste was very subtle, not as strong as I expected but nice.
We walked to Truman’s Little White House which was nice, but not worth going in for either of us. The Audubon House & Tropical Gardens was much prettier and of more interest to me. I did buy some super cute, handmade KINO sandals which were also a recommendation from the shopping show. Shoes always make me happy so that’s a win! Kino Sandals are handmade, and the shop is locally owned and operated. Kino Sandals offer over 17 different styles using natural leather uppers and natural rubber soles. They are all hand-cut, assembled, and glued in our traditional sandal factory since 1966. The shop is small so you can see the sandals being made while you shop. They’re super comfortable and inexpensive!
My final thoughts regarding Key West are it was pleasant and lovely. The lush plant life is gorgeous to just walk around and look at but I would suggest taking an excursion of some sort. It was nice to walk around, the shops were cute but if you’ve traveled before, it’s nothing you haven’t seen before.
