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 the Isle of Man or back to England/Ireland. The main ships the company uses are the SeaCat vessels with an average time of about 2 and a half hours sailing time each way.
However, the terminals at Liverpool and Douglas leave alot to be desired, and the terminal at Heysham may as well not exist, as the staff are generally disorganised and the ships are often late, or running on just three out of four engines. On over three occassions while waiting at either terminal, we've been told that the ships would be delayed by at least three or more hours - and there are only vending machines or a heavily over priced bar to satisfy hunger or thirst. On the plus side, once onboard the ships and sailing to your destinations, you'll at least have an airline style seat to sit on. Occassionally, if you are lucky, you may even get a seat in the bar on a comfy sofa.
Onboard the ships, there are a few arcade machines to keep the kids happy, many seats and a few cabins for the more well off travellers (about £20 extra) aswell as a bar which serves food and alcohol, so its always a fun time if the weather is rough! The staff onboard the boats do try and keep everyone happy though, so thats a plus side.
Journey Times : When travelling via the SeaCat (only runs during certain months), journey times are approximately two hours and thirty minutes. When travelling on one of the bigger ferries though, such as the Ben My Chree, travel times are at least four hours long.
Costs : For foot passengers, the Steampacket offers a £30 return fare to Liverpool, so thats very cheap. However, if you are travelling with a vehicle, costs rise enormously, to around £60 each way, depending on the size of the vehicle.
So, as my final 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!
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Advantages: Marginally better than swimming across dragging your car behind you. Marginally. Disadvantages: Inflexible, over priced, takes too long, the ferry is rubbish and is in need of a refit, terrible
Advantages: Marginally better than swimming across dragging your car behind you. Marginally. Disadvantages: Inflexible, over priced, takes too long, the ferry is rubbish and is in need of a refit, terrible
Oct 31st, 2005
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