Earlier this summer, I found myself on a Celebrity Cruise to Bimini and Key West with two of my three oldest and closest friends.  We get together about once a year. We don’t live near each other anymore, but we’re close enough that we can swing once a year, even if we can’t always all make it.

The year we all turned 50, we spent a long weekend in waterfront rooms at Fusion on Treasure Island. Last year we spent a long weekend at Sheraton Vistana in Orlando. This year? We tried something different: A long weekend cruise.

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A Long Weekend on Celebrity Reflection

Large boats to Key West are not typically my speed.  And this boat — the Celebrity Reflection — is large indeed: It can carry 3,046 passengers.

But not all cruises from Florida are created equal, and Celebrity offered the most amenities for our time and budget. Leigh, my friend who also happens to be a travel advisor at Cruise Brothers, understood my concerns and steered me away from any ship that offered tattoos of margaritas or built its brand around Brazilian street parties. She spent a lot of time going back and forth with me as we settled on a cruise.

Leigh’s a huge Celebrity/Royal Caribbean fan, so after a lot of “I want this but not that and that but not this” (I’m a lot of fun for her, I’m sure), she suggested a concierge-level balcony room on one of their ships. Compared to four days of food, entertainment, and hotel rooms, the balcony room on Reflection was a bargain. Bonus: She managed to snag us an aft-facing balcony.

Day One: Fort Lauderdale

Dee, Tamara, and I met at my house and drove to Fort Lauderdale to board the boat.   Dee had not even a full day off another cruise (one offering margarita tattoos) and Tamara worked the day before, so the drive down was our first chance to catch up. We talked nonstop the entire drive, boarded Reflection relatively quickly, found our cabin, and chose our pillows.

Right, that last one? Concierge level on Celebrity comes with a pillow menu. I was not sad about this. At home I have Garnett Hill pillows on the bed and in the RV, and they’re not the least expensive pillows. What I’m saying is, pillows matter to me.

Next we found food.  On a recent Oceania trip, I was concerned that the buffet didn’t have allergen labels for the food. Oceania more than made up for it with personalized attention, but as Oceania is more on par with Celebrity’s higher-end line, Silversea, than Celebrity, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The buffet on Celebrity Reflection, however, had every item clearly labeled. I may or may not have eaten my weight in Indian food.

Finally, we walked the ship, one of my favorite things to do on embarkation day. I was happy to see little pockets of quiet throughout. And then we were off into the big blue. Next up? Key West.

Day Two: Key West

Key West isn’t really ideal for a daily influx of upwards of 3,000 cruise passengers. It’s not a large island.

Only small boats can dock at the City-controlled pier, but larger ships such as Celebrity Reflection dock at a private pier.

Until this trip I’d never sailed into Key West on a cruise ship. Pro tip: If you’re sailing into Key West on a cruise ship, don’t be in a rush to disembark. And if you really want to see the island, Lyft is your best friend.

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East Martello Tower, Robert the Doll, and David Sloan

David Sloan is the current doll keeper for Robert the Doll. If you’re spending the night, see if one of his Robert the Doll After Dark tours are happening. If they are, run, don’t walk to this tour. I love how the tour combines Robert’s story with Key West history, and David does an exceptional job of telling people about both. (He’s also written several books, all relating to Key West, and yes, one is about Robert.)

David’s a friend, so he agreed to meet us at East Martello Tower during daylight hours. Robert, of course, was inside, waiting.

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Tales of Robert’s antics abound, and I won’t go into them here. I will tell you both Dee and Tamara thoroughly enjoyed their time with Robert and David, which was over all too soon. Next up? A late breakfast.

Cuban Coffee Queen

Cuban coffee will make you see sounds, and Cuban Coffee Queen is a must-stop for me every time I’m in Key West.  They have gluten-free bread, so I don’t get to taste that amazing Cuban bread but I can order the Jose Martí. If you’re not gluten-limited, do yourself a favor and also order the Cuban bread with guava. And, although on this trip I opted for an iced coffee, you cannot go wrong with the Cortadito.

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Duval Street

Of course, if you’ve never visited Key West, there’s a good chance you’ll want to see Duval Street. It is 100% not for me, but I can’t fault you for wanting to see it. And so we did: Irish Kevin’s, Sloppy Joe’s, Caroline Street… and then we wanted something different. Robert had put us in a mood, you see.

Key West Cemetery: We Saw Dead People

My first foray into the Key West Cemetery was more than 20 years ago. I went in search of a particular headstone: B.P. Roberts, whose inscription simply reads: I told you I was sick.

This time, though, I’m looking for the grave of one Wilhelmina Goehring Harvey, the one-time Admiral and First Sea Lord of the Conch Republic’s Navy.

I expected her gravestone to be a giant conch shell. It was not, although I did find a giant conch-shaped gravestone (I really do love this cemetery; its occupants don’t take death too seriously). The giant conch shell pictured here marks the grave of Sir Peter Anderson, Secretary General of the Conch Republic. His inscription? “He had fun!”

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I soldiered on and we did find Wilhelmina Harvey’s grave, although it was less, er, large. I stopped, snapped a photo, and proceeded to Florida-splain about how the Conch Republic came about.

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At this point, I realize both Dee and Tamara are about to melt. Either it was my excessive Floridasplaining or the June heat. Lyft, once again our friend, brought us back to Celebrity, where the ship was still relatively empty. A quick catnap, dinner at Tuscan Grille (we would eat there every night thereafter, too — the food was delicious), and we were ready for tomorrow’s adventure: Bimini.

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Day Three: Bimini

Barry and I have been to Bimini before, so once we got off the ship I knew right where we wanted to go, and it wasn’t the resort. We rented a golf car and headed to the beach at the southern tip of North Bimini. I wanted two things: sea glass and conch.

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We found plenty of sea glass,  and worked up an appetite doing so. Next on the Bimini to-do list? Conch. Next to the beach where we found the sea glass, Koko Plum Restaurant and Bar had plenty of conch. They also had a hot sauce I still dream about. Scotch bonnet peppers, garlic, salt, and vinegar was perfection in a bottle. And no, you cannot find it on Amazon. Oh, how I wish you could. Full, sun-drenched, and happy, we were ready to return to the boat.

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We took the high road (literally) back to the resort, returned the golf cart, and hopped the tram to Celebrity Reflection.

Back on board that night, we dined once again at Tuscan, then found a relatively quiet bar where we put together a Robert the Doll jigsaw puzzle.

Florida Cruises and Celebrity: Was It Worth It?

As I said at the start of this post, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about a larger boat. For a quick getaway, for a girls weekend, or simply for fun, Celebrity delivered on this trip. The ports weren’t as important as the time with my friends, but each of the two ports had plenty to offer off the beaten path. As I also said, not all cruises from Florida are created equal, and I’m glad Leigh helped me choose this one.

Portions of this post have been sponsored, but all the experiences and opinions are mine.