Every year around the holiday season people on Island start asking, "what are the ferry lines like on xxx holiday or holiday eve?" And for some reason I don't think any of us can remember. It's like this big vortex of bad ferry experiences and good ferry experiences and if you are an Islander you have had lots of both.
I figure though, while it is still fresh I would document what I remember about Ferry Traffic 2014 on the holidays:
Christmas Eve Ferry Traffic leaving Vashon going to Fauntleroy:
2014 the boats were on a normal schedule.
No boats were cancelled.
By 3:30 in the afternoon the boats were very full.
So if you have someplace to be at with a VERY specific time frame then you might want to line up early. Otherwise, just be patient!
New Years Eve Ferry Traffic leaving Vashon going to Fauntleroy:
Normal Workday schedule
No boats were cancelled.
We lined up for our boat maybe 15 minutes earlier than we might have.
I am glad we did the boats were MUCH more full than a normal weekday to Seattle.
New Years Day Traffic to and from Vashon
Normal Schedule
No boats were cancelled
My partner had to work this day (in Seattle) and got too and from the Island with utter ease!!
Sunday after New Years- the Sunday before schools start up etc. leaving Vashon
We actually went into Seattle on the 8:55am boat and it was unusually crowded for a Sunday morning (without a Seahawks game).
Then when we returned around 2:30 there were pretty long lines to leave the Island. Later in the afternoon this year some boats were cancelled or delayed but even before they were delayed the lines were long.
My guess is a lot of people who have vacation homes on Vashon were all headed back around the same time and the lines got long quickly. Keep this in mind for future planning.
It seems to me the crucial point is that when the boats operate a normal schedule things run smoothly, but when things get backed up, reduced to 2 boats or whatever, the systems gets mangled pretty quickly!
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