Travel
Get tips for reserving your spot.
Steamship Authority vehicle reservations to Martha’s Vineyard for the 2025 summer season open on Tuesday.
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Steamship Authority opens 2025 Nantucket ferry reservations
The largest ferry service to the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket will open reservations on Feb. 4 at 8 a.m. for travel between May 13 and Oct. 21. The online reservation period for Nantucket took place Jan. 28 to Feb. 3.
Extra technical support was available on the company’s website during the Nantucket opening last week due to issues on opening day over the past few years, including a two-week delay last year caused by technical difficulties.
Comments by users on the Steamship Authority’s Facebook page last week after the Nantucket opening were largely positive.
Customers are managed through a virtual waiting room and can see both their place in line and wait time and don’t need to refresh their browser. Going into the queue before 8 a.m. does not improve anyone’s place in line, officials noted. Everyone in the queue at 8 a.m. are randomly assigned a number and then newcomers are lined up in the order that they arrive.
The Steamship Authority offered the following reservation tips on its website:
- Practice logging into your account prior to the opening
- Have your account number and password ready
- Have vehicle information such as year, make, model and license plate ready (those bringing a rental car will follow specific directions for that)
- If you plan on towing anything, have the measurements ready
- Those who don’t get their preferred dates or times can enter the wait list
Mail-in reservations will be opened in the order they were received beginning on Tuesday. Reservations cannot be made by phone during the online opening period. However, the reservation office is available to customers daily from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. to assist with login credentials such as passwords or PINs. The reservation line is 508-477-8600.
Travelers can make reservations to Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard by phone or in-person beginning on Feb. 11.
The Steamship Authority processed 6,599 transactions through 2 p.m. during the Nantucket opening last week, according to the Nantucket Current, which resulted in $3.85 million in revenue.
Reservations for fall travel between Oct. 27 and Jan. 4, 2026 will open on June 17 at 7:30 a.m. Customers can book online, by phone, mail, or in person.
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