Need info on park & cruise in Boston

[4spring]

Am cruising out of Boston on June 9th. I'll have my car with me. To stay at the terminal parking will cost $128 ($16/day). I've run across a couple of park & cruise sites that list the Rodeway Inn, Holiday Inn Express (South Boston) & Best Western for a decent rate. When I go to the actual hotel website, the amount is significantly higher. Just wondering if anyone has stayed at these hotels as "park & cruise" & 2nd, if anyone has used these park & cruise websites before (i.e. do they work like they say they do). Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[1025cruise]

In all honesty, its just easier to pay to park at the port.

Heck, I pay more than $16 a day to park at the airport.

 

None of the park and cruise hotels are really convenient to anything. I would not want to stay at the Holiday Inn Express (location is iffy), the Best Western is actually in Quincy, and I couldn't tell you where the Rodeway Inn is.

[138east]

Where are you coming from? How many people? Do you want to sightsee in Boston? What is your budget?

 

As 1025cruise said, the park/cruises are located in fringe areas and can be hard to find. The ones you mentioned charge more for a cruise package, so the port transportation is not really free.

 

One strategy we often recommend is to book a room outside the city on Hotwire and then just drive in the following morning and pay to park.

 

If you can manage your luggage, you can stay at a park/fly hotel northeast of the airport, take the hotel shuttle back to the airport, and the Silver Line bus (which is free from the airport) to the cruise terminal with one easy transfer at World Trade Center.

[4spring]

We are arriving on a Sat - maybe mid-day (cruise leaves Sun). If we get in at a decent time, we'll go to a Sox game or something (my kids have been to Boston before & I went to college there eons ago so if we have time to do something in the city, great, if not that's okay too). I looked on hotwire & there are some hotels in the Danvers/peabody area that are cheap. the port parking would be $128. I guess I'm just trying to see if there is something else out there that might be a little cheaper than $128 + $80 or $90 for the hotel. A cruise port site listed HI express on Boston St as 159 with parking but the actual hotel website said 259 so I'm wondering how reliable the cruise park site is.

[138east]

So what I think you're asking is why the HI web site says $259 when the stay123 site says $159? The stay123 and the trinityreservation sites are legitimate. I recommend them all the time in Newark. The park/cruise sites buy large blocks of rooms from hotels all over the country and remarket them at a reduced price. When their rooms are gone, they are gone.

 

Since you've spent some time in the Boston area, you may be in a better position to read about the HI on Friend Street and understand that it is down the Southeast Expressway in Dorchester. This is what I would call a fringe area in Boston. Read the Trip Advisor reviews. If you're OK with that, then book the park/sleep through stay123. Tax will be extra and you will spend $10 each way to the cruise terminal for the extra two people. The T is nearby, so you will have access to downtown Boston.

[4spring]

Thanks for the info 1328east (I may have put an extra number in that). I'd agree with your assessment of the HI Express on Boston - I lived in Boston 20+ years ago & was never overly comfortable in Dorchester.

 

I appreciate your feedback on 123.com & Trinity since I decided to check out their park & fly (something you had mentioned on another thread) & I'm thinking that the HI Express in Saugus looks good. Not sure if there is an extra charge for the kids or not. Is it a big deal to take the shuttle to the airport then switch over to the Silver line for the cruise? I'm not talking so much about the actual transfer but more the security at Logan - do they get funny about folks coming into the airport only to switch over to the cruiseport?

[138east]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1845001

 

This is a recent thread that discusses the logistics of getting from Saugus to the Cruiseport. Logan security is not really interested in folks coming in on a hotel shuttle and transferring to the Silver Line.

 

For HI Saugus you want to book through trinity because their quote includes tax, so it's cheaper. You can book up to 4 people in a room.

 

I think this is a great deal if you are willing to spend the time doing it. All you have to be able to do is to roll your luggage in places. The step onto the bus is low, there is plenty of room if you get on the rear door, and there are escalators and elevators for the transfer at World Trade Center. The kids may enjoy the adventure. It's only a little more effort than getting to a rental car place at an airport and it saves quite a bit of money.

[4spring]

Thanks for the info. I've cut & pasted the info from your link. One question: from the airport the Silver Line is free to WTC correct. Then do we need to have a Charlie tix for the transfer to the other Silver Line to the cruiseport? That's $2.50 per person right?

 

Then on the ride back, its $2.50 to get to WTC & then another $2.50 to the airport? or no? I'm trying to figure out how much cash I need & where to get the Charlie tix (the cards are different & you have money loaded onto them, right?)

 

I love creative thinking especially when it saves me money :)

[Nitemare]

Isn't the Holiday Inn on Friend street the new little one near the Boston Garden (definitely not Dorchester)? I parked in front of what I thought was one being built there a couple years ago.

 

That's not a bad neighborhood, although I have no idea where they put your car.

[138east]

My bad. The Friend St HI is not the park/sleep. It's the Boston St HI in Dorchester. There's no place to put cars at the Friend St HI.

[Mijo]

Am cruising out of Boston on June 9th. I'll have my car with me. To stay at the terminal parking will cost $128 ($16/day). I've run across a couple of park & cruise sites that list the Rodeway Inn, Holiday Inn Express (South Boston) & Best Western for a decent rate. When I go to the actual hotel website, the amount is significantly higher. Just wondering if anyone has stayed at these hotels as "park & cruise" & 2nd, if anyone has used these park & cruise websites before (i.e. do they work like they say they do). Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

I always use them and I have had no issues. Cruising out of Boston next april and I have booked the Holiday Inn on Boston st. Free shuttle to and from cruiseport, free shuttle to and from airport and free parking up to 14 days.. On the website it says 7days but I actually called the hotel and they comfirned it was 14 days. The cost was 183$ usd for the one night stay taxes in.... best of luck!!

[richstowe]

I always use them and I have had no issues. Cruising out of Boston next april and I have booked the Holiday Inn on Boston st. Free shuttle to and from cruiseport, free shuttle to and from airport and free parking up to 14 days.. On the website it says 7days but I actually called the hotel and they comfirned it was 14 days. The cost was 183$ usd for the one night stay taxes in.... best of luck!!

Very glad to hear. Just booked the Holiday Inn for our July cruise on the Glory.

Very odd that the rate at one(2,3) it is as exactly as you posted ,$183 for 2 beds.

When I called hotel directly they quoted $262 for a single Q bed.

Pretty big difference so I went with the park n cruise site. Hoping all will be OK.

[138east]

Stay123 has an excellent reputation and offers park/sleeps at airports all over the country. They buy blocks of rooms from hotel chains at a discount and remarket them as park/sleeps. Once the rooms are gone for a particular date, they are gone. Hotels with parking get their rooms sold and an outside company manages the parking schedule leaving the hotels to focus on managing the rooms.

 

So you get the advantage of a lower price because stay123 passes a lot of their discount on to you.

[WELDON]

4spring - The silver line from the airport is free. When you get to the WTC station, you cross over to the other side. There is an elevator or stairs. Can't remember is there is an escalator. Then you transfer to silver line 2 to the port. Do not leave the station or you will pay $2.50, On the return from the port, you pay $2.50 and go to WTC station, cross over to the other side and take silver line 1 to the airport. The buses take cash or you can get a Charlie ticket in one of the terminals.