Shepler's Mackinac Island Ferry — Local services in Saint Ignace

It has been over a year now and no word from Shepler’s regarding my stolen luggage. Sure I received a “sorry for your loss” phone call but nothing since. Luggage and contents valued over $2000 and no personal apology letter? What kind of customer service is this. My luggage was stolen while under your care and no offer to replace or compensate? Police report has been filed and they did the most that they could do and apologized several times even though it was not their fault at all. This woman will most likely never be caught or prosecuted as she was able to walk away from your unsecured tent with my luggage and travel to another state. This is all on you Shepler’s! Your tents are not secure and my valuable luggage, clothing, and gifts were stolen because you told me the tent was secured by employees. Chris Shepler told me my suggestions for security cameras near the entrance and exit of the tents were a great idea. He knows items get stolen and people just eventually move on. I refuse to forget how Shepler’s ruined what had been one of my happiest trips to the island. Things like this happen all the time and thiefs/theft is a regular part of our lives but your handling of my situation has been very bad customer service. Please use caution when traveling to the island and use another ferry service or if you have to use Shepler’s keep your bag next to you to the island and back. A handwritten letter of apology from you and your holding company would have made all the difference and wouldn’t have taken more than a few minutes. Time continues to pass but these bad memories of being treated so poorly by Shepler’s will stay with me forever. Even with the warning of not responsible for lost or stolen luggage this sits ill with me all because three different Shepler staff members told me verbally that my luggage was safe in the tent and I had nothing to...

Horrible experience with the worker here named Pat. When we arrived, my boyfriend walked to the desk to purchase the parking while I stayed with the porters to arrange the luggage. He ended up needing to get on the ferry before me as he was on work travel, so I stayed behind to park the car.

I showed the parking receipt and hang tag to the porter and asked him where I should go to park overnight. The gentleman told me to park in the main lot, I showed him again the hang tag I had and said it’s this lot? And the porter told me yes it’s the close one. I park there and got on the next ferry to meet my boyfriend on the island.

When we get back, we aren’t able to leave the parking lot so we went to the office to ask what the issue is. It turns out the porter was incorrect, and the yellow hand tag I had was for a different lot. I tried to explain this to Pat and before I could finish talking she immediately became nasty with me and started talking over me. I asked to speak to the manager and pointed out the man who told me to park in the main lot. She refused to listen and lied to me and said there were no men that worked at Sheplers and there was no manager. She demanded $100 or she wouldn’t let me leave the lot and I could sleep there for all she cared. I kept trying to calmly explain but she kept getting aggressive and talking over me.

It was an awful experience and the porters mistake should not have cost me $100, they should have trained their staff better on the colors of the hang tags. Being given bad information, being lied to and yelled at, then extorted for $100 was a horrible experience. I called back to try and speak to the manager again, and the woman lied to me again to dissuade me from speaking to a manager. I’m hoping someone in management sees this and talks to Pat as her behavior was horrible, dishonest and...

It used to be a debate of which ferry service was the best: Shepler’s, Star Line or Arnold. Now, it’s just Shepler’s and Arnold, but they’re both owned by the Hoffman family. It’s basically a monopoly, and Shepler’s prices have increased over the years as a result.

Ferry tickets are $38/adult roundtrip, and it’s $50/night to park in the premium dockside lot on a Sunday-Wednesday night in peak season. So before we even got on the island, we had spent $320. Expect some sticker shock with all elements of your Mackinac vacation!

We always depart from St. Ignace, because we enjoy crossing the iconic Mackinac Bridge and find it’s less busy than the Mackinaw City side. Upon arrival, there are plenty of friendly, attentive cast members ready to greet you and guide you. They no longer provide valet service, but there is a convenient loading/unloading zone where they tag your luggage with your hotel and load it onto the ferry.

I waited until we arrived and bought ferry tickets and paid for parking at the counter. In hindsight, I wish I had bought the ferry tickets online because you need to keep those tickets handy for your return trip.

There was no wait for a 4 p.m. ferry on a Sunday afternoon in late August. During peak season, boats run every 30 minutes.

I sat downstairs to avoid getting splashed by the water spray. I was a bit nervous about the ferry ride and choppy waters, but the Shepler’s vessels glide through the water. It’s 16 minutes from anchor up to anchor down. During our multi-day visit on the island, there were a few days the water was quite choppy and they issued a high wind warning on the Mackinac Bridge, so I imagine the ride can get rough depending on the day and season. Come prepared, but know the Shepler’s crew are excellent at what they do and will always...