are reservations needed for express coach Victoria to Dover?

[tartangal]

Does anyone know if advance reservations are necessary or advised for seats on the express coach leaving London for Dover? If so how does one get reservations before leavng the U.S.?

[Nickwolf]

I would think it is advisable to pre book your ticket, you can do it HERE . Dover does not appear in the drop down list on the front page so use the "enter your own destination" link you will see.

 

You can have the tickets posted to you or print your own.

 

Hope that is useful

Nick.

[tartangal]

Nickwolf, thanks very much for your help!

[aqua]

I purchased advance tickets online last summer. I took the confirmation to the National Express office and picked up the tickets the day of travel. There is a special line for prepaid tickets, so there was no wait. If I were you, I would made reservations in advance. Celebrity sold out of transfers from London to Dover, so we had quite a few cruise passengers on our bus.

[Bruin Steve]

We booked the transfers through Celebrity...

But this bus service makes for some interensting decisions...

 

The Celebrity transfers this year are $80 per person each way (Up from $67 last year)...So, we're spending $320 for the round trip (Victoria Coach Station to the ship and back)...

 

Inputting London/Victoria Coach Station to Dover Cruise Terminal on the above website first defaults you to Central Dover...I assume they do not have bus service right to the dock...

 

The fare for two is £37.20, round trip (£21.60 for a one-way fare)...which, at today's exchange rates, comes to approximately $71...of course, the dollar has spiked over the past couple of days, so, being conservative, let's call it $80 which also allows for fees and conversion charges...

 

Now, there is also the question of luggage...The bus service website states that passengers are allowed "a maximum of two medium sized suitcases weighing no more than 20kg each"...which of course, with my wife especially, may present a problem...

 

Now, since you are being deposited in central Dover rather than at the pier, you are still several miles away and will require a taxi...So, what would it cost for a taxi to take two passengers and several pieces of luggage from Central Dover to the pier? £10 to £20 each way? Let's throw in another £30 total for the two ways as a guess here... £15 each way, also allowing for exchange fees, fluctuations in price etc., let's call it another $60...

 

So, basically, the round trip costs about $140 total for two rather than the $320 through Celebrity...A savings of about $180!!!

 

Am I correct, or am I missing something here?

 

Of course, I'm probably sticking with my Celebrity transfers...largely because...I don't want to worry about my luggage weight being "over"...I don't want to deal with getting off in Central Dover and trying to then switch over to a taxi...and I feel a little extra safe having Celebrity bring me directly to the ship...and, luckily, for me, that $180 isn't that big a deal considering I'm probably spending upwards of $10,000 on the entire vacation...

 

But it does make the cruise lines' transfer pricing look interesting, doesn't it?