Key West with Kids, Part 1

Recently we cruised on Royal Caribbean with our toddler and one of our ports of calls was Key West, Florida. At first we were skeptical, as all of our past visits to the Keys have been pre-kids. Doing some reseach, we identified a few kid-friendly activities that would peak our then 2-year-old's interest and that were easily accessible and close to the pier, which is located at Mallory Square. Here's a quick recap of some excursions to consider if you find yourself in Key West with Kids!

--Key West Aquarium: Our child loves Nemo and anything fish related, so this attraction was a natural fit. It is only a few steps off of Mallory Square and from the cruise ship pier. While this aquarium is small (especially when you consider Baltimore's Acquarium or SeaWorld), it is full of colorful ocean life. We arrived in time for a shark feeding, which our little one loved. Bonus: Kids Under 4 are free!


Pirate's Soul Museum: Our 2nd stop of the morning and located close to the Key West Aquarium is the Pirate's Soul Museum. Our toddler sings the Pirate Song (Yo ho, Yo ho, a Pirate's Life for Me, ARRRRR) and is fascinated with Peter Pan and Treasure Planet, so this was a great pick to tour. She loved seeing the treasure and walking across the mock pirate ship. Caution...it is a little dark, but we incorporated this into our adventure!

We concluded our visit in Key West with some ice cream before boarding the Majesty of the Seas cruise ship again. Unfortunately due to sail away time, we missed the sunset celebration at Mallory Square, which we have done as "adults" and is a great family activity if you have time. Something else our child wanted to do while in port was ride the train; but, we opted to not do this due to time constraints and we did not believe that she would sit still for the 90-minute tour. Next time!

Coming up...Key West Part 2, A Mommy/Daddy Weekend without Child

--Jenn & Bill Thomas