Tuesday 10th October 2023
Boston, Massachusetts
Mary wrote: We had spent a couple of hours trying to book a trolley tour online, but our first choice “Old Time Trolley Tours” did not appear to have any available for today. We tried another company but could not get the online payment to work.
I had asked at Destination Services, and they said we could just get on the trolley and pay, but suggested not going until 1030, as all the buses would give priority to the people who had bought tickets.
We left the ship around 1000 and went to the terminal and was shown a roof in the distance off to the left beyond the car parking which was meant to be the booking office. However, we came to a group of people at a Kiosk Cart trying to buy tickets without success. (It was not manned and used on Q code people did not seem to scan).
We walked further on, to the building we had been told was the Office. However, a policeman came to us and said it was a police station, and other people kept getting sent there in error. We went back to the group of people waiting and a bus trolley came, but it was almost full. However, it was followed by another trolley which had room. I thought it would fill up before it was our turn as he had stopped people boarding at one couple in front of us. Writing on the trolley indicated 45 seats. He counted up and said there were 7 spaces, so we got on. I was ahead of Mel and I could see one double seat left near the back of the bus where the window flats were rolled up so good photos could be seen taken. Mel sat down on a single seat near the front where the plastic windows were down and visibility was poor. I shouted to him to join me as I did not want to be with a stranger for a couple hours. We had got on at stop 16 so got taken to stop 1, and because there were so many people who needed you to pay, the harbourmaster and a trolley person came and issued tickets. We then continued around the 16 stops which took 2½ hours and we got back to the ship at 1300. We had a continuous narration from the driver, including some recorded songs or snippets of conversations etc. We were shown all the best areas for Italian food, lobster rolls, Chinese dishes, etc. There were plenty of Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts but we never saw a McDonald's! I was amazed at the height of the buildings and the amount of glass used. I just cannot get my clothing right! Although it was bright and sunny with a wide expanse of open windows which were excellent for photos, I did get very cold. I had just my fleece jacket. We ended up having soup and I had hot food and a sweet, as well as tea, to warm me up. I managed to do the laundary in a machine and dried and ironed it in the afternoon, which pleased me, as I imagined the machines will be busy tomorrow as it is a Sea Day.
