Washington State Ferries

Awful awful awful assholes. My husband two kids and I waited for an hour for the ferri. We waited and waited and then pulled up and some guy accused us of. Cutting in line. We did not cut in line. We waited and waited and they told us to go around. It was OUteageous that they would listen to other people and not what we said. Do not go here they will accuse you of cutting the line when u didn’t. I will never move to this pychi city.

The best way to get to and from Port Orchard via ferry. It’s a shorter trip, which means the ferries run at a better schedule than Seattle to Bremerton; plus the lobby is clean and the ferries are quieter, due to less people taking it.

Workers are very friendly and the boats are always clean. Today I did have a lady at the food place give me an attitude and was cold hearted to someone that was smiling right at her. Kinda pissed me off.

Most of the workers are angry, lazy, over-​paid, and feel entitled to have mass «sick» days as labor protests, which put a huge burden on passengers.

Love the ferries. After riding for six months now I consider myself an intermediate ferry rider. On a daily basis I’m amazed at how many truly clueless drivers I encounter. Here are a few.
1– Not sure where my money is guy. I get behind this guy on a regular basis. This is the guy who stops to buy a ticket but doesn’t have his wallet ready and spend 3 minutes trying to find it, while I sit there with my pass just waiting like a shmuck.
2– Ms «oh there are other people here?» There are two entrances and this is the person who almost smashes into me getting to their lane.
3– captain Stallpants– You’d be amaze at how often someone’s car stalls in one of the lanes. I don’t know if they have really crappy cars or bad batteries or what. They just sit there while 200 cars wait for one of the ferry employees to bring out the mini tower.
4– Joe Talksalot. This is the guy who has to stop at the edge of the ramp to ask one of the Ferry employees for directions or what their favorite place to eat on Vashon is. Hey man, don’t worry about the other 100 of us, we’ll wait.

The staff, from the ticket counter to the ticket taker, were less than helpful to a first time user going to Vashon. Also of note was the presence of teams checking under the vehicles. Other than these events the crossing was uneventful.

The ferry system needs to be more reliable. I gave up waiting for an hour with no end in site on Sat Aug 2. My co-​worker who was ahead of me in line informed me that the boat he got on wasn’t even at capacity. It was only about ²⁄₃ full. Canceling boats and rerouting them without notice or paying attention to lines/​wait times causes unhappy customers, especially on a beautiful Saturday.

Awful, awful, awful!!! I’ve been living here for almost 30 years now and I can’t stand these ferries!!! The actual sailing part and operation of the ferries is excellent but everything else about it is so awful that I wish I could place –5 stars… So I’ll have to settle for 1 I guess! There are two gentlemen who have been working the dock almost since I’ve been here and they are great! One is named Bernie, and the other is another African-​American gentleman; they are wonderful! Everyone else will treat you like dirt and scum and like you’re an inconvenience by catching the ferry! One guy in particular is such an Ass! I catch this ferry every morning and every morning as he scans my ticket, I say hi, how’s your day, offer him donuts; but no, he is still an ass!!! I understand that he has to deal with the idiots and morons, especially those going to Southworth, (whom shouldn’t be allowed on a ferry anyways), but still he doesn’t have to be a jerk to the rest of us!
The ferry system needs to get its act together, awful employees, price gauging, and the worst government provided service is the country is killing Vashon, it’s commerce and it’s tourism… Thanks.

Mostly on time, mostly friendly ferry workers, and the most beautiful commute you could ask for. The other Washington State Fairies, the magical, sparkly ones, are my favorite, however.

Kudos to the crew for running an efficient operation! We enjoyed the smooth boat ride, the clean facilities, and the great views. Our only complaint is the cost. $ 32 for a 20-​minute ride (Fauntleroy to Vashon) is a bit steep.

For such a busy ferry from Fauntleroy to Vashon, I would think they would have more than one urinal and one toilet in the men’s room. I guess I’ll just use the bathroom on the ferry from now on.
$ 20.90 round trip at 5:30 on a Friday. I guess that’s reasonable. Approximately a 20 – 25 minute ride and a moderately short wait between ferries.

I love the Washington state ferries. Only 7 $ one way and there is free parking — just have to look around. Great Activities to show your touristy out of towners. I went to bainbridge island.

calm and pleasant ride to Vashon Island,
Weather held up, so it was a fun ride and on time.
for $ 5 round trip, its the cheapest way to get onto puget sound. less than the price of a boogie board (your next alternative).not that there’s any surf to enjoy. food, meh, coffee, ok.
popcorn was nice touch, if only too salty.

The ferry system would get 4 stars, but the ferry terminal can only get 2, so we’ll go for the average. The ferry terminal is VERY small. There is no real place to park if you are picking up passengers, so most cars idle in a small RideShare lot. Also, why do they allow both lanes leaving the ferry to turn left into one lane on Fauntleroy?

I’m not from Vashon so I feel like a poser reviewing the ferries, but as an outsider (from the East Coast) these ferries seem to be as good as they get! Super clean on the inside with tonssssss of seats, a cafeteria, that serves alcohol!!! Whaaat!
It sucks if you miss one and have to wait a while for the next but that’s not their fault!

Simply the easiest way to Port Orchard.
You leave from West Seattle, near Fauntleroy Cove and Lincoln Park. Our family has taken this trip many times and the traffic down to Tacoma is a bear. So why bother? Besides, the ferries are fun and the food is actually good.
Enjoy!

I love to ride the ferries even if they are expensive and the lines are long. To visit my folks on Vashon, especially for this weekend — Strawberry Festival. The biggest weekend for Vashon and the WSF.

These guys go through SO MUCH everyday. They’re running transportation like it’s a utility (which for commuters it IS) and they do a great job.
The «ferry boat café» is over priced to a «fall of the decadent greco-​roman empires» kind of way. As are all the vending machines. It’s crazy. It has always been that way, except when on ONE run they had an actual restaurant provide great food for a competitive price.
The ride itself varies greatly from run to run. (That is: it depends on where you’re going) The view is usually great and if you’ve never been or it’s not regular for you to go on the ferry it will probably be something delightful you remember.
If you are a visitor from the mainland– just ask somebody in a uniform what to do. Procedure varies from run to run but it’s mostly dictated by common sense. There are also signs. Explaining everything you need to know.
Same with anything you do on the boat. (ex: don’t run on the deck, you could fall off. Don’t leave your bags unattended — which would violate common sense anyway since most people don’t leave their personal effects of valuables laying around to be stolen. etc etc)
And as Dani said, yep safest Ferry system in the world.

Safest ferry system in the world right? Cafeteria and bar is a wonder though everything is as you would expect from a government system… over priced. The staff is good and keeps to their own, but it seems as though they all hate their jobs.
The views are spectacular, but what would expect in the Pacific Northwest

The ferry terminal at Fauntleroy in West Seattle is small. It has two destinations, Vashon Island and Southworth in Kitsap County. The terminal is nothing like the one in downtown Seattle. It is much smaller.
Took a day trip to Vashon as a walk-​on passenger. They do not have a passenger ramp here. Instead, you just walk onboard of the ferry when you are ready to board if you are not travelling in a car. There is a small terminal with a waiting area in which you can buy ferry tickets at one of two kiosks. You can also buy tickets from the ticket seller located at the front entrance.
The trip is real short. Just 20 minutes to Vashon, but it seems like a tough place to get in and out from. If I did it again, I would have took a car. The town is not right next to ferry like Bainbridge Island and Bremerton are. You need a car or need to take a bus to get to town. Though I guess you could walk to town, it is a bit far.
King County Metro has a stop next to the ferry and I believe they coordinate schedules to match the departure and arrival times for the ferry, but Metro has limited hours. Also, there is no service on Sunday.
Overall, the ferry ride to Vashon was fine. It was short and sweet. The terminal at Fauntleroy is basic, but it does its job.