A day in Boston before evening transatlantic flight

[sgmn]

I'm just researching what to do in Boston after arriving at the end of our cruise, as we will have all day before our evening transatlantic flight back to UK. 

 

Was thinking of a day room, but I found a 'cruise special' water taxi service.  For $50 they take you from the cruise terminal to their wharf by boat where they store your bags. At a pre determined time they then transport you by water taxi to the airport where a shuttle takes you to the terminal. 

It sounds like a fun way of spending a day exploring Boston without bags and to get to the airport. 

Has anyone done this? Did it go smoothly? 

https://www.bostonwatertaxi.com/cruise-ship-special

[Dobby36]

1 hour ago, sgmn said:

I'm just researching what to do in Boston after arriving at the end of our cruise, as we will have all day before our evening transatlantic flight back to UK. 

 

Was thinking of a day room, but I found a 'cruise special' water taxi service.  For $50 they take you from the cruise terminal to their wharf by boat where they store your bags. At a pre determined time they then transport you by water taxi to the airport where a shuttle takes you to the terminal. 

It sounds like a fun way of spending a day exploring Boston without bags and to get to the airport. 

Has anyone done this? Did it go smoothly? 

https://www.bostonwatertaxi.com/cruise-ship-special

Hi.  I’m booked to do this in 3 weeks, so can’t really report in it yet but sounds promising.  When is your cruise? Maybe I can come back and update this thread. 

[sgmn]

6 hours ago, Dobby36 said:

Hi.  I’m booked to do this in 3 weeks, so can’t really report in it yet but sounds promising.  When is your cruise? Maybe I can come back and update this thread. 

Our cruise is in a month for 12 nights, so third week in Sept for Boston. Thanks it would be great to hear what you think.

 

[Julma]

Have never done this, but it sounds great.  The walk to the ferry is a short, easy one.  Rowes Wharf is a great place to be dropped off.  You'll have access to both the Greenway and Harborwalk to get you to many sights.  Boston Harbor Hotel is there for as a good bathroom source.  Weather is the wildcard. Either the company or you will have to have a back-up plan.  

[Dobby36]

8 hours ago, sgmn said:

Our cruise is in a month for 12 nights, so third week in Sept for Boston. Thanks it would be great to hear what you think.

 

Ok, will report back in early Sept!

[Nitemare]

The water taxis have offered this for a few years, it is not cheap, but it is well regarded.

 

An alternative is to leave your bags at a convenient hotel for a tip, but then you're responsible for your own transportation

[Dobby36]

@sgmn and @Julma returning back as promised. We did this water taxi to rowers wharf yesterday.   Couldn’t have been simpler! The crew were nice, they even graciously reterned to dock after a quick call when we (stupidly) forgot a backpack on board..  

 

walk is maybe 5 mins from exit of cruise terminal, literally in shadow of cruise ship off the bow. They include good instructions for directing you in the confirmation email. You can then choose what time at top of hour you want to head to airport, we walked around aquarium and long wharf area and into north end for brunch and stumbled into an art festival.  Would highly recommend! 

[Dobby36]

@relayforlife tagging you to see my post above, since I saw you have this booked this week too.  Hope you have as great an experience!

Edited September 10, 2023 by Dobby36
Tagged wrong person -fixed!

[Julma]

Great info.  Thank you for following up. 

[sgmn]

2 hours ago, Dobby36 said:

@sgmn and @Julma returning back as promised. We did this water taxi to rowers wharf yesterday.   Couldn’t have been simpler! The crew were nice, they even graciously reterned to dock after a quick call when we (stupidly) forgot a backpack on board..  

 

walk is maybe 5 mins from exit of cruise terminal, literally in shadow of cruise ship off the bow. They include good instructions for directing you in the confirmation email. You can then choose what time at top of hour you want to head to airport, we walked around aquarium and long wharf area and into north end for brunch and stumbled into an art festival.  Would highly recommend! 

Thank you so much @Dobby36

We're going to go ahead and book this . It sounds a great way to spend the day in Boston without our bags before our evening flight home 

Thanks for the comprehensive report back

Sue

[Crewbie]

Just a chime-in and seconding @Dobby36's experience with the water taxi cruise special. It was a solution that also worked out for us and nice to not need to handle luggage extensively after getting off the ship or worry about taxis and road conditions at the time. Very straightforward and friendly pickup, and they take care of storing the luggage at the Rowes dropoff. They'll discuss the pickup time (again, available at the top of every hour) on the ride over.

 

Rowes is also just a few blocks away from the start point of some of the Hop-On Hop-Off services if that seems like something that will assist in convenience (I believe when I was trying to map it it was drop-off at 60 Rowes Wharf and the HOHO location was 200 Atlantic Avenue); otherwise as mentioned above it's in itself a very convenient location to get to points of interest in all directions. (If you do decide that the HOHO is a good fit, I would recommend also purchasing tickets in advance as at least it looked like Old Town Trolley tickets did rise in price with demand/reduced availability.)

 

Do want to echo that weather was one of the factors of concern - thankfully our weather held up on disembarkation, but the walk to and the pickup point are not covered, so keep your eye on the weather forecast and be ready to pack your day bag accordingly. (There was a blue tent nearby for a different ferry service/educational program, but I didn't check to confirm if it was public access or permanent.) Additionally, do consider the taxi's note regarding some mobility limits - they make it very easy with their service, but passengers do need to walk their luggage to the stop, walk it down the ramps, and make a not-insignificant step to get on and off the taxi.

 

Last note - as it was the first time use for us as well, I wasn't sure what to do when we got dropped off at the airport stop and the taxi turned its attention to assisting passengers awaiting their pickup. Just in case - you are dropped off at the Logan Airport Water Transportation dock; go up the ramps and see if the Massport On-Airport shuttle (Shuttle Bus 66) is there at the curb. The shuttle is free and will stop at all terminals on its loop.

 

Hope this helps add a little note of reassurance; have a great trip and time in Boston!

Edited September 11, 2023 by Crewbie
Clarifying airport dropoff

[CaribbeanBound]

If you have interest in taking the local bus back to the airport from the cruise port, I can report an equally robust experience.  

 

Cost: $2.65 per person.

How: After exiting the cruise terminal, walk around the left/West side of the Design Center Building (that building that is directly in front of you) and catch the Silver Line 2 bus at the "Drydock Ave @ Design Center Place" stop just around the corner.  Get off at Silver Line Way (5 minute ride) and catch the Silver Line 1 bus (no additional charge currently) directly to the airport.  It takes only about 10 minutes to get to the airport once on this bus and it has stops at each terminal.