Cruising out of England

[lakedweller64]

Going on Pride on July 1 from England, how far is cruise port (Dover) from either airport? What’s the best way to get there?

[ninjacat123]

Besides this thread, you could check out Ports of Call

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/

 

Good luck and I hope you have a great cruise!

[ontheweb]

The suggestion in the previous post is spot on and the place to look.

 

When we had a (Princess) cruise out of Dover and stayed in London the day before, we took the National Express train. Princess did not have a transfer to London from Dover (though they did from the airports. I do not know if Carnival has one.

 

Going back to Heathrow we took a Princess transfer that included a stop in Canterbury. It was well worth the extra cost over a direct transfer. it was almost like we were still having a cruise experience despite the actual cruise being over. Again, I do not know if Carnival has the same excursion. You also have to make sure that your flight is late enough.

Edited January 31, 2022 by ontheweb
fixed typo

[John Bull]

By road, Dover is about 100 miles (1hr 40) from LHR, or it's 80 miles (1hr 20) from LGW. Timings are vague, because much of the journey is on London's notorious M25 orbital (beltway)

But in that corner of England, public transport is London-centric - whether by train or National Express bus you have to go from either airport into central London & back out again to Dover, effectively two sides of a triangle.🙁

National Express bus is slower but easier because you switch buses at central London's Victoria coach station whereas travel by train means crossing central London (by tube or taxi) between train stations.

If you're spending a few days pre or post-cruise in central London, bus or train make sense, or for a post-cruise coach tour/transfer from Dover for ship passengers there's https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/dover-to-london-heathrow-hotels-via-canterbury-and-leeds-castle.html or your cruise line might offer a tour-transfer

 

But for direct travel between either airport and Dover I recommend ships' transfer bus as being much simpler and quicker.  Yes, ontheweb, I think they all offer the Dover service for both airports, but few offer it from central London. 

Or consider a private transfer, especially if there are more than two of you. Expect a car to cost something north of £100. Try https://www.blackberrycars.com/ and http://www.folkestonetaxi.com/ and https://doverroyaltaxis.com/ and https://richardsdovertaxi.co.uk/

 

JB 🙂

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by John Bull