Silver Surfer

Yes but AFTER the 48 hour quarantine period has elapsed. Read the NHS advice.

I think the audio on this says it all. http://www.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/manx-group-takes-long-detour-for-return/

To be fair, you do need the government onboard for something like this - you don't want them fighting it every step of the way, it'd be a bollocks I agree Govt would have to be involved for approvals and planning etc but not financing or financial return guarantees.

The private sector may be driving this but they are expecting tax payers to fund it! If it's such a good idea they would want to keep all the Returns for themselves. They don't want to - they want Govt to share the risk. That should tell you all you need to know.....

How can bringing people to the Island to spend money (do you think they pay zero for the services before coming ashore?) be stupid? How many passengers do you think it will really take to recover £50m of build costs, plus another £25m of financing and operational costs? If it is such a 'no brainer' let the shipping person pushing the scheme find the finance and fund it!!

I agree. This is sustainable business if it's developed & handled in the right way. Here's the 2017 schedule for Liverpool: http://www.cruise-liverpool.com/cruise-call-schedule/ Liverpool is an internationally known destination with huge art, music and architectural culture. The Isle of Man is a backward looking twee anachronism. Sure there will always be a small market for that, but cruise passengers want big name destinations. The Scottish Islands only do as well as they do because they are a natural stop over point when cruise ships transit between summer European and Winter Caribbean destinations. Think about it. Cruise liners can and do call in to both Liverpool and Dublin which are iconic places to visit. Do you really think cruise passengers will want to waste another day of their itinerary to cal in to the Isle of Man only a few hours from each of the much more exciting destinations?

You really think that the big Irish Sea operators are going to royally p*** off their passengers and risk losing them to their competitors by 'calling in' to the Isle of Man and adding hours to their journey? You are living in cloud-cuckoo land.....it will never happen.

Yes because I assume you chose to do that off your own back. Same would apply to any similar change because you would be moving to the cheapest fare available for that sailing which may be different to the one you booked, or have different offer conditions. No different to the rest of the travel industry. But my point was that if Steam Packet warn of potential weather disruption they then allow changes for free!

Passengers are already hedging their bets and changing bookings but Dick Turpin (Steam Packet) is really ripping them off with excessive fees for a change. The Steam Packet are very reasonable when they have put out advance weather warnings, and then do not charge fees to change sailings once they have warned of potential problems. When was the last time you saw one of our airlines warn its passengers about weather issues, and then say they wouldn't be charged to change flights? If people choose to change their sailings in advance of any warning being issued by the Steam Packet why shouldn't they pay the same as other passengers on that sailing have paid or pay more if no offers are left?

I sometimes wonder if people like you live in the real world. Peak periods are the same the world over. The other side of the coin is the very cheap fares that others on here have referred to at off-peak periods.

MGP period by any chance?

Gosh Johnny F, It's a brilliant theory, but..... Manannan has been in service for a long time now. If erosion happens as quickly as you say it does, why hasn't this same thing happened many times before? And if the boat, and this equipment in particular, has been recently inspected as I understand it has to be every year in dock, why this time round has it only taken a few weeks for the failure? And just to be clear, unlike NeverAgain, I most definitely am questioning your 'expertise'!

Isn't that axe you've been grinding for so long sharp enough yet?

Oh you read that; must be absolutely true then. Funny because I just went to the 3FM webpage where the headline reads 'SPC calls for passengers to be 'realistic' over problems' What he actually says is 'people' have to be realistic about 'what could be achieved' regarding immunity from third party damage. I don't suppose editors or journalists would ever 'edit' sound bytes to suit their means....

Something that wouldn't stop a crisp packet or a coke bottle but would be big enough to stop something like a large fish being ingested. It most likely wouldn't stop fish nets or ropes either but what's the chances of that? Sounds great in theory, but things are never that straight forward..... http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/nyregion/22engines.html