06/12/2010 Magic - Northern European Capitals - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Hi guys, this is my first posting on these boards. My wife Katherine and I also live within an hour of Dover (in Whitstable in Kent to be precise) and we are already booked on the 12th June 2010 cruise. We couldn't really pass up the opportunity of getting on the ship a short drive from our front door!
We went on one of the Med cruises in 2007 and had a fantastic time, so have been pondering when our next DCL cruise was going to be. Katherine was SO exited when she heard about the departures from Dover.
If anybody wants any tips of what to do in Dover or nearby for a day or two either side of the cruise I'd be happy to help.
For starters I'd recommend a trip to Canterbury with loads of old buildings, city walls and a fantastic cathedral, but a better choice if you have a few hours to spare might be a trip to Dover castle. It's huge and has things to see spanning from a Roman lighthouse, though medieval keep and castle to a secret World War II base.
If you want to visit DLP as well, a good travel option, as already mentioned, would be Eurostar. You can catch it from Ashford direct to the gates DLP, and the station in Ashford is only a 20 minute or so drive up the M20 from Dover. Or you can get a train direct to Asford from Dover that takes about 30 mins. Then it's 2 hours or so to the gates of DLP, and MUCH less hastle than getting a flight from the UK to France.
When we were on the Med. cruise I could never understand why the 'Home' port was Barcelona and not Marseilles as there is a direct TGV service from Marseilles to DLP that takes about 4 hours. It would have been really easy for DCL to organise joint Park and Cruise packages similar to the way they do in Florida.
Cheerio, and looking forward to meeting you all on the cruise.
Thank you for the info on Dover. I am assuming that we will be flying into London for the cruise. How far is it from Dover to London?
See you on the cruise!
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Margaret and I got to see the Cubs play in October. They won!
It's quite a way, I'd be prepared for a couple of hours on the transfer coach, but you might get lucky with the traffic and it could be a lot less. The fastest train connection I can find from Gatwick is a little over 2 hours, and from Heathrow is about 2 hours and 40 mins. From central London to Dover is about 1 hour 30 mins by train.
If you are going directly from the flight to the cruise and are driving or getting on a coach, then I'd recommend coming in to Gatwick rather than Heathrow, Gatwick is much closer to Dover and the drive from Heathrow takes you through the worst bit of the M25 (The London Orbital motorway).
The only other thing that I can suggest is that you avoid going straight from the airport to the ship on the train, The transfer from Paddington to Victoria or Charing Cross if flying into Heathrow, or the change(s) involved going via Tonbridge if flying in to Gatwick would, in my opinion, be quite awkward and stressful, especially for a family with lots of luggage.
If you are having a night, or more in London before getting on the ship, I don't think it really matters which airport you come into, and getting the train isn't as bad an option as it is from an airport to Dover as it is direct from central London.
I guess it looks like I'm following DCL's advice and suggesting that a night in London before the cruise is a good idea.
If you want to find out about train times here is a good site to check out.
Although by the time the cruise comes around there will (allegedly) be a high speed train service from central London to Dover. And the high speed trains will depart from St. Pancras station, which is worth a visit in its own right.
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Just a bump. We will be 65 and 64 at time of cruising. We have done the train from London to Southampton, but not Dover. I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions as the trip gets closer. Thanks for all your help.
I will be right behind you all, on the June 24, 2010 cruise. Since I do not see a thread for that one yet, I decided to check out this one. Glad I did, there is some good information here on the airports and trains. Thanks. Hope you all have a great cruise.
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DH and I are plugging along with saving for this trip! Can't imagine what shore excursions might be like or cost. Although it is still more than a year away the excitement is starting to build. Can't wait to meet old friends and new before and during this trip!
I too am trying to put away some money every month to pay for the cruise. I am going to work with my travel agent this summer on the airfare. For the 2007 Med. Cruise we were able to use Airline mileage to get all three of us to Barcelona for less than $150 in taxes.
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Margaret and I got to see the Cubs play in October. They won!
I'm glad we've got almost a whole year still. We're SO excited but just can't promise ourselves that its for definite yet. For us its currently going to be determined on our mortgage interest rates - currently really low which means we can put away some extra money. On the flip side the pound to the dollar exchange for us means the cruise is going to cost way more than we orginally thought so we really need this to swing in our favour too!
Can you believe we are less than a year away??
How is everyone doing?
We are plugging away, but a little worried about the jumps in airline prices of late. Keeping our fingers, toes and elbows crossed!!!
Can you believe we are less than a year away??
How is everyone doing?
We are plugging away, but a little worried about the jumps in airline prices of late. Keeping our fingers, toes and elbows crossed!!!
Still a bit anxious about the cost but excited too! Everything crossed here too.
I am still trying to budget money each month for the trip. We need to have it paid in full before we go because we will have a large bill when the trip is over for the shore excursions and everything else on board and in port.
I've started taking out guidebooks from the library to learn about the ports and shore excursions that may be offered.
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Margaret and I got to see the Cubs play in October. They won!
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Thank you Dave. I am looking forward to meeting you on the cruise.
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