Isle of Man Steam Packet

...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 ...
...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 ...

Pritch 22.04.2003 · Read full review
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Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet

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 · Read full review
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Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet

...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 · Read full review
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Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet

...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 · Read full review
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Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet

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 · Read full review
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Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet

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 · Read full review
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Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet

I used the Steam Packet Ferry from Heysham to Douglas for the 2009 TT races. Granted, we booked it late but we booked it on the proviso that we could stand in line for stand by to come back a day early, we would not have booked it if we couldn't take our chances on getting back on the Sunday. I went down to the terminal at 6am on the Sunday trying to get on any of the departures that day (I had a booking for the next day, the Monday) to anywhere ...
...no stand by at all, completely contradicting what we were told on the phone when booking (of course we understood that we might not get on using stand by but we were told we could take our chances on it). So, at 6am I was told that there was no chance of getting on any of the crossings - how do they know if people are not going to turn up? This is easily the most inflexible, over priced, local business harming monopoly I have ever some across. I ...

mcourt 14.06.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet

...have family living on the isle of Man, and have travelled mainly from Haysham to Douglas using the Ben-my-chree on many occasions. I find that the main problem is the high cost of travel, this hinders the amount of times we can visit, for example 2 adults and 1 11 year old travelling as foot passengers, sailing at 215am on a Friday returning the following Friday at 8.45am costs £93.00, to park the car at Heysham for 7 days costs a further £42.00 ...
...is £280. It is a very expensive short journey, unfortunately Steam Packet has the monopoly. The ship itself is OK except when very busy, when seats have not been available and the floor was the only option. I have no choice other than expensive flights, so I will have to continue to use Steam Packet. ...

JamieSmith1969 15.06.2007 (13.06.2007) · Read full review
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Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet

I have lived on the Isle of Man for 22 Years. I now live in the UK and recently tried to book a trip to the Isle of Man by boat and Rail from Cambridge. Naturally I thought the best thing to do was to contact the IOM Steam Packet - WRONG. I got through to them by Telephone, they told me the cost and then went ahead with taking my details. I thought things were going well, unitl I asked when I could expect my tickets to arrive at my Home in Cambridge. ...
...told me I could collect them at Liverpool. Well, I then proceded to ask How could I get to liverpool without the train ticket and she the told me I could maybe drive up the weekend before hand and pick the tickets up (250 miles?) Needless to say - I cancelled the Booking and Flew from Luton instead! ...

Clairepearse 05.10.2000 · Read full review
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Review of Isle of Man Steam Packet