My Luck With Hotwire - RE:Boston

[MSBfan]

Just finished rolling the dice with Hotwire in regards to the hotels we needed pre/post cruise in Boston, and thought I'd post the results for anyone who could find any useful info in them.

 

The particulars...2 adults, 1 8 y/o driving to Boston from Ohio for the 6/30-7/4 Carnival Glory Canada cruise.

 

As we're driving, I wanted to arrive 1 day prior to not be so worn out, and possibly risk car trouble, so the hotel pre-cruise wasn't location critical-just somewhere close...shuttle not needed, as parking at cruise terminal was fine by me.

 

Budget somewhat limited, and wanting a fairly nice place to lay our heads were the deciding factors.

 

For the night prior to cruise, Hotwire dealt me the Crowne Plaza in Woburn, which appears to be about a 15 mile drive to the pier for $87.00.

 

We are staying two nights post cruise 7/4-7/6, and got the DoubleTree Downtown for $383 total with tax.

 

Not too enthused about the $42 parking, so hope to find an alternative...I hear tell about an underground garage somewhere, which would suit us fine, we plan on walking, using public trans for our needs while in the city...138East, any info is greatly appreciated.

[karn1800]

The Crowne Plaza in Woburn is not too bad. It has been recently renovated from Holiday Inn or something similar. But, it is next door to a movie theater if you need something to do, and there are several nice restaurants within a short drive. Since you will be in Boston for July 4th, you will have the opportunity to do the Pops concert on the Esplanade and watch the fireworks. It will be crowded in Boston that day, so the hotel parking might be a good deal as it will likely be guaranteed. Safe travels!

[138east]

The parking is a problem. If it were me, I would pack cruise suitcases and post cruise suitcases. After the cruise I would drop off the cruise suitcases at your car and pick up your post cruise suitcases. Leave the car at the port parking where it is $24/day. Take your carryons and take the T to the Doubletree. July 4 will be a madhouse in Boston and driving in the city itself (inbound you are not going to have to drive in the real city) will be a nightmare. Walking and public transit are going to be what you need to do that day. We can provide instructions.

 

The Crowne Plaza is in a good location right off the highway. You should be happy with it. Burlington Mall is only a couple of exits south on Route 128/95. The Doubletree is a steal for July 4th in Boston. If you want to go over to the chaos on the Esplanade, you can walk it. There will be tons of people out that night, so don't worry about wandering around at night.

[MSBfan]

Thank you Karn and 138!

 

After I made my original post, I had thought about leaving the car at the port, glad to see that is an option.

 

On the Cruiseport webpage they list parking at $16.00 per day. Is that the days of cruise only then it goes to the $24.00 per day? Or has the daily rate went to $24, and the website hasn't updated?

 

Thanks for the offer of instructions on walking and public transportation. I am getting a list of things together we want to see/do. Would love any route guidance!

[138east]

$16 is a special price for cruisers. Boston wants to develop the cruising business and this price makes them competitive. NYC is $35/day and Cape Liberty is $19/day, so this is a more attractive rate. I'd call the garage and check on how you would arrange this. The garage is a public parking garage open 7x24, so I can't imagine it will be a problem, but you should check anyway. I think you would find it more of a hassle (and certainly more expensive) to move your car downtown. The Silver Line is right there and you can hop on, go to South Station, transfer to the Red Line for one stop and transfer to the Orange Line. I'll have to look at the T map to see which stop is closest to the Doubletree.

[MSBfan]

Thank you. I will call tomorrow to get that info. Appreciate the info on "T" routes. I hope it only sounds confusing. :-) I googled "closest orange line T stop to Doubletree" and it referenced the Tufts Medical Center stop. Is that right? And should my wife and I each buy a 1 day Charlie Card for the transfers and such? I see that kids under 11 are free with adults.

[138east]

The Doubletree is near the Tufts station.

 

I'd suggest spending some time on mbta.com to read about your options. Basically, if you get on the Silver Line at Black Falcon, you will have to spend $2.50/pp to get a Charlie Ticket. There is a list of stations and times you can get a plastic Charlie Card. This may not work well for you because you might have to go outside the turnstiles to do this. Perhaps someone has a more precise knowledge about this than I do.

 

An all day pass is $11, which means it's not worth it unless you each take 6 trips. That's a lot of trips in downtown Boston because so many of the stations are really close to one another. The MBTA map is deceptive unless you look at the station locations on a street map.

 

One thing you could do is to swing by South Station when you drive to the pier. One person can sit in the car while the other goes down into the T station to get a Charlie card and put money on it. This would mean that each of your trips is $2 instead of $2.50.

 

When you come down I93 and cross the bridge and go down in the tunnel, stay in the center lane or the right center lane. I think South Station is the next exit but that can be checked. When you come up on the street you continue straight staying left to the intersection of Altantic and Summer. You can see South Station diagonally across the intersection and you make a left so that the station is now on your right. If you can, pull in and stand while one of you goes down into the T. If you can't stand, go to the end of the office building and make a right at the next light just before the bridge. The post office is down this dead end street and it has parking places where you can stand for a while. You can walk through the post office building to the back area where you can get onto track 12 of the train station. From there you go into the station building and down into the T. To get to the port you continue in the same direction on Summer Street across the bridge and continue down into the waterfront area until you get to the port area.

 

This may sound complicated, but it is actually very easy. I used to work in the office building by the post office and I used to park my car there when I was picking up folks coming in on Amtrak.