Cruises from Dover

The British lines do not sail from Dover

Almost everyone assumes a Kent cruise port means British ships. It does not, and it is the most useful thing to know before you start looking.

The biggest operator at Dover by a distance is Holland America, an American line. Carnival, also American, runs a Dover season too, and between them they are nearly two thirds of the departures. The one British line here in any numbers is Saga, sailing for the over-fifties. Seabourn, also American-owned, covers the ultra-luxury end. P&O, Cunard, Princess and Fred. Olsen do not board here at all.

That is not a criticism of Dover, it is a different market. The ships are smaller than the Southampton giants, the crowd is more international, and the on-board style is not the British-resort feel a lot of first-time UK cruisers picture.

One practical difference catches British guests out. Holland America and Carnival run the onboard account in US dollars, whatever the homeport, and add a daily service charge per guest automatically, with a further service charge on drinks, speciality dining and, on Holland America, the spa. None of that is hidden, but it is not in the fare, so add it before comparing a price with a British line's. You can prepay the daily charge before you sail, or have it adjusted at Guest Services if the service falls short. When the account is settled on a UK card, decline the ship's offer to convert it to pounds and let your card provider do the conversion, which usually gives the better rate.

The second thing follows from the first: almost nobody at Dover runs short breaks. Saga is the only line here that goes under a week, with a few six- and seven-night sailings to Ireland, the Isles of Scilly and Norway. Everything else starts at eight nights, and the programme is built around ten- to fourteen-night itineraries to Norway, the Baltic, Iberia and the Canaries. If you were hoping for a long weekend at sea, this is the wrong port and Tilbury is the right one.