so me and my boyfriend had just gotten home from both the hottest and worst excursion of our key west trip: a shark tour where (thanks to the tropical storm) there were no sharks the entire time. given this was the activity we wanted to do the most, we were pretty bummed out. we asked an employee at our hotel (alexander's, go there if you're gay or trans) what there was nearby to do this late (5:30 PM) and she told us about this incredible activity.
however, there was only 30 minutes before the excursion was set to begin, so we called ahead and the person on the phone said we could book on the boat (you can't). when we got to the boat about 10-15 minutes before they were set to leave, Maya was there and helped us call back and get booked properly, while simultaneously making fun of the guy on the phone (whos name i will omit out of class solidarity) for not booking us the first time. she also had smelling salts she was asking everyone to sniff which was just an extremely funny bit all around.
the sushi was incredible, the charcuterie was amazing (and i say that as someone who is not often impressed by a bunch of bread and cheese), the drink choices were good, the sunset was genuinely indescribably gorgeous (and i love me a good sunset) and Maya and Zack were both funny and very good at their jobs.
seriously though, give Maya a raise. she could have extremely easily just said they were full and blown us off and would've been completely justified in doing so considering the time. instead, she took the time to not only help us get booked but call the number herself to make sure we got booked properly. don't get me wrong, Zack was great with all the wine moms and giving background information on all the places around us but Maya absolutely deserves special credit for going above and beyond to get us on the boat, being genuinely extremely funny and (respectfully) looking gorgeous doing it! this went from the worst day of our vacation by far to the best one and i could not be more thankful for the help we received.
i sincerely think EVERYONE taking a trip to key west should be making time to experience this themselves. i wont lie, key west was not my favorite place in the world with how bad the heat was (i live in florida so its nothing new i just hate it here) but for this one single tour i got to look past all the problems i had and really experience the beauty of the area, and i highly recommend it to ANYONE traveling in the area. the price is BEYOND worth it for the huge amount of food, the entertaining crew and the absolutely jaw-dropping sunset. seriously, don't miss out on this if you're in the area. you will be doing yourself a disservice not experiencing this for yourself.
also seriously give Maya a raise she is absolutely killing it our booking was for tanner and casper so you know its legit im not just glazin she is a 5 star employee and a wonderful human being without a doubt