Martha’s Vineyard trip this summer? Ferry reservations open today

Frank O'Laughlin
·2 min read

Summer vehicle reservations for ferry trips to Martha’s Vineyard this summer open to the public on Wednesday.

Online reservations for the Woods Hole-Martha’s Vineyard route open at 8 a.m., according to the Steamship Authority.

The Steamship Authority says it’s using a virtual waiting room to provide an optimal customer experience while booking.

“There will be no need to refresh the site; the virtual waiting room will automatically switch on. Being on super early will not improve your place in line, so get your sleep and come to the site fresh,” the Steamship Authority wrote in a post on X.

Anyone in the waiting room at 8 a.m. will be randomly assigned a place, while anyone who arrives after 8 a.m. will be queued in order.

The Steamship Authority warned of long wait times and urged online users to be patient.

“Today is our Black Friday,” the Steamship Authority wrote on X. “Wait times will likely be long, so please be patient and we’ll get you on the site as soon as possible.”

Reservation dates are for travel from May 15 through October 20.

As of 3:45 p.m., the Steamship Authority says they’ve processed over 23,442 transactions, which represents more than $6.3 million in revenue.

During the peak of processing transactions around 8:40 a.m., officials say the online waiting room had an average of more than 21,300 active sessions per minute. The average wait time peaked at 2 hours and 15 minutes around 10:15 a.m.

In previous years, the Steamship Authority processed 24,609 reservations in 2023 and 24,508 in 2022.

Customers will be able to make summer reservations for either island via the phone and in person at terminals starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday, February 20, 2024.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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