Steam Packet Warns Of Disruption To Sailings

[La Colombe]

10 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

No more personal abuse please - and cluttering up threads with it - or more temporary bans might be issued.

 

Lol.

[John Wright]

9 hours ago, Happier diner said:

Great review. Looking forward to what you think about the Salamanca. Seems to get bad reviews. 

I’ve sailed several times on each of the Galicia, Santona and Salamanca, which are to all extents and purposes identical to a passenger. They serve Portsmouth to Santander and Bilbao and Rosslare to Bilbao all year round. ( currently Santander as Bilbao RoRo passenger berths are being redeveloped over winter )

I think they are much better than the ferries they replaced. Huge lifts. Amazing accessible cabins. Wide car lanes. Everything accessible. Originally no cinemas as all cabins have VoD. They’re now converting a small lounge on each to a cinema. Nice kids and teenage play areas.

They came into service just before and during Covid. There were issues with catering, meals were included and they hadn’t the crew.

They aren’t the “cruise ferries” of a generation ago. No full on entertainment or bingo. No fine dining. But the restaurants are serviceable.

The last generation were aimed at, mainly, middle class Brits with pretensions. Ones who owned property abroad and thought themselves a cut above. They’ve not adapted well. But they’re a dying breed and the customer profile has changed. More families, more kids, more freight.

Their frequent traveller club was originally called “owners abroad”. However the discounts were, and are, astounding. For £90 a year I get 30% off my fare to Spain €12.50 per passenger towards a meal bill plus 10% off all restaurant bills. Not just for me, but anyone booked on my ticket.

If only the SPCo Exec Club benefits were half as good.

A feature of the three e-flexers ( and the two shorter versions coming in 25/6 for St Malo and Caen )  is the Commodore Club lounge. For a fairly modest payment you get food from 7am to midnight, with soft drinks all day and beer or wine at lunch and dinner. It’s on deck 8, right at the front. Comfortable.

Ferry was packed. 100+ motor homes driving south for the next 90 days.

[Happier diner]

2 minutes ago, John Wright said:

I’ve sailed several times on each of the Galicia, Santona and Salamanca, which are to all extents and purposes identical to a passenger. They serve Portsmouth to Santander and Bilbao and Rosslare to Bilbao all year round. ( currently Santander as Bilbao RoRo passenger berths are being redeveloped over winter )

I think they are much better than the ferries they replaced. Huge lifts. Amazing accessible cabins. Wide car lanes. Everything accessible. Originally no cinemas as all cabins have VoD. They’re now converting a small lounge on each to a cinema. Nice kids and teenage play areas.

They came into service just before and during Covid. There were issues with catering, meals were included and they hadn’t the crew.

They aren’t the “cruise ferries” of a generation ago. No full on entertainment or bingo. No fine dining. But the restaurants are serviceable.

The last generation were aimed at, mainly, middle class Brits with pretensions. Ones who owned property abroad and thought themselves a cut above. They’ve not adapted well. But they’re a dying breed and the customer profile has changed. More families, more kids, more freight.

Their frequent traveller club was originally called “owners abroad”. However the discounts were, and are, astounding. For £90 a year I get 30% off my fare to Spain €12.50 per passenger towards a meal bill plus 10% off all restaurant bills. Not just for me, but anyone booked on my ticket.

If only the SPCo Exec Club benefits were half as good.

A feature of the three e-flexers ( and the two shorter versions coming in 25/6 for St Malo and Caen )  is the Commodore Club lounge. For a fairly modest payment you get food from 7am to midnight, with soft drinks all day and beer or wine at lunch and dinner. It’s on deck 8, right at the front. Comfortable.

Ferry was packed. 100+ motor homes driving south for the next 90 days.

It'll be the first time we have not used the Pont. Fine old ship but getting dated. We thought we would try the Salamanca for a chabge. We have booked the commodore lounge via the club class and we make use of the club voyager😃 albeit someone else's which is fine. 

[John Wright]

1 hour ago, Bombay Bad Boy said:

All that suggests to me, is that the accessible facilities were tacked on as a box-ticking afterthought, and not really designed and tested with the help of those it affects.

Actually, I think they were considered, but the naval architects and interior designers ( just like their land based counterparts ) need to spend a couple of weeks in a chair.

The water/fire tight doors is an operational thing, as the timer on the doors opening and closing. The crew haven’t quite worked out how to set parameters on their new toy.

[Omobono]

23 minutes ago, Banker said:

What, it was bloody windy this afternoon not sure exact t8me it died down but anyway sailing would be fitting in with tides and allocated times for unloading/loading at heysham

looking at ship finder ,every other irish sea ferry  was operating today ,  there will be an almighty row if customers cant get their  Christmas  M and S goodies at the weekend , it was rumoured that M and S where considering chartering an aircraft  as a contingency ,sorry the olympic torch does not appear to be up to the normal weather pattern of the irish sea or the narrowness of the two main operating ports ,

[John Wright]

7 minutes ago, Happier diner said:

It'll be the first time we have not used the Pont. Fine old ship but getting dated. We thought we would try the Salamanca for a chabge. We have booked the commodore lounge via the club class and we make use of the club voyager😃 albeit someone else's which is fine. 

Yes. I like Pont Aven. But the hike to Plymouth not so much. That’s one of the reasons why in summer I’ve been going via Ireland, Rosslare, easier, shorter drive than either Portsmouth or Plymouth. Only 2 hours from Dublin, 4 from Belfast, to Rosslare, and empty dual carriageway or motorway all the way ). Plus Santander is an extra hour driving in Spain than Bilbao.

Although I managed Santander to my place just outside Vilafranca in just under 5hr30mins yesterday. Virtually no traffic.

I don’t really mind what the boat has as long as my cabin is comfortable, so I can sleep, and the food is edible. Cap Finistere and Conemarra were OK.

We use the ferries because the dogs travel with us.

Yes, Club Voyage friend benefits give your friend 10% off and give me £10 towards my annual fee.

[Andy Onchan]

1 hour ago, Omobono said:

is there something wrong with manxman they are not telling us about ?, hardly a breath of wind since after lunch time  today  and they are  just getting around to organising a sailing  tonight , 

I hope  the island will not be let down running up to the Christmas break  everything  now  relies on the reliability of the steam packet   to keep the supermarkets   and everyone else  requiring  a regular delivery of goods  ,  and all those passengers hoping to get home or visit family in the UK , 

Well, if they had live aboard for crew she would have sailed at the first opportunity.

[John Wright]

2 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said:

Well, if they had live aboard for crew she would have sailed at the first opportunity.

No, she wouldn’t. That misunderstands what they want live on board for. Keeping to timetable is important for freight and passengers.

Going early makes no sense. 

There is a solution, that’s to have the turn about crew, the second watch of the 24 hours, on call to be called in for day trips and when cancellation is threatened.

[finlo]

2 minutes ago, John Wright said:

 

Going early makes no sense. 

It can plod along slower and save on fuel.

[John Wright]

1 minute ago, finlo said:

It can plod along slower and save on fuel.

Of course it can. If it was freight only.

But going early doesn’t work if you’ve passengers.

The only reason for live on board is to keep the odd single sailing. So an 8pm sailing won’t go if it is clear it won’t get into Heysham, or even if it did that it couldn’t get back into Douglas at 6am. 

Having a second crew could mean they could do a 4 or 5am departure from Heysham  getting in at 8 or 9am. 

or if it’s a prolonged disruption they might get an extra single rotation at irregular times. It’s not really optimal or practical on a short sea crossing.

It really only works if MX can catch up, both at sea and turn round. So far it’s not shown it has that ability.

[woolley]

22 hours ago, HiVibes said:

Bring back the halycon days of Neil Down and Dilligaf sucking each other off in a drunken rage.

You're too young to remember those two.

 

[woolley]

2 hours ago, John Wright said:

 The last generation were aimed at, mainly, middle class Brits with pretensions. Ones who owned property abroad and thought themselves a cut above. 

That'd be you and me then, JW.

[woolley]

On 12/16/2023 at 5:54 PM, Frances said:

Early in the season Manxman was run at a slower speed (eg when it shared the route with the Ben) - but once it took over the whole operation it soon it became obvious that the old timetable was impossible and they increased the speed - it becomes quite noticeable and I suspect the bridge are running just within the resonance region to gain a little extra time but dare not push it any further - the vibration is totally dominant when turning in harbour - the whole boat can shake.

You clearly have a total downer on the new boat. Time will tell, but I have now done a number of crossings within 3.75 hours and a couple in pretty heavy weather. She is the smoothest sea boat I've been on with the Steam Packet, and the quietest - eminently suitable for the Irish Sea. She hardly makes a sound in the forward lounges. You hear the odd shudder of the waves hitting the hull in rough seas, and that's because the mechanical sound is almost non-existent. She's a bit more vocal when you move aft, but still nothing approaching the din on the bone shaking Ben. Your final point is ludicrous. Vibration turning in the harbour? That'll be the bow thrusters, and any vessel turning on bow thrusters for berthing shakes like a defecating dog.

It certainly would be useful if the Packet would tell us whether the commissioning wind restrictions are still in place, have they been relaxed at all, will the normal operational wind limits be comparable with the Ben, and when, etc. Then we might make more informed projections about how we look for the future rather than all the uninformed speculation that fills the vacuum.

[woolley]

1 hour ago, finlo said:

It can plod along slower and save on fuel.

Less fuel per minute, but you are using fuel for longer.

[Passing Time]

40 minutes ago, woolley said:

You're too young to remember those two.

 

Please don’t feed the troll 👍