Shake me up Judy Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Wish I had the same recall for these boats. Sea-sickness ruined many a voyage for me and even reading some of these posts is bringing back sense memories. It was usually just finding a seat and hunkering down with eyes on the horizon for me. 190 years is a fantastic achievement though, whatever the bumps along the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Down Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 2 hours ago, Max Power said: 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. I did a short spell working for James Caine when they used to bring furniture over on the side loaders. We were unloading on one particularly windy day and one of the double wardrobes ended up in the harbour floating out towards the tower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Down Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 2 hours ago, Shake me up Judy said: Wish I had the same recall for these boats. Sea-sickness ruined many a voyage for me and even reading some of these posts is bringing back sense memories. It was usually just finding a seat and hunkering down with eyes on the horizon for me. 190 years is a fantastic achievement though, whatever the bumps along the way. Sea sickness was all in the mind SMUJ that is until it was all over the floor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hissingsid Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 The first one 1V . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Onchan Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 In days gone by the chefs wore the customary white jacket. I see the so-called chef on today's boats wearing the same. Not sure they deserve to when the maximum amount of actual cooking they do is grilling a bit of bacon and frying the odd egg! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Down Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Just now, Andy Onchan said: In days gone by the chefs wore the customary white jacket. I see the so-called chef on today's boats wearing the same. Not sure they deserve to when the maximum amount of actual cooking they do is grilling a bit of bacon and frying the odd egg badly You forgot a word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
User Name Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Didn't they drop the Isle of Man bit for a while which caused an outcry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wright Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 13 minutes ago, User Name said: Didn't they drop the Isle of Man bit for a while which caused an outcry? No Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald Trumps Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 37 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said: In days gone by the chefs wore the customary white jacket. I see the so-called chef on today's boats wearing the same. Not sure they deserve to when the maximum amount of actual cooking they do is grilling a bit of bacon and frying the odd egg! & God they make a din on the Manannan whilst they're doing it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Wright Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 29 minutes ago, Andy Onchan said: In days gone by the chefs wore the customary white jacket. I see the so-called chef on today's boats wearing the same. Not sure they deserve to when the maximum amount of actual cooking they do is grilling a bit of bacon and frying the odd egg! I remember announcements on the old old Ben or Lady and on the sisters announcing that the commodore chef was on board. The old dining rooms down in the bow were splendid, carvery trollies with big domes, lots of silver cutlery, marked crockery, chafing dishes, food served under domes, flourished reveals. Thinking back my best trips to/from the island were with non steam packet boats. Stella Marina to Fleetwood ( my grandfather lived in Cleveleys ) and St Seriol to/from Llandudno ( my other grandparents were on holiday in Llandudno. I was about 5. I got taken down into the engine room with my father. St Seiriol was real steam. Polished copper pipes. Lots of things rocking. Engineers with oily rags. I've vague memories of being got up at 5am, tram from Cleveleys to Fleetwood and boarding a Steam Packet boat. I can only have been 5 or 6. It was a long day. I remember being cranky after being woken up after falling asleep on the sail back to Fleetwood. Things don’t change much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 1 hour ago, User Name said: Didn't they drop the Isle of Man bit for a while which caused an outcry? No, but I do remember when James Sherwood took over and he said that Sea Containers was going to make the Isle of Man and the Steam Packet Company the hub of a network of high speed frequent ferries around the Irish Sea. Always did talk a good game did Jim (RIP). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolley Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 5 hours ago, b4mbi said: Free onboard wi-fi for the whole voyage would also go a long way to improving the passenger experience... Nah. That'd be just like sitting at home. How many of us would remember anything of our long past journeys on the Steam Packet as recounted here had we just sat looking at a gizmo the whole time we were aboard? How depressing, and how very typical of today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellanvannin2010 Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 4 hours ago, Max Power said: 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. Only sailing sheet I ever kept, used to use the old ones as notepads in the winter, wish I had kept more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quilp Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Great stuff EV. I'd forgotten the film 'Yentl' was filmed in Liverpool, with some scenes shot on the Manxman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald Trumps Posted July 1, 2020 Share Posted July 1, 2020 Scouse voice: "Meals are now being served in the dining saloon" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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