Can we do all this in 1 day in Boston?

[MandyCSP]

Our ship is scheduled to be in Boston from 8am to 6 pm. We'd like to start the day with a stroll through the Public Gardens and then try to get on one of the first guided Freedom Trail tours. Do we need to reserve the tour in advance? (it will be a Thursday in early Oct.) After the 90 min tour we want to take the T out to Brookline for the TOMB and lunch. Any suggestions for a restaurant out there? The next stop is the Sam Adams brewery but I'm not sure about the best way to get there. I'm thinking, maybe a taxi or would that be very expensive? After the brewery tour we need to get back to the dock but, again, not really sure how to do that. Any suggestions would be welcome as well as input on how long the transportation segments will take. Thanks!

[138east]

You would have a busy day. The first Freedom trail tour is at 9:30. You'd be done at 11. The TOMB is at Fenway Park - a ride on the T to Kenmore - you could be there by 11:30. The adventure is 40 minutes. You'd want to take a cab to Sam Adams - 30 Germania St - not the best area of town. The tours leave every 45 minutes from 12 to 3. You could take the Orange line back to the Red Line to the Silver Line to get back to the port. I'm not sure how easy it will be to get a cab at Sam Adams, but perhaps you could call one. If it is getting towards rush hour, you really want to take the T.

 

Not much time for a leisurely lunch.

[MandyCSP]

Thanks for the info. I guess we will have to rethink this itinerary.

[Diva21]

Skip the Sam Adams Brewery tour and do the Harpoon Brewery Tour on Northern Avenue, very near the Black Falcon terminal (honestly, a 5 minute walk).

 

Harpoon beer is just as good, if not better, than Sam Adams and the brewery is much more convenient than the Sam Adams brewery. The folks at Harpoon are a lot of fun and the tour is very interesting.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We went there a couple of years ago -- DH loves to go to the breweries -- it was a blast!!

[ute_fan]

One word of caution about planning a busy day in Boston. We were there on Friday, 9/26 (which may have been worse since it was a Friday), and one of the ladies from our roll-call group missed the ship. It was raining, there were accidents, and the streets were flooded which definitely made it worse -- but the taxi ride that should have taken 10 minutes took them well over an hour.

[138east]

In bad weather you have to be prepared to bite the bullet and take the "T". Under those circumstances, cabs may not be the optimal mode of transportation in Boston. If you have a "T" map with you, you can easily get back to the ship from anywhere in central Boston that tourists normally find themselves and avoid the traffic gridlock that downtown Boston can become in the rain.

[ute_fan]

The strange thing is, this lady had spent time in Boston a couple of years ago and was familiar with the "T". They figured when they were cutting it just a little bit close that they'd be better off to get a cab -- wrong decision!

[CruisnGram]

I'm the "lady" in question and I can tell you that it was an absolute nightmare missing the ship.

 

Boston is a great city and there's so much to do. Just be very, very careful of your timing. The combination of 1) Friday rush hour 2) pouring rain causing accidents and street closings 3) the Yankee's being in town turned a 10 minute cab ride into an hour and 15 minutes. As UteFan said, I am familiar with the T and we had actually used it all day long until the end when I made the dumb decision to take a cab as I thought it would be faster.

 

Have a wonderful time in Boston....just don't cut it close.

 

CG

[ute_fan]

Hi Joyce! I hope you didn't mind my referring to your escapades on this thread. When I saw the title of the thread, your experience seemed to fit perfectly.... :eek:

[CruisnGram]

Hi Joyce! I hope you didn't mind my referring to your escapades on this thread. When I saw the title of the thread, your experience seemed to fit perfectly.... :eek:

 

No problem at all :D If one person can be prevented from missing the ship by hearing my story, that's fine with me. It's not like it's a big secret around here! LOL

 

Joyce