With very nice weather, for us that means very little wind, we docked in Key West at Pier B. According to plan, the Disney Magic had arrived 45 minutes earlier so the CBP could get a head start there and then come over to us for a full inspection. They will have already done a pre inspection by scrutinizing the Guest List that each ship has to send in before it returns to an USA port. That list is really “scrutinized” and in the past there have been some (un-pleasant) surprises for some guests when upon the end of the cruise there was a welcoming committee waiting. Guests who still had warrants outstanding, had not paid a fine or an important bill, and once somebody who was accused of bigamy. A cruise ship normally has guests on board from all shades of life and thus we also have the good, the bad and the ugly with Clint Eastwood waiting at the gangway sometimes.
Today all was well in the world and two CBP officers processed all the guests on board as quickly as possible. That can take quite some time, not because of the CBP, but because of the getting the guests to the CBP. We still have guests who do not understand that they have to go through CBP control when returning to their own country or do not understand why it happens here in Key West while the ships disembarkation port is tomorrow. Then we have two more groups; the ones who are not going ashore and therefore do not see any reason to see CBP and those who cannot understand the announcements. Everybody gets a nice letter in the cabin, exactly explaining what to do, why it has to happen, and when to do it, but we are all humans after all. Including myself so I got the question: Why are you the first in line? Well I have a split legal status: I am a crewmember except when I enter the USA, then I am service staff on the Guest List as I travel on a special Visa. So with these sorts of inspections I try to be first in case the CPB officers want know more. I would not like it to be the last one to go through the line and then hold up the ship.
Mallory Square as it looked to day. By 19.00 hrs. the square will be heaving and full of buskers and artists and then just before sunset they will all line up at the edge to see the sun sink in the sea. (the cable on deck is the ships forward string light, they were changing broken bulbs)
As we were docked at Pier B, we were right on top of downtown, and the very large majority of the guests streamed ashore as fast as CBP could process them. Last time we had to dock at the Navy pier, to stay out of the sunset view from downtown as we were the only ship, but tonight it will not be a problem for anybody. The Disney Magic is at the Navy Pier and that already leaves Mallory Square free for the sunset watchers but with summertime, the Key West sunset is at 19.43 hrs. today, we will be long gone. Even if we were delayed by stragglers who did not leave Sloppy Joe on time. Did you know there is also a Sloppy Joe in Havana? Hemingway made Sloppy Joe in Key West famous but I wondered why did I see a second one in Havana, when I was there with the Veendam recently ? The all-knowing Wikipedia advises there had been one in the ancient days and it was re-opened in 2013 after having been closed for 48 years. And they still had the original furnishings. I wonder if Hemingway had been there as well.
The Official passport of the Conch Republic. They come in different colors and also in a Diplomat Version.
Although we do not have to sail that fast to get back to Port Everglades; we normally do not wait until past the official sailing time before leaving the dock. The advantage of Key West is, if we leave some behind, we can get them by shuttle bus to Fort. Lauderdale and they can pack & pick up their suitcases upon the arrival of the ship. That does not happen very often but about 20 years ago I had the situation where a whole oriental family had missed the ship because of some dispute among the family. 20 minutes are after the official departure time, they were still not there. They were not seen anywhere in the main street, they did not react to the ships whistle and so I left. They showed up at the pier about 3 hrs. late and having been found totally confused by a local police officer. Apart from being late, why were they confused? Well a – concerned- local citizen had told them that as they had missed the ship, they now needed a Key West passport to re-enter the States at the border near Miami. And he had sold them for $ 25,– a piece each a Key West –Conch Republic- passport. So when they made their way to the dock, they showed their new passports to this police officer who then contacted the ships agent who had put them on the Shuttle to Fort Lauderdale. When they showed up on board, I did not know wether I should have been upset with them or take pity about them.
Tomorrow is the end of the cruise and we will be docked in Port Everglades by 07.00 hrs. We will be part of the Parade again; this time opened up by the Regal Princess, followed by the Celebrity Silhouette, the Eurodam, the Allure of the Seas, the Caribbean Princess and the Zuiderdam.
Weather: Exactly the same as today, another day in Paradise.
March 31, 2018 at 10:24 pm
re: they did not react to the ships whistle and so I left.
I sailed only cargo ships and when crew were not all on board at sailing time the ships would blow the whistle then wait awhile. If someone — other than the Master — were not on board we then would leave. I never missed a ship offshore but I did miss a Laker in Cleveland.
Luckily Cleveland and Detroit both have an airport right downtown near the docks with hourly flights. I was not alone, there were five of us. We flew to Detroit then waited at the Westcott Detroit Marine Post Office station for our ship to get there hours later. We boarded our ship from the mail boat, in the Detroit River stream without the ship slowing down, via a flexible wooden treads chain link ladder.