We are heading down to Key West (for the 1st time) next May and would love any advice on what to do.  The kids will be parasailing in the a.m. and then we would all like to head over to Duvall St and see the sights.

Is Duvall St close to the port?  How about Maragaritville, is that all in the same area?

Fortunately we will be there from 8-5 and want to make the most of it, so if anyone who has visited Key West (AND ENJOYED IT) please send some advice my way

Hey Love2cruise,

I have been to Key West 3 times with one of the visits being via a cruise. Yeah that is a bummer visiting Key West on a cruise because the ship is not there long enough to see the sunset festival every night. If you ever go there for a vacation it is must see. You will see human acts that you will never see anywhere else.

Duvall St is just a short walk from the pier where you get off the ship. You will find all the restaurants, bars and interesting little shops right along Duvall St. If you like to walk it can be done easily but if you find yourself running out of time they have a ton of cabs there also.  My wife and I have done the glass bottom boat ride twice and also taken the open bus tour around the island. My kids did the parasailing there 2 years ago and in their own words they called it an awesome excursion. You have to try the Key Lime Pie while your there. We found there is a little stand in the clump of shops near the pier that we find is the best. Hope this helps you some

I love Key West!!  I have been there with a cruise and without. If I remember right you take a trolly from the port to town. It's not far.  We've done a couple of tours but really just enjoyed walking around  looking at the shops and enjoying the restaurants. Like the other posters said, the Key Lime Pie is a must. And.... if you ever go there with out the cruise, the sunset is a must!!

 L2C,

Been to Key West several times this year. Most everything is within walking distance if your into some good excercise. Most everything you will want to see is on Duval St...Margaritaville, Hog's Breath, Hard Rock, Harley Davidson etc. Mallory Square is also pretty neat. There is the Mel Fisher museum and lots of other interests. Southernmost Point is at the end of Duval on the right about a block or two over.

There are two piers. One is Mallory Square and the preferred place to dock and you can walk right off. If another ship is there then you might have to dock at the Naval Base.  You are not allowed to walk through the base for obvious reasons. In this case free busses and train trolley's will pick you up and drop you in Mallory Square area. About 5-10 minutes at the most with an informative mini tour of the area with good info. Been both ways either is just fine. But you will have to meet back at Mallory Square before to catch your free ride back to the ship if your docked at the Naval Base.

Hope this helps!

CD

 we were there on Oct. 21 duvall street is 3short blocks from the pier If you want to go to Maragaritville it is about 2 more blocks. When you get to Duvall just make a right. 

We have been to Key West several times, I love it.  Last time we walked down to the hotel piers and rented jet skis.  Very fun, then we just walked around the city, down Duvall street.  You can rent moped on Duvall street also.  Carnival does not recommend the mopeds, if you get injured you may miss the ships departure.  that actually happened on our very first trip.  You can also do the pub crawl on your own.  Not sure how old your kids are.  Hogs Breath has a camera that the folks back home can log onto to give them a live wave.  It is very laid back and fun.  Watch out for the roosters!!

My son and I loved our visit to Key West.  Depending on the kids ages there are pirate museums,  an  aquarium and lots of sights. we took the trolley tour after the aquarium and still had time for a meal at Margaritaville.

Thanks everyone for you suggestions, this info has help me out too. Will be in Key West for the first time next June. 

Great stop - I really like it here but it always seems our port stop is soooo short!! :(

We've done parasailing here our first stop and the other stop just walked around checking everything out.

Look for the Blonde Giraffe for the frozen key lime pie dipped in chocolate - yummie!!

Key West has the largest group of free range chickens in the USA.They are everywhere. They are protected by law. When we ate at one of outdoor style covered patios restaurants they came and were begging food from our table, The kids will love this.We took pics.

 PAUL AND SYLVIA.. CRUISIN WITH CARNIVAL SINCE 2004             

Oh thats so cool. Im going to Key West in Feb. Im wondering what the weather will be like.

Just type in KEY WEST, FL/weather. It is subtropical so I doubt there is much difference year round.What a neat winter destination. Happy sailing..

PAUL AND SYLVIA .. CRUISIN WITH CARNIVAL SINCE 2004.

We were there this past January and the weather was great!  But we didn't do any water sports, so not sure of the water temps.  We were there again in May and it was EXTREMELY warm!  I believe the first part of the year is the best, but that's just my opinion.