London to Dover?

[Kylie]

Right now we have transfers through NCL to get from London to Dover for our June cruise but we are thinking about doing this on our own instead (has to be less money?).

I have heard we could take the train or the bus. What are the pros/cons of each, the price, convenience, time, and stations for these? Do we need to buy our tickets ahead of time and can we use a credit card to buy the tickets?

Thanks for any information..........

[Shadowstar]

We went by private taxi- it was cheaper than NCL transfer.

[HeinBloed]

Right now we have transfers through NCL to get from London to Dover for our June cruise but we are thinking about doing this on our own instead (has to be less money?).

I have heard we could take the train or the bus. What are the pros/cons of each, the price, convenience, time, and stations for these? Do we need to buy our tickets ahead of time and can we use a credit card to buy the tickets?

Thanks for any information..........

 

1st question: What is London??? Airport??? Which??? Station??? Hotel??? Downtown???

 

Here is a nice planning tool:

 

http://www.travelinesoutheast.org.uk/se/XSLT_TRIP_REQUEST2?language=en&timeOffset=15

 

Enter Dover Western Docks or Dover Cruise Terminal as destination.

 

Subject you are close to Victoria Bus Station:

 

check:

 

http://www.nationalexpress.com

 

If you are lucky: 1 GBP per trip... (some times...)

 

or

 

by train from various London Stations to Dover Priory Street

 

http://www.southeasternrailway.co.uk/

 

from there you should have a taxi to the cruise terminal as it is too far to walk.

 

Most of your answers can be found here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=233

 

Regards,

HeinBloed

[LJRVancouver]

We used Silver Fleet Transfers and would highly recommend them. Certainly a lot cheaper than the cruise line transfers and much easier than taking public transit/trains with all your luggage. Able to arrange transfers either from/to airports or central London hotels.

 

In fact when our boat was unable to dock in Dover and we docked closer to London the company actually refunded some of our prepaid fares.

:)Silver Fleet Cruise Ship Transfers

[raynvic]

I highly recommend the Bus (coach). We were stranded by our reserved driver last August and ended up taking the Bus. It was around $30 per person. We arrived in Heathrow. The Bus(coach) will take you to Victoria Station where you get a transfer. At Heathrow, you will walk down some stairs through tunnels to the bus station. There is a desk where the attendant was very helpful. There is a machine (the attendant can show you how to use it) looks like an ATM, you can purchase your ticket using your credit card. Then you ride the bus into Victoria Station. I highly recommend you get a porter when you get off the bus. Best thing we did! There were 4 of us and we got 2 porters who walked us through the bus station and across the street to where we caught the transfer. The porter even talked to a bus driver and got us on an earlier transfer.

 

This was much easier than any website explained and I would not hesitate to do it again. We originally opted for a driver because we thought it would be less stressful. The stress was when the driver did not arrive and told us to find another way.

[handfordr]

I have heard we could take the train or the bus. What are the pros/cons of each, the price, convenience, time, and stations for these? Do we need to buy our tickets ahead of time and can we use a credit card to buy the tickets?

 

There is a table with the relative prices for 2009 for all the Central London to Dover Cruise Terminal options.

You can purchase tickets for the bus and train on the day with a credit card. For the bus I'd recommend getting an eticket prior though, it reserves you a seat and sometimes there are advance purchase discounted fares.

By rail just purchase tickets on the day from the ticket office.

 

London to Dover Comparative Costs