IOM Government regulate the fares and always have done. A like for like booking will be more expensive as the fares were increased by RPI/CPI inflation.

The company are operating in the same way as most other travel operators. They have lower fares on unpopular dates and sailings. Try flying to Dublin for example when there's a 6 Nations rugby game on and you'll see what I mean.

IOM Government now own the business however they need it to operate in its current form for a few years to recover the purchase costs. After that, who knows. They're talking about possible new vessels and once again those will cost. Hopefully, they'll do something sensible with the fare structure to make it easier for visitors, however in the short term it appears that little is likely to change.