Sailing out of Dover.......

[lorimay]

What area did you stay in and what hotel did you choose?

TIA

 

[dcassetta]

What area did you stay in and what hotel did you choose?

TIA

Are you just flying in for the cruise or were you planning to spend some time in Southeast England or London?

If you just need a place in Dover, there is a Best Western that is very close to the port.

 

[lorimay]

Are you just flying in for the cruise or were you planning to spend some time in Southeast England or London?

If you just need a place in Dover, there is a Best Western that is very close to the port.

3 days in London!

 

[GPaLarry]

Same as lorimay above, staying in London three days prior. We had DCL book all transportation and they put us in one of their two hotels there, so everything was taken care of from home to ship and back. If you are doing transportation on your own, there are cheaper places to stay in London and closer to port (about a hour by bus from our hotel) in Dover. London has a lot to see and worth the extra time for us. Cruise on...

 

[klbrow11]

We are staying in London at the Grosvenor due to its location to victoria station (we are flying into Gatwick so taking the train into London) and walking distance to a lot of attractions. Will probably take the train or coach to Dover.

 

[lorimay]

Same as lorimay above, staying in London three days prior. We had DCL book all transportation and they put us in one of their two hotels there, so everything was taken care of from home to ship and back. If you are doing transportation on your own, there are cheaper places to stay in London and closer to port (about a hour by bus from our hotel) in Dover. London has a lot to see and worth the extra time for us. Cruise on...

Can I see the hotels DCL offers online?
We are flying into Gatwick at 6am Thursday morning.

 

[kiford]

We stayed in London at the Grosvenor House and toured around for 3 days then took DCL transfers to the port. It was a fantastic location; we walked everywhere and had a chance to wander around Hyde Park right across the street which was one of DH's bucket list items. Mine was the British Museum to see the Elgin Marbles and the Rosetta Stone. We also did two booked tours: one a walking tour and one a full day tour by bus. I wasn't going to sail out of England without spending time in London! If I had to do it again (and we might), we will stay in London for longer but probably at the same place or close to.

 

[KDG]

What area did you stay in and what hotel did you choose?

TIA

We flew in to Gatwick last September. There is a direct train from LGW to London Kings Cross/St. Pancras (2 stations next to each other). We booked 3 nights at the Premier Inn Kings Cross which was across the street. It was so convenient to catch the tube to anywhere we wanted to go from this location.

We purchased the 2 day London Pass and had admission to the Tower of London, the Thames river cruise, The Shard, Westminster Abbey, the train and admission to Windsor Castle and much more, plus the HOHO bus (a convenient spot to hop on was just a few blocks down Euston Street at the British Library.) All museums are free to visit and we really took advantage of that and the London pass to see the highlights of London in 2 1/2 days.

The morning of the cruise, we took the high speed train from St. Pancras to Dover. We were in Dover by 10 a.m. It was so nice and easy. Much cheaper than Disney transportation. Our hotel was nice and only about $75 per night. High speed train tickets were about $40-50.

We enjoyed the Kings Cross hotel and location so much, we are going to return there when our Barcelona-Dover cruise docks there in July.

 

[dcassetta]

3 days in London!

You can see a lot in 3 days, but you will have to prioritize. What do you most want to see?

Can I see the hotels DCL offers online?
We are flying into Gatwick at 6am Thursday morning.

https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/ports/dover-england/

They use the Grosvenor and the Churchill. Both are nice, but I think the Grosvenor has a slightly better location for touring.

 

[GPaLarry]

We made our trip several years ago so the hotels may have changed. Check with DCL by phone or chat for the current hotels. We used the hop on hop off bus to get around but beware that they stop service in the late afternoon...we got stranded once. Cheerio!

 

[Little c Travel]

Make sure you set some time aside to explore Dover. It is easy to spend 8 to 10 hours seeing the sites.

Dover Castle is a fantastic castle to explore. The castle and grounds are well maintained and they have a wonderful education program that includes actors that do a great job of interacting with visitors.

Your ticket to Dover Castle also includes access to the Wartime Tunnels. These tours are very well put together and are fascinating.

And of course, no one should skip hiking along the White Cliffs of Dovers. They are gorgeous.

Once you are done exploring you can rest your weary feet at the White Horse Inn. It is the oldest pub in Dover and a great place to grab a pint and a bite.

As KDG said, skip the Disney transportation and take Southeastern Rail from St. Pancras to Dover. The high-speed trip is a little over an hour and honestly, it is just a fun and stress-free way to travel.

As long as you don't mind walking there is no need for a car in Dover, the city and the sites are very compact.

 

[Eeyore54 fred]

They use the Grosvenor and the Churchill. Both are nice, but I think the Grosvenor has a slightly better location for touring.

We stayed at the Chuchill in London for 6 days before our cruise and did a Disney transport to Dover, but if I knew as much when I booked everything as I did after 6 days in London, I would have stayed someplace less expensive and taken the train to Dover. Public transportation is so good there. We took the tube constantly as well as the train to Windsor. We did a 3 day London pass as well as book several tours outside of London. It’s a great place to visit and I hope to go back some day.

 

[Amunet]

I just did this in September I'm documenting everything in my TR (link in signature). I was just getting ready to add more this evening for an update.
I'm one day before our departure from Dover (we stayed in London for 3 days as well). We took the train in.

 

[Mommb]

Make sure you set some time aside to explore Dover. It is easy to spend 8 to 10 hours seeing the sites.

As KDG said, skip the Disney transportation and take Southeastern Rail from St. Pancras to Dover. The high-speed trip is a little over an hour and honestly, it is just a fun and stress-free way to travel.

As long as you don't mind walking there is no need for a car in Dover, the city and the sites are very compact.

This is what we did before our cruise from Dover in 2017. We stayed in London for a few days (including a day trip to Portsmouth to see the Historic Dockyard) then took a train to Dover in the morning the day before our cruise. We stayed at the Premier Inn Eastern Ferry Terminal. It took us around 20 minutes (maybe less) to walk up the hill from the hotel to Dover Castle. We then had a short cab ride to the port the next morning. We might have been able to walk, but didn’t want to drag our luggage.

 

[Disneyfriend]

We stayed in London for about a week, then relocated to Canterbury for the 2 nights before our cruise. Canterbury is a charming town and a good base for the area. There are several nice hotel and bed and breakfast options. We spent a solid day touring both Canterbury itself plus Dover Castle.

On the morning of our cruise, we took a pre-arranged taxi to the cruise terminal in Dover. It took maybe 25 minutes.

 

[gilsan]

We stayed at the Premier Inn Bankside, the location was great we were able to walk most places and it was on the Thames beside the Borough Market. It was easy to take the train from Gatwick to the London Bridge station it was a quick walk to the hotel from there.

We used DCL transportation to get to Dover. They have a pick-up spot at the Doubletree Hilton Victoria it was super easy we dropped off our luggage and waited in a lounge until our turn for the bus. We arrived just before boarding began.

This year we are planning on staying in the same hotel before our cruise, but plan on taking the train to Dover the day before the cruise so we can arrive in plenty of time and visit the area. I have a blog with a partial trip report, adding new parts every few days, if you are interested in checking it out here is the link.

 

[tidefan]

London. For ease, the Doubletree London Victoria is right next to Victoria Station, which is super convenient if you are coming in from Gatwick. From there, you can catch a train direct to Dover Priory.

 

[jrabbit]

Few years ago we stayed near Victoria Station for our week in London and then took the train from VS to Dover Priory ("Priory" = Important or you will end up some where else ). Train tickets are noticeably less expensive after 9am (I think) and you will still arrive in Dover early enough. Short taxi ride to the port - don't try to walk it.

If you are good roaming the sites on your own - that's awesome. I strongly suggest all things Rick Steves: his guidebooks and his app, which you can preload with many self guided tours, along with listening to items of interest before you leave home. Check out any videos he has done in London to help you decide what you would like to do. We bought an underground pass for 7 days (I think they have different lengths). You don't have to worry about finding the "right change" to get your ticket each time you want to travel. Get an App for your phone that has the London Underground "map". The one I found didn't need to be connected to the internet, but it was still able to tell you how to get from point A to point B and where to make connections. With out WiFi/Data, it was not able to give you real time updates - but it worked fine for us.

If you want to have some guided experiences, I strongly suggest London Walks (walks.com) for guided 2 hour walking tours. You look at their roster of tours (lots of tours, days & times are important). Then you show up at the designated place and time (usually outside of a underground stop), pay your guide and off you go. We did many of these, and we enjoyed them all. Definitely added to the experience. Even for the British Museum and Tower of London (additional admission fee required at the Tower). After your time with the guide is over, you can continue to browse to your hearts content.

 

[KDG]

Make sure you set some time aside to explore Dover. It is easy to spend 8 to 10 hours seeing the sites.

Dover Castle is a fantastic castle to explore. The castle and grounds are well maintained and they have a wonderful education program that includes actors that do a great job of interacting with visitors.

Your ticket to Dover Castle also includes access to the Wartime Tunnels. These tours are very well put together and are fascinating.

And of course, no one should skip hiking along the White Cliffs of Dovers. They are gorgeous.

Once you are done exploring you can rest your weary feet at the White Horse Inn. It is the oldest pub in Dover and a great place to grab a pint and a bite.

As KDG said, skip the Disney transportation and take Southeastern Rail from St. Pancras to Dover. The high-speed trip is a little over an hour and honestly, it is just a fun and stress-free way to travel.

As long as you don't mind walking there is no need for a car in Dover, the city and the sites are very compact.

I second the suggestion to visit Dover Castle! We had a private tour van pick us up when we disembarked in Dover. The driver took us to the base of the cliffs so we could see where the sea met the cliffs, then to Dover Castle. It is a beautifully maintained castle and grounds. Climb clear to the top of the highest tower for an unforgettable view. The day we visited was crystal clear and the Channel was glistening in the sun and the Magic was docked far below. You could see for miles! There was a falconry exhibition happening while we were visiting as well.

Unfortunately, we did not know in advance we had to register for the tour of the war time tunnels and were unable to wait an hour for the next tour so we missed the opportunity.

That day we also visited Canterbury. It is a charming town. The cathedral is not visible to see unless you pay to go inside the walls.

 

[gilsan]

I second the suggestion to visit Dover Castle! We had a private tour van pick us up when we disembarked in Dover. The driver took us to the base of the cliffs so we could see where the sea met the cliffs, then to Dover Castle. It is a beautifully maintained castle and grounds. Climb clear to the top of the highest tower for an unforgettable view. The day we visited was crystal clear and the Channel was glistening in the sun and the Magic was docked far below. You could see for miles! There was a falconry exhibition happening while we were visiting as well.

Unfortunately, we did not know in advance we had to register for the tour of the war time tunnels and were unable to wait an hour for the next tour so we missed the opportunity.

That day we also visited Canterbury. It is a charming town. The cathedral is not visible to see unless you pay to go inside the walls.

This year we plan on going to Dover Saturday morning which would give us the afternoon to explore the castle at Dover. Do you think that would be enough time?