As Steamship Summer Reservations Open, Users Report Improved Booking Process

After several years of flops, frustrations, and apologies, the Steamship Authority opened summer boat reservations on Tuesday to generally positive reviews. The preliminary numbers released by the Steamship, however, showed the number of bookings was down significantly from the previous two years.

The boat line had promised an "error-free experience" as it opened summer bookings to the general public at 8 a.m., and numerous travelers told the Current the process was smoother, faster, and mostly stress-free compared to previous years.

"Significantly easier and more smooth than last year," said Tucker Beatty. "I was fairly deep in line and was still easily able to get what I needed for the summer. To me, it felt less busy maybe?...Good on the Steamship, much improved year over year."

The Steamship once again used its "virtual waiting room" that allows customers to see their “place” in line and the approximate wait time until they can make a transaction. Earlier this month, the boat line stated its IT Department and external vendors had been conducting load tests in preparation for opening day, and that those tests had shown the website was capable of processing the peak demand from 2024. Indeed, the long waits, frozen screens, and error messages that had infuriated users over the past three years seemed to have been mostly eliminated on Tuesday.

Some customers, however, complained about the lack of availability for the dates and times they were seeking - even mid-week days during the summer.

"I've never seen it completely sold out in June within 25 minutes," said Kirsten Nelson Cunha. "I've never had a hard time getting a ferry reservation to get over mid-week in early to mid-June."

Steamship Authority communications director Sean Driscoll shared preliminary bookings through 2 p.m. on Tuesday, as well as the number of reservations on the opening days of 2024 and 2023 for comparison: 

2025 (through 2 p.m.)

• 6,599 transactions
• $3.85 million in revenue

2024

• 8,389 transactions
• $4.43 million in revenue

2023

• 9,153 transactions

• $4.74 million in revenue

(The Steamship Authority defines a transaction as either a one-way or a round-trip automobile reservation)

Asked about why users reported decreased availability despite the apparent reduction in the overall number of reservations, Driscoll stated:

"Keep in mind the numbers I sent you for today are through 2 p.m. and not the full day. Head Start reservations were down - 13,806 in 2024 vs 12,131 this year. I don’t have that broken down by island. With the two new boats coming online, we were conservative with how full we booked them until we get real world experience on the loading and draft. That’s why the wait list is so important – additional space may very well open up on those trips."

The opening day for Martha’s Vineyard summer reservations is next Tuesday, February 4th at 8 a.m.