Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard are calling you! Beginning at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday (Jan. 31) you can make your summer ferry reservations in person at a terminal or by phone with our Reservation Office at (508) 477-8600. Visit steamshipauthority.com for schedules and fares.
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Steamship Authority
@SteamshipMA
Largest ferry service to the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, including passengers, autos and trucks.
Steamship Authority’s Tweets
Meet the M/V Barnstable! Our Board voted Wednesday on the name to recognize one of our Cape-side ports that a key link in our lifeline service to the Islands. Read more: tinyurl.com/2p9dykzd
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High winds predicted for Thursday AM into the afternoon could cause cancellations on both the Vineyard and Nantucket routes. Please check our website if you are planning to travel with us. Change and cancellation fees for travel on Thursday are waived due to the forecast.
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8:30 a.m.: We are seeing greatly improved performance on the website after decreasing the site load. We're at 13,800 transactions.
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8 a.m.: We're continuing to decrease the site load to improve performance. If you run into errors, please refresh or go back a step and try again. We're at about 11,500 transactions thus far.
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7:15 a.m.: We're slowly decreasing the number of people who can be on the site at one time in response to reports of slowdowns once people get past the waiting room. We're at about 9,500 transactions thus far.
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We are at 7,300 transactions as of nearly 6:30 a.m.
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Also, if you are on a mobile device, do not let it go to sleep - your connection to the waiting room may reset.
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6:10 a.m. update: We're looking into waiting room issues, but it appears people using Chrome are having the bulk of the issues. Try switching to Firefox, Edge or Safari.
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5:45 a.m. update: we're investigating reports from some users that their waiting room position has not changed. We have made nearly 4,000 transactions thus far and our servers are well under capacity.
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5:10 a.m. update: we reloaded the waiting queue at 5 a.m. and the site is functioning normally. We're gradually increasing the number of people in the waiting room at a time, so please be patient and you'll be able to book soon.
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At 5 a.m. today (Jan. 24), our schedule opened for travel from May 18, 2023-October 23, 2023 on the Martha's Vineyard route. Time to book your next summer vacation - buy your vehicle reservations now at steamshipauthority.com.
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Tommorrow is opening day for Martha's Vineyard summer reservations! For a smooth booking process, have your account number, password, travel dates, and vehicle information ready to go. Click steamshipauthority.com/reservationtips for more tips!
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The summer reservation opening for the Vineyard remains on schedule for Tuesday, Jan. 24. Read about what steps we've taken to ensure a smoother process next week: steamshipauthority.com/news/314-marth
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We will continue to review today’s activities to determine the cause of the system issues and resolve them immediately. 2/2
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12:30 p.m. update: The reservation process for Nantucket summer travel now appears to be operating as intended. Customers should now be able to use the virtual waiting room and book without issue. Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience. 1/2
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We know many of our customers are frustrated, and this experience is clearly not meeting the level of service we expect to provide. We are continuing to work on today’s issues and will provide an update as soon as there is additional information. Thank you for your patience. 3/3
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Although some customers are continuing to report issues, as of approximately 8:30 a.m., the Authority had processed approximately 4,000 reservations. That pace is about two-thirds of the volume at this point in the day during the 2022 opening. 2/3
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9 a.m. update on Nantucket summer reservations: Our IT team and outside vendors continue to work together to diagnose and addresses the issues that have been occurring during this morning’s Nantucket reservations opening. 1/3
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If you encounter a problem with entering your payment details, please refresh your browser.
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7:51 am Update: we are still working to resolve the issue but we cannot book reservations over the phone, we look at your account to verify if your reservation was a success.
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1/17/23 6:52 website update: we are experiencing website difficulties and our team is working to resolve them. The virtual waiting room is working; we do recommend that if your queue number does not change after 15 minutes, please refresh your browser. More updates to come.
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At 5 a.m. today, our summer schedule opened on the Nantucket route. Travel from May 18, 2023 - October 23, 2023 can now be booked online only at steamshipauthority.com. Time to book your next summer vacation!
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To clarify, other trips on the Vineyard route are trip-by-trip based on the weather. Please check steamshipauthority.com for updates.
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The M/V Sankaty has limited passenger capacity and does not have an elevator, so if you are planning to travel as a walk-on passenger, please plan accordingly. Online booking is unavailable today and tomorrow on the Vineyard route. We apologize for the inconvenience. 2/2
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Due to a mechanical issue with its bow thruster, the M/V Martha’s Vineyard is out of service for the rest of today and the early trips on the Vineyard route on Monday, 1/16. The M/V Sankaty will assume its trips starting with the 9:30 a.m. trip from Woods Hole on Monday. 1/2
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. has issued a Wind Advisory & Gale Warning for Sunday with gusts of 50 mph forecast. Cancellations are possible on both routes. Change and cancellation fees are waived for travel scheduled for Sunday. Please continue to check SteamshipAuthority.com for updates.
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FERRY FUN FRIDAY! In early December we hosted a NHL film crew as they followed the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School hockey team. Check out the hard-working players, coaches, parents, and fans in this cool documentary: youtube.com/watch?v=0jWe7l.
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. has issued a hale warning for late tonight thru Friday afternoon. Cancellations are possible especially on the Nantucket route. Check steamshipauthority.com for details.
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Starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday, vehicle bookings for summer travel to Nantucket will be available online only at steamshipauthority.com. The waiting room will refresh at 5 a.m., so there is no bonus to logging on early. Get a few more minutes of sleep and then book your trip!
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Island residents in our Excursion or Preferred programs can now start making Headstart reservations for summer travel. Bookings are taken online only, at steamshipauthority.com, but if you need assistance, please call our Reservation Office at (508) 477-8600.
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Our summer 2023 reservations period launches next week, starting with the Headstart program. Excursion or Preferred program enrollees can make up to 10 summer reservations starting at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. Access the Headstart packet here: bit.ly/3iF67eZ.
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TRAVEL TIP TUESDAY: Before our 2023 general reservation openings, check out our helpful videos on how to make a reservation online and how to wait list a reservation. View all our videos on our You Tube channel, youtube.com/@SteamshipAuth, including our tutorial video playlist.
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As 2022 comes to a close, we want to thank you for traveling with the Steamship Authority. We truly appreciate everyone who made this year a great success, including our passengers and employees. Cheers to a happy and healthy 2023!
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FERRY FUN FRIDAY: We caught a great winter sunset this week at Gay Head Light in Aquinnah. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
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Travel Tip Tuesday: Our high-speed ferry service to and from Nantucket will soon come to a close for the 2022 season. The final day for the M/V Iyanough will be January 2, 2023 and is scheduled to return to service on March 29, 2023.
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There is no #bus service on #Christmas - runs park & ride transportation today from the #ferry terminal. #VineyardHaven
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From everyone at the Steamship Authority, we send our sincerest wishes for a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! And a special thank you to our employee Ryan Young, who creates a unique piece of art each year for the front of our company holiday card.
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We have extended the fee waiver for changes and cancellations to include travel scheduled for Christmas Day, Dec. 25, 2022.
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5:30 p.m. update: Due to the forecasted high winds, the remaining scheduled service is canceled for both routes.
Christmas service will be on a trip-by-trip basis on both the Vineyard and Nantucket routes.
Please check steamshipauthority.com for further details.
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