This weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting the Isle of Man. For this trip, your choices are limited to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company or various airlines which are completely impractical if you want to take the car and fairly expensive. With this in mind, I booked a return for two ... Read review
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Advantages: Fast, fairly comfortable, quite cheap Disadvantages: Punctuality is a bit out, staff seem quite disorganised
...the pleasure of visiting the Isle of Man. For this trip, your choices are limited to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company or various airlines which are completely impractical if you want to take the car and fairly expensive. With this in mind, I booked a return for two people from Liverpool to Douglas, a snip at a mere £42 per person for foot passengers plus bicycles travel free. More about bicycles later though.
We arrived at Liverpool ... ...and heading over to the Isle of Man with just a bike. Directions were given to a nearby NCP however where I'm pleased to report the car spent it's weekend and remained in one piece.
Check-in at Liverpool is especially fun. No-one had made it in the slightest bit clear how passengers with bikes were supposed to check-in. For anybody thinking of doing it in future, you have to get your boarding pass from the check-in desk, then take ... more
This weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting the Isle of Man. For this trip, your choices are limited to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company or various airlines which are completely impractical if you want to take the car and fairly expensive. With this in mind, I booked a return for two people from Liverpool to Douglas, a snip at a mere £42 per person for foot passengers plus bicycles travel free. More about bicycles later though.
We arrived at Liverpool for our sailing some three hours early. Popping our head round the foot passenger check-in showed them willing to offer advice even though check-in itself wasn't due to open for another hour. Could they sell us a ticket for the long stay car-park? They couldn't, it was full. Still, I suppose it was Easter weekend and there were a lot of people heading off to Liverpool, leaving their cars there and heading over to the Isle of Man with just a bike. Directions were given to a nearby NCP however where I'm pleased to report the car spent it's weekend and remained in one piece.
Check-in at Liverpool is especially fun. No-one had made it in the slightest bit clear how passengers with bikes were supposed to check-in. For anybody thinking of doing it in future, you have to get your boarding pass from the check-in desk, then take your luggage over to the entrance to the foot-passenger lounge where it is X-rayed, abandon it to the baggage handlers, and go wait with your bike amongst the cars. Also note that the arrangements in Douglas are almost completely different to this.
Feeling somewhat thirsty and waiting around for our ferry, we searched for somewhere to quench our thirst. Our search led us onto the landing stage and to the motorists' lounge. This place has a cafe with typical captive market prices, having paid £1.40 for a coke I was starting to get the impression this could get costly. Eventually our ferry turned up and everyone disembarked, hindered by the poor traffic management on the landing stage which had allowed the lane normally used by exiting traffic to become blocked with traffic trying to get on the ferry. An amusing automotive ballet ensued, with disembarking drivers having to disappear down a narrow gap to the side of the landing stage. What should then have been a swift turn around was hindered somewhat by the fact that the forklift had broken down, treating waiting passengers to the site of people rolling full kegs of beer down the loading ramp onto the car deck.
Eventually it was time to get on board. The vessel on which I sailed out, Super Seacat III has the bikes loaded first, then cars, then foot passengers. Somehow I don't think the crew had been warned that there were somewhere in the region of 60 cyclists heading straight for them. The ferry is well equiped to deal with around 20-30 bikes and unless you happen to head across the same weekend as a large cycling event, you should be OK. Spare a thought for the old couple with touring bikes who quickly disappeared amongst the scrum of mountain bikers trying to make sure their pride and joy didn't fall over in high seas.
The main advantage of being first to load is that you get to be first to the bar which, conveniently was open as soon as we got to the ship. Many of us had been standing on the quayside for some time now, and were desperately in need of liquid refreshment. £2.40 for a pint of Boddingtons though. Ouch. By the time we'd got through the first half pint, everybody else was boarded and the queue to the bar stretched halfway around the bar area, taking about 20 minutes to get servered although this subsided after 45 minutes or so.
Finally, running a mere hour and 15 minutes late, we headed off for Douglas. The trip itself was thankfully uneventful; no major maritime disasters here, although the ride can be a bit bumpy. Facilities onboard are sparse with a shop that sells little trinkets from the Isle of Man (as well as Liverpool and Everton football memerobilia) and a restaurant selling overpriced food with an even longer queue than the bar. Popping out onto the open deck in the middle of the Irish Sea is highly recommended for anyone who hasn't been on a fast ferry before. At it's service speed of 38 knots it's quite impressive standing on the open deck, if you are able to stand up at all.
Getting out from the port at Douglas is relatively painless, although there was much confusion as to whether "vehicle drivers to the car deck please" referred to the herd of cyclists or not. We decided en masse that it probably did refer to us, and caused a traffic jam. As I said, I don't think they'd expected that sort of volume of bikes. By the time we'd got off our baggage was already unloaded and recovering it was fast and simple before heading off down the seafront to our destination on the cyclepath that runs right from the main entrance. Also outside the main entrance are the obligatory taxi rank and later on in the year, horse trams to take you to your destination. Motorists are able to get onto one of the island's A-roads immediately.
Heading back to Liverpool was complicated by different check-in arrangements. This time round, we needed to check-in with the cars, something that was only found out through word of mouth between the even larger number of cyclists that had decended on the 7am Monday morning crossing. This done we were given our boarding passes and had to wander inside to get rid of our baggage. The sailing to Liverpool used the smaller SeaCat Isle of Man, a vessel with a different order to load things in, leaving cyclists standing in the rain feeling cold, miserable and wet. This time the crew were even more surprised by the huge throng of cyclists but space was found and we set off on time. The bar was open but, apart from a rugby team on tour, no-one really felt like drinking at that time in the morning. The combination of a smaller vessel and rougher weather made for a rather choppy crossing, which took slightly longer than the scheduled 2.5 hours. The disappointment was evident in the Captain's voice when he annouced over the tannoy that we were "only" going at 29 knots.
Disembarking at Liverpool the cyclists were last off, standing at the back getting cramped by all the cars on board. Sadly it was low tide, meaning that the ramp from the landing stage to quayside had a somewhat alpine gradient. Fun when you're going down it, a bit of a pain going up. Especially when there's lots of you in tight formation. Reclaiming our baggage took an amount of time that most airlines can only dream of before the bags started going round on the carousel, although the glorified portacabin that serves as the terminal wasn't really big enough to cope with the huge number of people attempting to get their belongings back.
All in all, the trip wasn't too stressful, the crossing was fast the prices were fairly good, but there seems to be problems organising things like loading and unloading and check-in. As with many ferry companies, the reliability is a bit up in the air with things like sea conditions and loading delays causing uncertainty.
Advantages: Good value if you travel overnight Disadvantages: Expensive if you don't
I live on the Isle of Man so if I want to get on and off the Island with my car the Steam Packet is my only choice. In general their service is pretty good and fairly punctual. Considering the prevailing weather and sea conditions in the Irish Sea they keep pretty close to the timetable most of the time.
The Ben My Chree (which means "Girl of my Heart" in Manx)is a small ferry if you are used to cross Channel ferries. It runs from Douglas to Heysham ... ...company is currently up for sale so it remains to be seen who the new owners will be what sort of service they will provide but in order to use Douglas Harbour they have to provide at least a minimum level of service agreed with the Isle of Man government. ...
HWIOM 08.07.2003
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet
Advantages: Price Disadvantages: Punctuality not great, Some ferries very cramped
...a short break in the Isle of Man and we used the IOM Steam Packet car ferry to get there. It's cheaper than flying (particularly for the 4 of us) and you don't have to worry about getting to and from airports etc., as you can take your car there. That said it is still quite expensive - but it's cheaper if you book your accommodation and travel through their tour operator Magic Holidays.
Liverpool is easy to get to from the Motorway network- although ... ...luck. We went on "The Isle of Man" going out - and this was very small. The seats had very little legroom and were a real squeeze to get in and out of. There was nothing to do on the ferry except read and watch....the sea! Mind you it was only 2.5 hours. However we had a different ferry on the way back - the "Rapide" which was much roomier. The seats weren't crammed in and there was lots of legroom. They showed a video which nicely took up most of ...
SaikatSantra 17.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet
Advantages: you can take the car Disadvantages: grossly expensive, and basic accomadation on board
...have days out on the Isle of Man, it is a shame that the Isle of Man steam packet Co doen't have any competition as their fares are astronomically high when compared to other UK ferry companies tariffs, and also when time on board and distance travelled is taken into consideration....
The island is a beatiful place to visit, and there is lots to do and see, but the high cost of travelling there by ferry must be putting a lot of people off travelling ... ...an inclusive holiday on the island with the IOM Steam Packet Co
If you can afford it though you simply must go to the Island, I've been going there since I was a boy Scout on our annual camp from Liverpool...I love it there and you will too.....
the ferries are basic ferries similar to the cross channel ferries of the 1970's, but then for a 4 hour crossing you don't need a lot.. ...
Dalesman 21.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet
Advantages: It runs every day Disadvantages: it doesn't run if its too windy
I live on the isle of man, we have a popular saying to folk who come over the water, "if you don't like it, there is a boat in the morning" this is true today as it has ever been. The steam packet is the only passenger service operating to and from the island. Douglas is the main port. Today there are six crossings, the main route is to Heyshem near Lancaster. Heyshem or Heysham, depending where your from from, is best described as a hovel, the steam ... ...Dublin, Belfast, Liverpool and the Isle of Man. Be aware on Saturdays a lot of people go to the north west of england to watch the football and rugby, a lot of drunken fools use this boat on the return.
Don't be confused, this is not the seacat that was hit in Feb in the Mersey, she is still getting repaired.
The staff are very efficent and helpful, if you are nice they are, although it must be said you get better quality staff on the Ben boat ...
gmkneen 28.03.2007
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet
Advantages: Cheapest way to get to the island Disadvantages: Boats are often late
The Isle of Man Steampacket is the cheapest and unfortuanetly, slowest way to get to or from the Isle of Man. The boats travel to numerous destinations ; Douglas, Belfast, Liverpool, Heysham and Dublin, and usually have twice daily sailings to each destination. When I generally use the Steampacket, I sail from Douglas to either Liverpool or Heysham.
The boats themselves are rather large cargo ferries, and are the only way to ship your car over to ... ...verdict, sailing with the Steampacket - its a cheap way with good value for money to get to the Isle of Man, however, if its comfort you're looking for - its not going to happen. Its perfect for University students though, as we are quite used to roughing it! ...
EHKodiak 31.10.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet
Reliability
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