Dover Questions

[Mirthful]

1. How far is the port from Best Western Marina Dover? Is it walkable to the port or do you need to take a taxi?
2. Embarking at Dover - do you wait a long time in the port to board?
3. Best transportation from Dover to hotel in London post-cruise?

Thanks to all of you experienced travellers of Britain!

 

[msmama]

I have been investigating the answer to number 1 but haven't found it yet. I feel like I read it was walkable but I think it might depend where exactly the ship is. I did read that it was a £6 taxi ride from there to the port.

Hope someone has better answers!

 

[janiebubble]

Honestly no it's not walkable. Distance wise yes it is but the streets don't allow you access, we walked the seafront in 2015 thinking just that (we were in the premier in just down the seafront from the best western)

Your hotel is the red marker on this map, the ship docked at the far end of the lower spur of the port. You can see you would need to walk back to the main road and around to get there.

You should also be aware that there aren't loads of taxi firms in Dover, my family booked a taxi the afternoon before the cruise but when I rang to book at around 8pm the night before I had to try 5 firms before I found someone who could collect 4 adults with 4 cases. I would book in advance if I were you!

In the port itself we waited a similar amount of time to in Barcelona. Around an hour before we boarded after arrival,

Seeing the magic from across the bay from the hotel was really special though

 

[DisneyNurse19]

No, you can't walk it. We were also at the Premier Inn. It is a lot further than it looks on the map. We booked with Dover Heritage Taxi's a few weeks before we sailed.

Depending what time you actually get there the wait time was the same as Port Canaveral and Barcelona.

I know a lot of people took the train to London after the cruise but you would have to get a taxi from the port to the station.

 

[owensamo]

We pre-booked our taxi for 5 from the Premiere Inn to the port in 2015 with Dover Heritage Taxis. We came in by train 2 days prior to the cruise, and managed to get a minivan taxi to the hotel. We had the hotel call a cab the next morning to take us to Dover Castle - and it was the same driver and minivan we had the day before! We arranged to have him come get us from the castle in the afternoon to return us to the hotel, and were chatting about the cruise - and he mentioned he would likely be our driver the next day, as there were few taxis for more than 4 in town. He was - so we had the exact same driver and van for our entire stay in Dover - the one we pre-arranged months before online for our hotel to port transfer!

The service was great - if we ever visit Dover again, we would use them again.

 

[o&smom]

We stayed at the same hotel before our cruise last summer. Agree, close but NOT walkable. We just had the hotel sign us up for a taxi to the port. They were very prompt and we were on our way. Easy train ride to London after your cruise. We took the train from London to get to Dover. We had a lovely tea at the hotel after checkin. We prereserved online. We would skip the breakfast at the hotel, though.

 

[Mirthful]

Thanks everyone for your tips & research! You are the best