Are the Cliffs of Dover visible on British Isles cruise?

[zuruitaco]

We will be cruising Princess, 12 night British Isles cruise in June, planning for a starboard side balcony room. Does anybody know if the Cliffs are visible at all while traveling the channel between Britain (Dover) and France (Calais), assuming the weather might be clear enough? Thanks!!

[Hatters cruiser]

Depending on the weather they should be, standing on them in England you can see the French coast on a clear day.

[John Bull]

In the main cruise ships, particularly those out of Southampton, steam through the Straits of Dover at night.

So the first thing to do is check your departure & arrival ports & times, and figure what time you'll be passing - or quote them & let us guestimate the maths.

 

Broadly, eastbound (toward the Baltic) ships keep to the French side, westbound (toward the Atlantic) ships keep to the Dover side.

 

Although in clear weather you can clearly see the French coast from the top of the cliffs eg Dover Castle or the highest part of the road to Folkestone, or see the White Cliffs from the French cliffs, neither can be seen from the other at sea level.

So even though a ship will be closer than the French coast, the view will be poor or non-existent.

 

Best view by far is from ferries and cruise ships entering or leaving Dover, or a round-the-bay boat trip out of Dover.

 

JB :)

[zuruitaco]

In the main cruise ships, particularly those out of Southampton, steam through the Straits of Dover at night.

So the first thing to do is check your departure & arrival ports & times, and figure what time you'll be passing - or quote them & let us guestimate the maths.

 

Broadly, eastbound (toward the Baltic) ships keep to the French side, westbound (toward the Atlantic) ships keep to the Dover side.

 

Although in clear weather you can clearly see the French coast from the top of the cliffs eg Dover Castle or the highest part of the road to Folkestone, or see the White Cliffs from the French cliffs, neither can be seen from the other at sea level.

So even though a ship will be closer than the French coast, the view will be poor or non-existent.

 

Best view by far is from ferries and cruise ships entering or leaving Dover, or a round-the-bay boat trip out of Dover.

 

JB :)

 

Great information!! Thank you so much. We did need to re-think this as we're scheduled to disembark in Southampton at 5am, so even if we passed on the Dover side it will be too dark. Thanks again!

[tactic]

For what it's worth on return from Baltic to Southampton last summer, we passed cliffs at about 8pm very clear and visible. Then sailed slowly round to Southampton.

[capriccio]

I have to add that they quite spectacular. We didn't see them on our BI cruise since it was nighttime but we have seen them when flying into London from Brussels. It was quite stirring (even for an American)!

[John Bull]

Great information!! Thank you so much. We did need to re-think this as we're scheduled to disembark in Southampton at 5am, so even if we passed on the Dover side it will be too dark. Thanks again!

 

You'll not disembark at 5am, more like 7am onwards.

But yes, 5am is about the usual time for docking.

 

Forgot to mention that 21st June is the longest day, daylight until almost 10pm. What port / time are you sailing from?

 

Cappricio - "even for an American" can mean one of two things.............

 

"even though we've got the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, etc etc."

Surely not. The White Cliffs don't hold a candle to some of the amazing geology of the US. Quite puny in fact.

 

So mebbe you mean "even though we're not Brits".

Much more likely. They've always had a special place in the hearts of Brits, because before the days of mass air travel most Brits came home from foreign shores on ferries into Dover, and the White Cliffs were the first sight of Blighty.

And that was reinforced during the dark early days of WW2, and a song by Vera Lynn, "the forces' sweetheart"

 

JB :)

[capriccio]

 

Cappricio - "even for an American" can mean one of two things.............

 

"even though we've got the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, etc etc."

Surely not. The White Cliffs don't hold a candle to some of the amazing geology of the US. Quite puny in fact.

 

So mebbe you mean "even though we're not Brits".

Much more likely. They've always had a special place in the hearts of Brits, because before the days of mass air travel most Brits came home from foreign shores on ferries into Dover, and the White Cliffs were the first sight of Blighty.

And that was reinforced during the dark early days of WW2, and a song by Vera Lynn, "the forces' sweetheart"

 

JB :)

 

JB - Definitely, I meant 'even though we're not Brits!" I hadn't even considered the first response..... Obviously the Cliffs are beautiful but I am also very aware of the place they have held in the hearts of Brits through history.

Edited February 29, 2016 by capriccio

[zuruitaco]

You'll not disembark at 5am, more like 7am onwards.

But yes, 5am is about the usual time for docking.

 

Forgot to mention that 21st June is the longest day, daylight until almost 10pm. What port / time are you sailing from?

 

JB :)

 

Well, it would be helpful if I looked at the itinerary closer, sorry! Haha :)

 

We actually spend a sea day (June 23rd) going from Edinburgh to Le Havre France, so I guess it's really up in the air as to when we may pass through the straight. My wife was just in the UK again last summer with plans to visit Dover, but due to flight delays on this side of the water, she had to catch up with her party in London and didn't make it down to Dover. So we're actually looking at staying and extra 2 days once we disembark just to make the trip to Dover. It's a total bucket list item for her and she was quite upset she missed out last year.

[insidecabin]

Track one of the earlier cruises should get a good estimate of the time.

 

You can see them from the ship in the normal shipping lane heading west