In the words of William Shakespeare, “Parting is such Sweet Sorrow”. Leaving Nantucket can be traumatic and hectic. Your summer vacation is over, catching the ferry or airplane for your return home is taxing, leaving your rental home by 9:00 AM is almost impossible.

A word of caution, in Nantucket during the summer months most homes have a check out time of 9:00 AM on your turnover day. Please, be understanding of the check out time, and please remember that the 9 AM is selected so the home can be ready for the next renter. Be considerate of your fellow traveller, you would not appreciate arriving on Nantucket on the first day of your vacation and being told “Your rental property is not ready”.

Finally, you also must get  all your belongings, plus any purchases ready for the trip home. Here are some basic tips that will help make the transition easier:

# 1: Plan ahead. Your departure will go a lot smoother if you do all your packing the last night of your stay. Don’t leave it for the morning;

#2: Check with your airline or ferry the previous night to make sure that everything is running on time;

#3: As soon as you wake up, have breakfast, and then strip all beds, and make the beds with fresh linens. This simple task will minimize cleaning charges that could become exorbitant on island. Remember that most homes for rent include an 8-1o hour complementary cleaning upon your departure. Everything beyond the allotted time is charged to you at the typical Nantucket rate of $42 per hour.

#4: Don’t bother with cleaning bathrooms, floors, etc. Just change the linens. Given the schedule and processes of cleaning companies, the cleaning company will vacuum, do the floors, do the bathrooms, etc no matter the condition they are in.

#5: Ask from your home owner or Realtor for an extension to 10:00 AM on the day of departure. This 1 hour extension can make your life a lot easier, and it’s customarily granted; and finally

#6: Be at your departure point at least half hour (ferries), and 1 hour (airplanes). The Steamship authority, Hy-Line, and all other transportation companies have some pretty strict regulations. The last thing you want is to be stranded in Nantucket for an extra day as it can become extremely expensive.

Hope you enjoy your Nantucket vacation. I hope this material was useful, and please make your rental reservations as early as possible starting the previous fall to the date of your vacation. That is the time that you can find the greatest availability at the lowest prices.