In September 2019, Debra and I sailed aboard the Pacific Princess on a bucket-list cruise around the British Isles . We visited 11 ports in 5 countries over 14 days. It was a great cruise and we had a wonderful time!
The cruise was round trip from Dover (pop. 32,000), a coastal town located in the historic county of Kent in southeastern England. There are a handful of attractions to see in Dover, and many more throughout Kent, so I said to Debra, “Let’s spend a few days in Dover ahead of the cruise to see friends and go sightseeing.” And this was what we did.
The cruise was round trip from Dover (pop. 32,000), a coastal town located in the historic county of Kent in southeastern England. There are a handful of attractions to see in Dover, and many more throughout Kent, so I said to Debra, “Let’s spend a few days in Dover ahead of the cruise to see friends and go sightseeing.” And this was what we did.
We’ve made many acquaintances and a handful of friendships on cruises over the years. Among the friends we’ve made are three couples who live in England. Trish and Peter (Oxford) had their own travel plans during our stopover in Dover, but Andrew and John (Oxford) and Tanya and Dave (Gravesend, which is north of Dover) were free. We spent two fun-filled days crisscrossing the county of Kent with our friends and a half day of sightseeing on our own.
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Debra and I flew the red-eye from Sky Harbor in Phoenix to Heathrow in London – a direct flight that should have taken a little over nine hours but took longer because we had a “mechanical issue” after we boarded the plane and taxied onto the runway. I won’t bore you with the details but suffice it to say that this added two hours to the duration of our flight. The travails of air travel – grin and bear it, I guess!
I pre-booked a limo from Heathrow to our hotel in Dover – about a two-hour drive. This part of our inbound travel went without a hitch.
We stayed at the Travelodge, which was the op-ranked hotel (by travelers) in Dover. It was a typical mid-price European hotel, which is to say that the room was “spartan” – no closet, dresser, or drawers, but also not a problem as we planned to live out of our suitcases during our short 3-night stay. On the upside, the hotel was clean and quiet, the service was good, the price was right (80 pounds per night), and there was a breakfast buffet with a tasty selection of cold- and hot-served food (9 pounds per person). In hindsight, I can say that we were quite happy with our overall experience at the Travelodge.
I can also say that Debra and I had a great time on this leg of our trip. We enjoyed seeing the sights of Kent and loved spending time with our friends, who made our mini-holiday truly memorable!
We stayed at the Travelodge, which was the op-ranked hotel (by travelers) in Dover. It was a typical mid-price European hotel, which is to say that the room was “spartan” – no closet, dresser, or drawers, but also not a problem as we planned to live out of our suitcases during our short 3-night stay. On the upside, the hotel was clean and quiet, the service was good, the price was right (80 pounds per night), and there was a breakfast buffet with a tasty selection of cold- and hot-served food (9 pounds per person). In hindsight, I can say that we were quite happy with our overall experience at the Travelodge.
I can also say that Debra and I had a great time on this leg of our trip. We enjoyed seeing the sights of Kent and loved spending time with our friends, who made our mini-holiday truly memorable!
My Stories, One Day at a Time
A Walk Around Dover
Of Cliffs and Coasts in Kent
Our Canterbury Tale
