Dover Port Question-HELP!!

[yankeesouth]

Can any one tell me if they have taken the train or bus from Victoria Station London to Dover. We did not get the NCL transfer and will be getting our selves to Dover. Also once we arrive in Dover can we drop off or check our Luggage at the cruise terminal so we can do a Dover tour prior to getting on the ship. We will be taking the Norwegian Dream -Transatlantic- on 09/22. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Jean;)

[SHINEMAN]

We had explored that a couple of years ago and it became a little too complicated, especially travelling directly from Heathrow. I think we would have had to go back into London or something. One person suggested renting a car, but it is a long drive and over unfamiliar roads. Also questions about day of week and whether auto rental place available for turn in.

All in all the NCL transfer is the safest bet.

[yankeesouth]

Thanks for the info. We will be staying right near the station we would use to take the train to Dover so may take a chance with it. Because we didn't book our flight with NCL we were told we could not take the transfers. I read somewhere on one of these boards that someone signed up for the transfer at the Thistle Arch from a NCL rep because they too were told they couldn't get the transfer; assuming they will be room on board we may try that. We have friends who are staying at that hotel and taking the NCL transfer so will have to check it out. We thought if we got to Dover earlier than the cruise transfer we could tour Dover if they allowed us to check in our luggage but not sure if we can do that. Jean

[Globaliser]

If you're staying near Victoria station, and you can manage to carry your luggage (using trolleys/carts if necessary), then you're probably better off taking the train than NCL's transfer. Trains are fast and frequent (go to www.thetrainline.com or www.qjump.co.uk for timetable and fare information - though these two sites are now part of the same company), and then it should be a short taxi journey from Dover Priory station to the dock. I have been messed about so many times by cruise line transfers that I frequently ignore them even if they have been included in my package.

[aqua]

We took the National Express bus from Victoria Coach Station to Dover. We took a 9:30 bus that arrived in Dover at noon. It was easy and inexpensive. It cost us 11.75 pounds per person (and Grandma was half-price!) I booked the tickets over the internet and picked them up at the coach station that morning.

[Compass Rose Monica]

We took the National Express bus from Victoria Coach Station to Dover. We took a 9:30 bus that arrived in Dover at noon. It was easy and inexpensive. It cost us 11.75 pounds per person (and Grandma was half-price!) I booked the tickets over the internet and picked them up at the coach station that morning.

 

Aqua, Did you book directly online with National Express? Or another web site?

 

Thanks,

 

Monica

[aqua]

I booked directly online with National Express. I chose the option to pick up the tickets at Victoria Coach Station because that allowed more flexibility for changing plans. There is a special line at the station for will-call, so I didn't have to wait in the long queue of people buying tickets. I hope the bus works for you as it was a good choice for us.

[Compass Rose Monica]

Thanks for the information. Now I have two options: the bus or train. Will have to research and compare prices.

 

Is the will call box easy to spot?

 

And lastly, did the bus take you directly to the port or did you have to taxi from town? If so, what was the price for the taxi ride?

 

Thank you,

 

Monica

[aqua]

Monica, The will call was easy to find. The information desk at the station entrace directed us there. You probably want to leave one person with the luggage while you walk there though, the station is a big place.

 

On some days there are busses that have planned trips from Victoria Coach Station to the cruise ship pier. The National Express web site can tell you if there is one the day that you are traveling. On our trip, the final stop was the Dover Ferry Port. However, the bus driver was so nice that he got special permission from the bus company and took all of us to the cruise ship pier. (There were about 18 Constellation passengers on the bus.) But I can't imagine that the taxi ride would be expensive; the places are just across the street from each other. (Unfortunately you couldn't easily walk, it's a BIG street!) Good luck, I'll be happy to answer any other questions!

[Compass Rose Monica]

Thanks for the information. I'm trying to figure out if the bus or train would be easier on my mother in having to struggle with her luggage. The less, the better. The one good thing about the train is that our hotel is right at the Charing Cross station. No need to taxi there like we would for the Victoria Coach station. We would have to taxi to the port, but I would imagine that would be less expensive...I hope!

 

Darn, I just went through these messages again and see Globaliser's comments about taking the train. I think that's what we'll do.

 

Monica

[aqua]

Monica,

I looked at both the train and bus websites for comparison, and the train costs at least twice as much. (For a random date in October, the cost was about 23 pounds for the train versus 11 pounds for the bus. If your mother is over 60, she would be only 5.5 pounds on the bus.) I priced a private car service also when we went and found it very expensive in comparison to public transportation. We had 6 people traveling, so the bus savings were significant for us. However, I know the hassles of luggage. We took the underground with luggage and it was not fun, especially as there are lots of steps and no elevators! It does sound like the train is probably your best option if you are staying near the station. Good luck!

[Compass Rose Monica]

Thanks for pricing that out for me. I'll keep that in mind, but don't mind spending $38 per person for the train if it's the easiest mode of transportation for my Mom (she's 73). I would guess that if we took a taxi to the bus station from our hotel, pay a less expensive bus fare, then taxi to the port, it may end up being about the same cost as taking the train (with a short walk to the station from the hotel), then taxi to the port.

 

Monica :p

[nny92825100]

We used Londontown.com for our transfers to Harwich. They also do transfers to Dover. What was great about them is they handled all luggage, give you a mini tour along with historical info and take you right to the pier. We booked RT so when we got back, as soon as we got off the ship, there they were with a placard with our name. We got another mini tour along a different route back to London. I believe the cost was 69 pounds round trip per person. I think it was quite a bit more expensive to go th Harwich than Dover. This price was picking up and returning to our hotel in Kennsington. We also had them pick us up in Gatwick and it was cheaper than any other transportation. They were waiting for us when we came through customs and just wisked us on on our way. Once again, those little mini tours are great. They returned us to Gatwick and dropped us off right where we needed to be which is nice.

[Compass Rose Monica]

We used Londontown.com for our transfers to Harwich. They also do transfers to Dover.

I searched the londontown.com web site for information for Dover transfers. I could only find aiport transfers. Can you please help me and provide a direct link?

 

Thanks!!!

 

Monica

[nny92825100]

You are right, the web site has totally changed. I looked at who provided our transportation and here is their website. I would ask them about the special arrangements that can be made. I also noticed that prices were considerably higher than last year. We went from Gatwick to Kensington, Kensington to Harwich, Harwich to Kensington, Kensington to Gatwick and with tax it came to 310 pounds total for 3 people. There was no extra charge for our plane coming in almost 20 hours late (storms in Houston and had to get rerouted through Atlanta). They were there with a placard waiting for us, smile and all.

 

http://www.expressairporttransfer.co.uk/

 

I would also send a quick note to Londontown and ask if they have transfers. On our cruise many opted for private transfers as the ones from the cruise ship are horrible, lugging all your luggage, waiting for hours at the airport, long drive usually with no AC and then lugging luggage again.

 

I will hunt up some other websites that I might have stored and see if I see somthing similar to what Londontown offered.

[nny92825100]

I was just playing on the Londontown website and up popped the transfers to the ports. Just click on the departing London and find the right port. I hope this link work, if not let me know. I plan on bookmarking it so can find it again in the future.

 

http://www.londontown.com/transfer/transfer.phtml?1099719923

 

I should note that we stayed one night precruise (thank goodness because of flight delays) and then had our vacation after the cruise. We were originally going to stay two nights before so we would be totally free of jet lag and have time to buy a few last minute items before going on the cruise.

[Compass Rose Monica]

Thanks for the new web site (http://www.expressairporttransfer.co.uk/). I just emailed them. I finally figured out how to use Londontown and they are expensive, so they're out. We too don't want to struggle with our luggage and don't want to travel with 30-40 others on a big bus! We did get a good price with Central Executive, but since our trip isn't until May, I have time to search other companies.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Monica

[nny92825100]

One other hint I had read on these webs last year was contracting with a taxi for a set price. I believe your hotel consierge can help you with that. If you know where you are staying, you could email them and ask if they can recommend a taxi driver and have him give an approximate price for the ride. I remember the person saying they did this to get from the hotel to the airport and it was almost half price. Of course with my luck, I read this after we were back.

 

Good luck on finding a good ride. I think prices are up because gas has gone up so high. Gas in England is very expensive. I can't remember what it was when we rented a car in 2002, but I think it came in close to $2 a liter.

[Globaliser]

Gas in England is very expensive. I can't remember what it was when we rented a car in 2002, but I think it came in close to $2 a liter.

FWIW, the current petrol price (95 Octane unleaded) is about 84p (about USD1.56) per litre. That's about £3.82 or USD7.09 per UK gallon, or about £3.18 or USD5.90 per US gallon.

[EGG]

We went from London to Dover by train and it was easily negotiable. Taxi to Victoria Station, no line for tickets, they pointed us to the train. The 8:00 am train was about half full so we put our luggage on the seats opposite us which was set up with a table, and ate breakfast which we had purchased in the terminal. At Dover 2 hours later there were luggage carts as we got off so we were able to use them to negotiate the elevator to get to the taxi stand on the other side of the tracks to take us to the cruise ship.

There are no free shuttle buses. Those go to the ferry terminal and they are not within walking distance of the cruise ship terminal.

 

On the way back we used Airport Independeint Cars which is out of Dover- They were MUCH less expensive than the other limo services. They picked us up right on time (I still can't figure out how they recognized us as we walked through the doors to leave the terminal) and we headed back to our London hotel with another couple we had met on the cruise critic boards.

Here are the tel #s from the business card. Tel 01843-841404

T.Mobile 07932-446845, The other # on the card is 02. 07743-643808.

I am not sure how these numbers work from the US. The driver was Alan Simpson.

 

If you are wondering why we didn't use Alan going down, it is because we wanted to go to Dover early to drop off our luggage and visit the Dover castle. Alan said that because of rush hour the early moning pick up in London would not work by car. However, he would have picked us up in London later.

 

Celebrity let us drop our luggage off when we got there at 10:15. They xrayed the bags and we were on our way to Dover Castle.

 

Have a great trip.

Ellen

 

The other thing I suggest is to go to the cruise connection board and see if there are other couples on your cruise staying pre-cruise in London. A group of 5 couples met on the board and had a private bus pick them up at their hotels to go the cruise terminal. I understand it was half the price of the cruise ship transfers.

[Globaliser]

Here are the tel #s from the business card. Tel 01843-841404

T.Mobile 07932-446845, The other # on the card is 02. 07743-643808.

I am not sure how these numbers work from the US.

Dial the international access code (011 from the US, I think). Then dial the country code for the UK (44). Then dial the UK number, ignoring the opening 0.

 

01843-841404 is dialled as 011 44 1843 841404

07932-446845 is dialled as 011 44 7932 446845

07743-643808 is dialled as 011 44 7743 643808

 

And so on. T-Mobile and O2 are the names of the mobile phone networks, so just ignore them.

[peggyann]

To add to the options..... Last June we were in a similar situation, staying in London for a night before the cruise. We used http://www.justairports.com for the trip to London from Heathrow, and then arranged to have them pick us up and then pick up another couple at a different hotel for the trip to Dover.

 

It worked like a charm. We did not want to struggle with luggage in and out of cabs to Railroad station, then onto the train then off the train, find cabs etc etc.. With a few people, this can be economical and so easy on us folks who find dealing with luggage a pain. The driver was courteous, prompt and had a nice vehicle which sat the 4 of us comfortably and all our luggage stored as well.

 

I'm sure you could in any event, drop luggage at the ship, check in and then cab it into Dover for a few hours of sightseeing. We were just as happy to embark the ship, but if it is a nice day, Dover is a short distance from the pier.

[amanda blake]

we plan to stay in a b and b in Dover..any advice on how to get to bb from gatwick airport economically?