Carve out some extra time for stuffed ferries over the Thanksgiving holiday

By now it should be no surprise that droves of travelers will be taking a Washington state ferry over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday weekend to visit friends, family, and maybe even their grandmother’s house.

Officials with Washington State Ferries expect nearly 300,000 people to board the vessels from Wednesday through Sunday.

Not only should travelers expect long vehicle lines but also last-minute changes to schedules. And if you take the Edmonds-Kingston route, you should plan on continued one-boat service due to a lack of available ferries.

For those driving a vehicle onto a ferry, the busiest sailings will likely be westbound (or onto an island) Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 22 to 23, and then eastbound (or off island) Friday and Saturday, Nov. 24 to 25, according to WSF.

Riders who want to cut down on wait times might want to consider taking an early-morning or late-night sailing, or walking or biking onto a ferry instead.

Holiday schedule changes

On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, there will be a few schedule changes for the Mukilteo-Clinton and Point Defiance-Tahlequah routes. The Seattle-Bainbridge route will operate on a Saturday schedule and the Fauntleroy-Vashon-Southworth route will run on two-boat weekday schedules.

Travelers can use the WSDOT mobile app to get service updates and check real-time conditions.

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