Key West – ‘Ride the train!’

When I worked on cruise ships, I had the pleasure of visiting the beautiful Key West on many occasions.  I didn’t make it off the ship very often though, as our morning stays coincided with my weekly Captain’s meeting on board, but when I did, I always found it to be a charming place, with many attractions, such as an aquarium, Ernest Hemingway’s house, and an edition of the well-known ‘Ripley’s Believe it or Not’ museum chain.  My overriding memory though, was of the little ‘Noddy-train’ service that runs you from the ship all the way into the centre of town….they play a song with the lyrics ‘Ride the Train’ on loop, and it’s all I think of as soon as you mention ‘Key West’ to me!  I’m not even sure if things still operate the same way, but if you ever visit Key West on a cruise, I’d be interested to hear if the ‘Noddy train’ service is still running, and if they still play that same song….

Key West was also synonymous with all the British crew members stocking-up on their’ home-made goodies, such as Cadbury’s chocolate, Walkers crisps, McVitie’s biscuits, and many more familiar brands…a local US resident had a small shop there which specialised in such treats, and it wasn’t unusual for crew members to spend upwards of $50 at a time, just purely on naughty food items; you can never underestimate how valuable such produce is when you’ve been at sea for sometimes up to a year at a time!

Even if you’re not calling at Key West on your cruise, I would still recommend hiring a car from Miami or Fort Lauderdale, and taking a road trip down the coast, driving the spectacular motorway that links all the main Florida Keys to the mainland…I could think of worse ways to use a pre or post-cruise stay in Florida!