Dover Pre-Cruise Hotel

[Oakman]

Booked a cruise on the Carnival Legend to the British Isles in July of 2024. Thinking of taking the train from London to Dover the day before the sailing on July 19th. Any good hotel suggestions in Dover near the cruise port? If not near, are taxis readily available? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[gumshoe958]

Most convenient for the cruise terminal is the Best Western Plus Dover Marina Hotel. But it’s still a mile/20 minute walk so you may want a taxi - the receptionist would help get you one.

 

There are a few other hotels in Dover town centre including a Travelodge and Premier Inn but they’re all pretty basic. It’s not the nicest of places - the castle and famous white cliffs are its saving grace. Most Brits would only ever go there to catch a ferry to France.

[Island2Dweller]

Another option to consider is to travel to Canterbury the day before.  More choice of accommodation there and a it's much more pleasant place to stay.  On embarcation day you are 30 miles to Dover, with train and bus options to get you there.

[gumshoe958]

11 minutes ago, Island2Dweller said:

Another option to consider is to travel to Canterbury the day before.  More choice of accommodation there and a it's much more pleasant place to stay.  On embarcation day you are 30 miles to Dover, with train and bus options to get you there.

Agreed. Or just stay in London and get the train down to Dover on embarkation day. They run every hour from St Pancras station and take just over an hour.

[phabric]

I stayed at Premier Inn Ferry Terminal.  I took National Express Coach and a short taxi ride from the Ferry Terminal to the hotel.  We took a taxi to/from hotel to Dover Castle.  We walked into the town for lunch.  I walked through Premier Inn parking lot to reach the waterfront. I enjoyed sitting and watching the ocean.  The hotel called a taxi (short ride) to the port.

 

www.nationalexpress.com

www.premierinn.com

Edited July 7, 2023 by phabric

[Fauntlej]

Just posted a description of what did for London to Dover at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2949196-london-to-dover-and-back/ 

 

I think it has some of the info you requested about getting there, staying there and returning.

 

Julie

 

[andimark]

On 7/6/2023 at 9:09 AM, gumshoe958 said:

Most convenient for the cruise terminal is the Best Western Plus Dover Marina Hotel. But it’s still a mile/20 minute walk so you may want a taxi - the receptionist would help get you one.

 

There are a few other hotels in Dover town centre including a Travelodge and Premier Inn but they’re all pretty basic. It’s not the nicest of places - the castle and famous white cliffs are its saving grace. Most Brits would only ever go there to catch a ferry to France.

From your reply, I'm guessing you can walk into the port? I know some ports don't allow that. We have been trying to find a taxi, but they all say they are booked already. 

[gumshoe958]

6 minutes ago, andimark said:

From your reply, I'm guessing you can walk into the port? I know some ports don't allow that. We have been trying to find a taxi, but they all say they are booked already. 

Yes, you can walk.

[andimark]

Thanks. It will be about 1.5 miles, but that will earn us an extra dessert!

[John Bull]

2 hours ago, andimark said:

From your reply, I'm guessing you can walk into the port? I know some ports don't allow that. We have been trying to find a taxi, but they all say they are booked already. 

 

 

Best Western (20 min walk from the cruise terminal)  and - a little further along the waterfront - the Premier Inn Dover Central (25 mins) are best-located.

Premier Inn is Britain's best-known budget chain and we've always been happy staying at them, including this one. Decent-size room, comfortable bed (Premier Inn major on the quality of their custom beds) ,and it's attached to a pub (Premier Inns are part of a brewery group) with excellent breakfast and a great selection of very reasonably-priced dinners. (If you end up booking Best Western, it's only a 5-minute waterfront walk).

 

Yes, you can walk into Dover cruise port ('though not the ferry port at the other end of the town). The walk from either hotel is level  and on sidewalks other than within the port itself.

But it's a bit of a hike with luggage.

 

Is the taxi you've been trying to find to or from London / a London airport?

I ask because taxis for short hops in the town (any town) don't book out way ahead except for around midnight on New Year's Eve.

But a lot of operators simply don't take bookings months or even weeks ahead for little local jobs.

If you ask the hotel in the evening or even next morning to fix a taxi to your ship you shouldn't have a problem.

 

JB 🙂  

[Fauntlej]

3 hours ago, andimark said:

From your reply, I'm guessing you can walk into the port? I know some ports don't allow that. We have been trying to find a taxi, but they all say they are booked already. 

You can walk into port, we saw people doing that. But don't have a lot of luggage. And for people who don't walk much it is a bit of haul. Once we saw where the ship was located we were glad to have a taxi. 

 

I found it easy to get a taxi without pre-booking. There are usually taxis outside the train station when the train arrives. And you can call a local taxi and they will send someone. You might have to wait a bit if all taxis are out delivering. Getting into and out of the port was super quick because its not that far away. It took literally 10 minutes for me and my DH to get the the cruise terminal. Remember, this is a small port; there is only one road into it. 

 

Here are some local taxi numbers (as of June 2023). We used A2B. 

 

Royal Taxis 01304 210000

A2B 01304 225588

Dover Taxis 01304 201915

Star Taxis 01304 228822

County Taxis 01304 208208

[andimark]

Thanks for all the info on walking. We are at a BnB in Dover. I've already talked with 5 taxi companies this week, and they are all booked. I'll try the others that were listed. 

[Fauntlej]

One thing to remember is that everyone tries to get on the ship as soon as possible. If you are staying over night in town, think about not heading over to port until 1:00. Once the crush is over with, the taxis will likely free up.  Leave your luggage at your hotel/inn/B&B and walk around town; check out the local Dover museum, pickup some water or wine, etc. I personally prefer getting to the port after the main rush at 11:00. And If you get there at 1:00, you usually can take your luggage straight to your room. 

[andimark]

1 hour ago, Fauntlej said:

One thing to remember is that everyone tries to get on the ship as soon as possible. If you are staying over night in town, think about not heading over to port until 1:00. Once the crush is over with, the taxis will likely free up.  Leave your luggage at your hotel/inn/B&B and walk around town; check out the local Dover museum, pickup some water or wine, etc. I personally prefer getting to the port after the main rush at 11:00. And If you get there at 1:00, you usually can take your luggage straight to your room. 

😀 Thanks for the good ideas. I totally forgot about buying wine!

[Harters]

On 7/6/2023 at 5:09 PM, gumshoe958 said:

Most Brits would only ever go there to catch a ferry to France.

Yep, that's the only reason I visit in Dover. I travel down the day before my ferry - it's a 5+ hour drive. Whenever I'm travelling round the country, I usually stay in Premier Inns. They're decent enough for short stays. reasonably priced and with quite a good buffet breakfast (extra charge). I've stayed at the Dover Central hotel but there can be issues with traffic noise, so I now stay on the outskirts of town at the "A20" hotel. 

[John Bull]

3 hours ago, Harters said:

I've stayed at the Dover (Premier Inn) Central hotel but there can be issues with traffic noise, so I now stay on the outskirts of town at the "A20" hotel. 

 

That's interesting, H.,

We've only stayed there the once, but in a room at the back over-looking the main truck route - and were surprised that we had no noise at all.

I guess one of us was lucky or unlucky.

 

JB 🙂

 

[Harters]

I've not taken the risk of staying there again. It'd been a long drive and we had an early ferry. And not much sleep in between. The A20 hotel is only a five minute drive down to the ferry port. 

[bunnyette]

On 7/6/2023 at 12:09 PM, gumshoe958 said:

Most convenient for the cruise terminal is the Best Western Plus Dover Marina Hotel. But it’s still a mile/20 minute walk so you may want a taxi - the receptionist would help get you one.

 

There are a few other hotels in Dover town centre including a Travelodge and Premier Inn but they’re all pretty basic. It’s not the nicest of places - the castle and famous white cliffs are its saving grace. Most Brits would only ever go there to catch a ferry to France.

Actually while basic, the Premier Inn was clean & comfortable with an excellent breakfast and very helpful staff.  It’s fine for one night.