The vessels at present engaged in the direct Mail Service were all built in 1901, and are named, the Port Royal, Port Antonio, Port Morant, and Port Maria. The first two steamers named are sister ships and are identical in measurement, viz., length 382 feet, beam 46 feet 6 inches, and depth 32 feet. Each is propelled by twin screws, and fitted with triple expansion engines capable of maintaining a speed of 14 knots per hour, and carries about 5,000 tons cargo. They can each accommodate 100 first-class passengers and 50 second-class passengers. The saloons and staterooms are handsomely decorated, and are fitted so as to secure a maximum of comfort for the passengers. The cuisine and the appointments generally being those appertaining to a first-class mail and passenger steamer.
A new mail steamer of considerably larger dimensions than any of the preceding steamers of the fleet, is now in course of construction and is expected to make her first voyage early in 1904. It is proposed to call her the Port Kingston.
These steamers sail from Avonmouth Dock, Bristol, every alternate Saturday, and make the voyage as a rule in from 12 to 14 days. The rates for passengers are:—Saloon (single) £18 to £25 pounds; (return) £32 to £40, according to the position of the stateroom, and number of persons occupying same. In the second saloon the charge is £14 for the single passage, and £25 for the return.
The Delta, belonging to the same Company, makes a trip round Jamaica every week; she has first-class accommodation for passengers, and affords a splendid opportunity of seeing the coast and towns around the Island. The charge for first-class passengers is £3 for the round trip.
Arrangements have been made with the Hamburg-American Line, running between Kingston (Jamaica) and Central American Ports, to carry passengers booked by Imperial Direct West India Line of Steamers to the following Central American Ports, viz., Savanilla, Cartagena, Port Limon, and Greytown, at an inclusive first-class fare between Kingston and any of the above Ports of £6 3s. per adult. Passengers travelling on these tickets will be accommodated on special terms at the Myrtle Bank Hotel (Kingston), during the time between the arrival of the Mail Steamers and the departure of the Steamer of the Hamburg-American Line. There is also a good service from Kingston to Cuba. The Cuba steamer leaves Kingston the day after the arrival of the mail steamer from England.
Passengers can also be booked through, via the Colon and Panama Railway, to the principal ports on the Chilian Coast. The steamers of the Pacific Mail Co. and Campania Sud-Americana Co. leave Panama weekly for the South, reaching Callao in about nine days and arriving at Valparaiso in about 21 days. Seeing that for years past the climate of Jamaica has been libelled as unhealthy, it cannot be too strongly affirmed, that from a medical point of view, the wonderful air of the hilly districts is unrivalled; it being in every way equal to that of the better known European winter resorts, to which it bids fair to become a serious rival.
R.M.S. Ulster. City of Dublin Steampacket Co.