Dover; The End of the Line

 "Well, it's all right, even if the sun don't shine; Well, it's all right (all right), we're going to the end of the line"

(George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Jeffrey Lynn)

Dover, England (The "White Cliffs of Dover") - Copyright Andy Richards 2019

IT IS pretty much true that the sun doesn't shine alot in Dover (just over 65 days a year). Saying it is "the end of the line" is probably not generally accurate. But for us it was. It was the last stop on our cruise (even though we would return to our point of departure, Rotterdam, the next day). We love to travel, and especially to cruise. We do it a lot. We know that even though this one is coming to an end, there will be more in the future. Even so, the last day or last stop on a cruise tinges me with just a little bit of melancholy. Although we often stop in the same ports again, there will never be one exactly like the one you are in at the time you are in it. For the "Iceland, Ireland and England Cruise, this was it. The last stop. The "end of the line."

Celebrity Apex from Dover Castle - Copyright Andy Richards 2023

MY WIFE and I had been to Dover once before, in 2019, on a previous cruise. We didn't really see Dover, though. Instead, we booked a train to London. In hindsight that was probably a mistake. We had fun in London, but not nearly enough time. We left there vowing to come back to London, knowing we would need to spend several days there in order to get a feel for the city (we did, in 2021, spending a wonderful week there, before boarding the Regal Princess in Southampton). Ironically, the sun was shining the day we skipped Dover.

Dover Castle - Copyright Andy Richards 2023

TRUE TO expectations, there was no sunshine in Dover on this trip. We awoke to drizzly, cloudy and chilly conditions. We knew from our pre-trip planning, that there was not a lot to do in Dover. The primary attractions were Dover Castle, and the small, quaint downtown. Had the weather been a bit nicer, we might have stopped in the downtown on our way back to the ship. We had made some friends aboard, who did, and when we spoke to them that night in the Martini Bar, they said it was a nice experience.

Dover Castle - Main Entrance - Copyright Andy Richards 2023

Dover Castle - Dover, England - Copyright Andy Richards 2023

Dover Castle - Dover, England - Copyright Andy Richards 2023

Dover Castle - Dover, England - Copyright Andy Richards 2023

WE KNEW, though, that we wanted to visit the castle. On the Dover stop, Celebrity provided a shuttle from the ship with 2 stops: the downtown and the castle. I don't recall if there was a charge, but we could tell during the ride that it wasn't a walkable-access situation.

Dover Castle - Dover, England - Copyright Andy Richards 2023

DOVER CASTLE is England's biggest castle. Originally started by William the Conqueror in the late 11th Century, there are no identifiable remains of that first fortification. The current castle was built by King Henry, II, the late 12th Century, it provided the first defense on the English Channel from invasions from the south (across the channel). Over the next 800 years, the castle was periodically and continually upgraded. What is unique about this fortification is the tunnels through the cliffs along the north side of the English Channel. It was a system that allowed for concealment and movement. The tunnels were used during medieval times and then through wars between the French and English and through 2 world wars. They were famously used by Allied Soldiers during WWII.

Tunnels - Dover Castle - Dover, England - Copyright Andy Richards 2023

LIKE MANY European castles, the interior walls housed a kind of self-sustaining community. It is said to be lavishly built, as English castles go. There were a number of rooms with authentic (or perhaps in some cases, authentic-looking mockups) furniture and accessories. It is an interesting visit.

Church outside of Dover Castle - Dover, England - Copyright Andy Richards 2023

WE HEADED back to the ship for our final afternoon onboard, and our final evening of the cruise. A fun time with good friends. We are looking forward to our next adventure together. In the meantime, we had a New Year's Cruise in the Caribbean scheduled with our friends, Paul and Linda. Stay tuned!