It needs to be bourne in mind, that this is the first year that Steam Packet will have the large high speed cat Manananan operating LPL-IOM from late March ( ie: for the full season), with a crossing time of just 2 hours 30 minutes, up to twice a day.
Fares for a car + 2 people starting at £58 each way.
Just who will get squeezed, we will have to wait and see.
With check-in times, Steam Packet could prove to be the quickest and cheapest to/from Douglas/Liverpool.