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Trolley in Key West


Matt

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Can anyone comment on how useful the hop on/hop off trolley is in Key West? Is it frequent enough to make it worthwhile? Is it super crowded?

Debating what to do when we go there for the first time later this month.

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We've done it a number of times.  So far we've not run into an issue with crowding at all.  Old Town Trolley isn't air-conditioned but is well ventilated and plenty comfortable.  We figure that for what we'd pay for a few cab rides to get to the different parts of the island we get as much transportation as we want along with some background info/history - the drivers have always been interesting and entertaining guides.

For Old Town and Conch Train you start off at Mallory Square, so either a 1 min walk from the gangway or from where the shuttle drops you off if you dock at the Navy pier.

I've also noticed that the price is usually a couple dollars cheaper if you buy the tickets through RCI/X - which is one of the reasons I always tell folks to check before they assume that excursions through the cruise line are more expensive.  

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We used City View the last time we were there, which I don't recommend trying to get tickets for.  Not because they weren't great, they were, but apparently they shuttered 4 days after we were there.  I just learned that trying to pull up some info for this reply, so that's a bit of a shock and disappointment because I really liked the drivers we had.

Anyway, as far as experience we liked it.  One thing that worked out well was that they allowed you to board at any stop to start your tour.  We had companions that were joining us at the Hemingway House but not taking the tour, so we all walked there.  After we toured the house we walked to the trolley stop and waited about 10 minutes.  We rode it around a couple of times in all, stopping at different stops and even retracing a bit.  We had a good time, I really liked that better than just getting on a trolley and going around without getting off.  We got off at the southernmost point stop, walked over to take pictures, took it in for a few minutes, then walked back and caught the next trolley.  It was about 20 minutes between trolleys.

Only one trolley we had was full, but of course now there is one less company in the game so can't say how that might affect Old Town or any others I don't know about.  It was a Saturday and had two ships in port though, to give you an idea.  I liked it, if you want a tour and plan to get off at a couple of stops then it is a good option IMO.

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On 3/2/2018 at 4:01 PM, Matt said:

Can anyone comment on how useful the hop on/hop off trolley is in Key West? Is it frequent enough to make it worthwhile? Is it super crowded?

Debating what to do when we go there for the first time later this month.

I've been to Key West several times (cruise and non-cruise) and I've never seen it that over crowded (though I've never taken it so I can't comment on the stops).  But a lot of the touristy stuff on Key West is walkable as the ship docks in Mallory Square.   If you want to tour the island, an alternative (depending on kids or not) would be to rent some bikes and ride around the island.  There are bike rentals around the pier.   Never been to Key West?  Quirky place but cool.   Have fun!

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On 3/2/2018 at 4:01 PM, Matt said:

Can anyone comment on how useful the hop on/hop off trolley is in Key West?

@Matt, I booked the trolley tour, but interesting enough I just saw on Shipmate that someone got bumped off the tour, too crowded and they rented an electric golf cart! So we are going to look into that as well.  We actually have a golf cart here where we live so we are used to them. Food for thought.  

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