Victory Key West question

First off I'm hoping someone reviews the Victory now that it has 2.0! What do you do for such a short time in Key West?? My fave spot kinda bummed that it leaves so early.

First off I'm hoping someone reviews the Victory now that it has 2.0! What do you do for such a short time in Key West?? My fave spot kinda bummed that it leaves so early.

We were on the Victory and were there in August and did the pub crawl. It was incredibly hot. We started the crawl at 10:30 am and had drank enough the night before on the ship that a 10:30 am drinking start time was a bit rough. But we are no quitters!!!! LOL!

That crawl gave us enough time to check out the bars and some local spots so it was a good way to see things. if we do that again thought we may just explore the city on our own. The last stop was a bar with live music and we really liked it but had to get back to the ship with the rest of the tour.

The pub crawl is awesome. I highly recommend it. LOTS of laughing the entire time.

In 1984 the city opened a pier right on Mallory Square. The decision was met with considerable opposition from people who felt it would disrupt the tradition of watching the sunset at Mallory Square. In response to this, the city passed an ordinance requiring cruise ships to leave port two hours before sunset, enabling them to return after sunset without an additional docking fee.

My boyfriend and I were on the Victory for the last sailing before dry dock (12/31), we were in key west on New Year’s Day, we just walked around and shopped and ate, got some drinks, etc.

We got off the ship at about 8:45 and got back on about 11:30. We hung out in the serenity area and watched the sail away which was lovely, serenity was empty because most guests were still ashore

We watched the long line of guests trying to get back on, it looked like a nightmare. It took so long to get everyone back onboard we left about 2 hours late so if you don’t want to be stuck waiting in a long long get back abroad early

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First off I'm hoping someone reviews the Victory now that it has 2.0! What do you do for such a short time in Key West?? My fave spot kinda bummed that it leaves so early.

Agree it's one of the best ports.

My absolute favorite port!!!!! I love the Pub Crawl ... I have done it several times ..... well worth the money especially since you also get a t-shirt!

Walk to the Southernmost Point, tour Hemingway's Home, peruse the shipwreck museum, take a trolley tour, eat at one of the many restaurants, check out the famous bars, shop for touristy souvenirs. I've done all this and more in a 6 hour port stop.

Another vote for the pub crawl! We've done it twice and had a blast both times. You more than get your money's worth with the free drink at each place. And the guides are very knowledgeable and funny in telling you the history of Key West along the way. On one of our tours, I even won the conch (shell - minds out of the gutter ;p:)) blowing contest! Such a fun time!

We were there for a week last summer our anniversary and still didn;t get to do everything we wanted but the pubs and bars at the harbor end were fun. My wife dragged me to the Butterfly conservatory and I enjoyed that far more than I expected to. She even got to help a couple get frisky.

About a block down from the butterflies was a neat little cafe with good food and awesome beer

My girlfriend and I were on the Victory in March of last year. Granted it was before the 2.0 upgrades, but same itinerary. While in Key West, we did our own pub crawl. We got off the ship around 8:30am, walked around for a little while, and then started at Sloppy Joes, which opens at 9am. We did some day drinking at a few other places and we were back on the ship for noon. Like others have said, we also went to the Serenity deck and relaxed during sail away. I agree that it is too short of a time in such an awesome port, but, make the best of it while you are there!

My Elation cruise last April missed Half Moon Cay and Carnival substituted Key West. Unfortunately our ship departed KW in mid afternoon. I would have liked to stay longer. I walked around all day. Shopping, drinking, eating and getting some sun at the pier. I went to Amigos Tortilla Bar. Great food and beer. Try the frozen chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick at one of the tourist stores. That was really good. This is one of the best ports to just walk around and explore. Just get an early start since the ships do leave early. Have fun.:cool:

My Elation cruise last April missed Half Moon Cay and Carnival substituted Key West. Unfortunately our ship departed KW in mid afternoon. I would have liked to stay longer. I walked around all day. Shopping, drinking, eating and getting some sun at the pier. I went to Amigos Tortilla Bar. Great food and beer. Try the frozen chocolate covered key lime pie on a stick at one of the tourist stores. That was really good. This is one of the best ports to just walk around and explore. Just get an early start since the ships do leave early. Have fun.:cool:

That Amigos place was the 2nd best meal we had all week in Key West. (First best was on a dinner cruise out into the bay at sunset on our anniversary.) If we ever get to KW on a cruise I'm saving lunch room just for Amigos.

Off that cruise Feb 16th going back on this cruise 28 May, Key West has a lot to do in that short amount of time. If you want to go Parasailing or something of the such book it through a private company, google is your friend. We found parasailing for cheap and it was awesome.

Walk to Schooner's, see the marina. Then stop in at Two Friends before heading to Duvall. Irish Kevin's on Duvall is a must. Have fun!!

In 1984 the city opened a pier right on Mallory Square. The decision was met with considerable opposition from people who felt it would disrupt the tradition of watching the sunset at Mallory Square. In response to this, the city passed an ordinance requiring cruise ships to leave port two hours before sunset, enabling them to return after sunset without an additional docking fee.

Not sure the how and why, but there was a cruise ship still docked at sunset 2nd week of Feb.

Surprised me! Is it a short term thing to recoup money lost because of last hurricane?

On the victory now. I got off the ship early and was shocked to find nearly everything closed till about 9:30. It was lovely for walking and taking in the sights but terrible for a short port visit! We just ate a wonderful seafood lunch and drank a few beers. This place on Duvall has the BEST lobster roll!!! Conch fritters and mahi sandwich equally as good!!

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I was on the Victory back in 2015. We did the Reef Snorkel with Fury! The water was really rough so honestly all we did was drink beer . Afterwards we ran down and got conch fritters and made our way to the ship.

I was on the Victory back in 2015. We did the Reef Snorkel with Fury! The water was really rough so honestly all we did was drink beer 😂. Afterwards we ran down and got conch fritters and made our way to the ship.

Not sure the how and why, but there was a cruise ship still docked at sunset 2nd week of Feb.

 

Surprised me! Is it a short term thing to recoup money lost because of last hurricane?

No. There are about ten days a year when ships can stay past sunset at certain piers. Looking at the city's calendar, February 8th was one of those days - Norwegian Dawn was authorized in port until 7pm (way past sunset).

Generally speaking, late ships will be docked at Pier B or the Outer Mole (navy pier) and not at Mallory Square.

http://www.cityofkeywest-fl.gov/department/calendar.php

Have breakfast at the Schooner Wharf Bar. Great little open air place and awesome food (and Bloody Mary's too!). The port times in Key West are horrific, however this little gem makes up for the early arrival time!

We walked down to the lighthouse and climbed to the top of it... it was great. There is also a Ripley's Believe It or Not you can do on your own that has some interesting stuff in it if you want something laid back to do.