IOMSPC 190 !!

[woolley]

11 hours ago, Max Power said:

They were brilliant, I still have one somewhere although it no longer fits me. I think they had plans for a relaunch but not sure if it's happening now?

Which one, the last one or the 1930 version? That and the 1927 Ben my Chree were something else. I guess their sister, the Mona's Queen was a belter too but lost at Dunkirk.

Lady of Mann 1930 was classy. After the war it was a decline but a slow one. The post war steamers were nice to travel on. The car ferries a bit less so. I agree that Manx Viking was comfy but she wasn't purpose built for the route and not really a SPCO vessel in any sense. King Orry/Channel Entente was the last proper passenger boat we had. Now utility is all. 

[John Wright]

16 minutes ago, Boris Johnson said:

They sound like a fire hazard, likely why they are not around anymore?

Wool smoulders, not burns, even if the wool is lanolin treated.

The lanolin, or oil, means the wool doesn’t absorb water, good for seafaring, stops it from getting soggy, heavy and cold. But the wool still breathes. So you keep warm and dry.

They aren’t around because synthetic fabrics do the job at a fraction of the price.

[John Wright]

3 minutes ago, woolley said:

Lady of Mann 1930 was classy. After the war it was a decline but a slow one. The post war steamers were nice to travel on. The car ferries a bit less so. I agree that Manx Viking was comfy but she wasn't purpose built for the route and not really a SPCO vessel in any sense. King Orry/Channel Entente was the last proper passenger boat we had. Now utility is all. 

Lots of the late C19 and post WW1 boats weren’t built for either the steam packet or the Irish Sea.

I was thinking about what I miss. Definitely the (First Class) Dining Saloon and silver service. Oasis of calm on winter sailings, with a menu you didn’t have to read, because it didn’t change for years. Poached Greenland Halibut, Manx Lamb, Kippers, Apple Pie and cream.

[Neil Down]

20 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Lots of the late C19 and post WW1 boats weren’t built for either the steam packet or the Irish Sea.

I was thinking about what I miss. Definitely the (First Class) Dining Saloon and silver service. Oasis of calm on winter sailings, with a menu you didn’t have to read, because it didn’t change for years. Poached Greenland Halibut, Manx Lamb, Kippers, Apple Pie and cream.

Not forgetting their breakfast on the way out. Served on a dry plate not swimming in assorted liquids

[John Wright]

6 minutes ago, Neil Down said:

Not forgetting their breakfast on the way out. Served on a dry plate not swimming in assorted liquids

It was my luxury as a student, start and end of each term and a mid term weekend return.

[woolley]

21 minutes ago, John Wright said:

Lots of the late C19 and post WW1 boats weren’t built for either the steam packet or the Irish Sea.

This is true, but I think within living memory we think of the Lady of Mann of 1930 and her pre-war sisters, the post-war steamers King Orry to Manxman and the four car ferries as the classic steam packet ships. Nothing else has the same feel. 

[b4mbi]

20 minutes ago, John Wright said:

I was thinking about what I miss. Definitely the (First Class) Dining Saloon and silver service.

Let's hope this improvement in the passenger offering is addressed in the new vessel design!

Free onboard wi-fi for the whole voyage would also go a long way to improving the passenger experience...

[Neil Down]

as a child coming over here on holiday, it was an adventure travelling on the boats that carried the smaller farm animals at the back. Down a flight of stairs and it was like a petting zoo. 

[John Wright]

7 minutes ago, Neil Down said:

as a child coming over here on holiday, it was an adventure travelling on the boats that carried the smaller farm animals at the back. Down a flight of stairs and it was like a petting zoo. 

Not just the pens at the stern, mainly sheep, but, cruelly, hobbled calves, sewn into hessian sacking, on the corridor to the dining salon.

[P.K.]

I liked the lounges where it was bench seating all around the hull with a sort of bunk-berth above. Presumably because of the hull shape. The portholes were just above this berth. When there was a bit of a sea the portholes would be submerged when the boat rolled. Magical!

It used to annoy my mother no end that the heavy rolling of the hull would lull me to sleep.

Until they started being sick of course.

Why do people who suffer from mal de mer think they will be better off below decks? 

What they should be doing is getting out on the decks in the fresh air to enjoy a pork pie washed down with Guinness....

[quilp]

46 minutes ago, P.K. said:

Why do people who suffer from mal de mer think they will be better off below decks?

Any roll is less accentuated, though engine vibration is increased. 

[Neil Down]

24 minutes ago, quilp said:

Any roll is less accentuated, though engine vibration is increased. 

Plus that lovely warm diesel smell...

[monasqueen]

Like John  Wright, I've been on Bens lV V, and Vl.

Manx Viking had her moments. The toilets were, as I recall, in tiny cubicles. I'm not huge, but they were challenging. She also had what seemed to be a permanent slight lean to one side, which she still had when we saw her in Norway around 1988.

The ships were better when they had silver service restaurants. Going for a decent, relaxed meal seemed to be so civilised, though Ben V had unusual green coloured walls in her restaurant, which didn't help the appetite 

I suppose I have better memories of some of the trips on the last Lady, because most were more recent, but also had some really good times on her sister, Monas Queen, which remained unrebuilt until she went to the Philippines.

In strictness, (polishing pedantry badge), the Steam Packet should not be commemorating 190 years since the IOM Steam Packet Company was established before July 2022. It was July 1832 when the company was given its present name. Initially, in July 1830, the company was called Mona's Isle Company, then in  January 1832, it was renamed The Isle of Man United Steam Packet Company.

[monasqueen]

  1 hour ago, P.K. said:

Why do people who suffer from mal de mer think they will be better off below decks?

 

  31 minutes ago, quilp said:

Any roll is less accentuated, though engine vibration is increased. 

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

On Snaefell, it was one of the dining saloon waiters who said, on a slightly rough day.... "One little roll and you lose your appetite".......

 

 

 

[Max Power]

2 hours ago, John Wright said:

Lots of the late C19 and post WW1 boats weren’t built for either the steam packet or the Irish Sea.

I was thinking about what I miss. Definitely the (First Class) Dining Saloon and silver service. Oasis of calm on winter sailings, with a menu you didn’t have to read, because it didn’t change for years. Poached Greenland Halibut, Manx Lamb, Kippers, Apple Pie and cream.

When I was a butcher boy at school, we supplied the Steam Packet's meat. What an adventure jumping across two boats to get to the third one when the fleet was in. Sometimes ending up in Douglas Bay while one of the other boats was allowed out. We were often going aboard just as the boat was sailing or had just arrived, depending on the sailing sheet, which we were issued with weekly to organise deliveries. The manager would take the orders from the chief steward, his visits had to be timed to perfection. It was almost like a military operation as the boats were stocked by various suppliers on a tight schedule. Often we were treated to lunch in the galley and if you think first class passengers ate well, you should have seen how the crew feasted. It was another world down stairs with all the cabins, very naval indeed but very interesting.