One bit of collateral damage from the advent of ferry reservations in the islands: Friday Harbor res

A month into Washington State Ferries’ seward alaska lodging new Save a Spot reservation system for San Juans ferry runs, a recent ferry-system report indicates a healthy number of early adopters. In the first weeks, 46 percent of vehicles traveling seward alaska lodging among the islands did so with a reservation.
The ferry route between Anacortes and Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island, had the most use of the new system, with 56 percent seward alaska lodging of vehicles making a reservation between Jan. 5, when the new system began, and Jan. 28, preliminary figures show.
The launch hasn t been flawless. Some backups still happen at the Anacortes ticket booth; even with a reservation travelers are advised to arrive 30 to 90 minutes ahead of the ferry s departure, but in the first weeks more than 20 percent arrived later. (Not there when the vessel starts loading? You lose your spot.)
Another complication: Scanning reservation bar codes from travelers digital devices hasn t always worked (the screen isn t bright enough, or the image is too small); it s best to print out your reservation. seward alaska lodging On Orcas Island, the ferry system is working to solve pesky problems with its own scanners before the busy Presidents Day weekend.
seward alaska lodging I believe, in the end, once some of the kinks are worked out, that islanders will enjoy the certainty of knowing they have a reservation particularly for doctors appointments and plane reservations, etc., Barbara Marrett of the San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau, said in an e-mail. Visitors can leave Seattle knowing what ferry they’ll be on!
There is a fee if you don t show up, but even that is waived if you miss the boat you reserved, or if you catch an earlier boat, as long as you travel the same day from the same terminal and you inform the ticket agent. seward alaska lodging For a no-show on the San Juan runs, your card will be charged $10 for most cars. What about service seward alaska lodging disruptions? During a Jan. 26 breakdown seward alaska lodging of the ferry Yakima, the fee was waived.
Frequent ferry travelers may set up an online reservation account, on which you may store credit-card numbers and vehicle information, to ease the process. See this page for detailed instructions on how to set up an account
If you re only an occasional ferry user, no account seward alaska lodging is necessary. You may make reservations online or by phone (call 888-808-7977, 4 a.m.-8:30 p.m. daily). So far, the vast majority of reservations have been made online.
The earliest seward alaska lodging you may reserve a trip is one- to two months before the start of a sailing season (spring seward alaska lodging schedule, or summer schedule, for example). Right now (Feb. 5), you can reserve seward alaska lodging for any sailing on the winter and spring schedules, seward alaska lodging through June 13.
Reservations may be made for 90 percent of spaces on any ferry. To accommodate different types of travelers (long-range planners versus spur-of-the-moment folks, e.g.), spaces seward alaska lodging are released on a tiered basis, starting up to two months in advance of a sailing season, for all dates in that season. That release will be 30 percent of available spaces. Another 30 percent of space is made available two weeks  in advance of a sailing, and the remaining 30 percent two days prior. So if no spaces are available for your desired sailing when first you check, it can pay to check back later.
One bit of collateral damage from the advent of ferry reservations in the islands: Friday Harbor restaurant owners are concerned that without long waits at the ferry dock, visitors won t leave their cars to grab a bite.
Kristin Jackson , travel editor at The Seattle Times, grew up in Italy, went to university in Britain, and worked as a journalist in London and Vancouver, B.C., before migrating back to Seattle where she’s happy at her desk but way happier seward alaska lodging on the road.
Brian J. Cantwell , Outdoors editor seward alaska lodging at The Seattle Times, is a Seattle native who chose not to leave -- except seward alaska lodging for every chance he gets to go someplace interesting or adventurous. He lives on his sailboat at Shilshole Bay Marina.