Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#1
The first of Dover's cruise visitors is in port tomorrow, the AIDAluna. Let's hope the town can put on a good show for these visitors in the Olympic year!
Guest 651- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 5,673
#2
The season has certainly come around quickly !!
Been nice knowing you :)
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#3
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#4
Yes indeed the first one of the year, this should cheer us all up as it has been a long long winter. Here she is a few minutes ago, difficult trying to get a full shot at the moment.
Very similar to the Aida Blu which is a regular visitor but this one is..as mentioned..the AidaLuna. But great that the first visitors of the year see Dover in glorious sunshine..just in time to catch our newly whitened cliffs!!
Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#5
watched her park up through my living room window this very morning.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#6
lol!
Brian I hope she found reverse gear alright!!
I seem to remember we had a press release in a while back saying that Dover has a record year of Liner calls scheduled..so..exciting times ahead with lots of photo opportunities for all the happy snapping guys. We look forward to lots of great pictures.
Also we look forward to more passengers spending time in the town...pity the fountain is still boarded up as its a nice little gem to show off. it made a great picture for all the tourists, everyone took it, you know the one...fountain foreground, castle background.
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#7
psssssst paulb,dont tell anyone it had large l-plates on the stern,sssssssssh.
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#8
Let's hope none of them actually attempted to visit the castle - it was CLOSED! Only in Britain can we win the right to host the Olympics, then spend a fortune on a new VisitBritain marketing campaign, only to see our prime tourist heritage attractions closed. Let's hope that someone, somewhere eventually cottons on to the fact that we should be doing more to attract the cruise ship dollar, before even more business is lost to the likes of Southampton, and the new cruise terminal in London.
Guest 663- Registered: 20 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,136
#9
Yes the sun was shining so it certainly was great, to see the first of the cruise ships in this morning, really felt like summer days were just that little bit closer.
Alec Sheldon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 18 Aug 2008
- Posts: 1,037
#10
I had a pint in the Firkin yesterday afternoon so could see the Blue tourist bus ariving and leaving the bus stop. It seemed to be kept quite busy. We later moved over to the Funky Munky and sat outside in the sun. Two young German ladies from the cruise liner sat alongside of us and we got talking about their cruise. They had been up to the Castle and, as Kevin says, found it closed and they couldn't understand why. They thought that Dover on the whole was a nice place, mind you they had had a few pints. They were a good laugh
and spoke near perfect English.
They were on a 7 day cruise starting in Hamburg to Le Havre, Dover, Antwerp, Amsterdam and back to Hamburg. It cost them €650, a good price I thought.
They didn't think much of Le Havre.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#11
Yes indeed Alec.
We now have a very informative press release on the frontpage from DHB, thanks to them, which tells much more of the planned visits from the AIDA Cruise Liners in the coming season. There is a whole collection of AIDA vessels and they are all coming here. Great detail about the colourful ships on the frontpage now. Not quite sure...the names all sound Italian but they appear to be a German outfit. But hugely welcome. Great to see that Alec had a drink with some visitors who ventured into the town yesterday. Clare Newman refers to this aspect in her statement f/page.
Guest 697- Registered: 13 Apr 2010
- Posts: 622
#12
Let's hope that English Heritage eventually see the error of the ways and realise that the way to increase visitor numbers at such an iconic national, indeed international heritage attraction, is to keep it open and market it more effectively. Dover Castle is our equivalent of the London Eye and Spinaker Tower (Portsmouth), both of which offer fantastic viewing points but are privately run and not closed during the quieter winter months.
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,931
#13
I wonder how much money English Heritage have lost during this lovely weather when their prospective customers said "lets go and visit the Dover Castle" only to find the place closed. I can understand their reasoning with regard to December, January and February but 'life' starts again in Spring in other words mid-March.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#14
The second visitation of the year but the same ship the Aida Luna is basking in the harbour sunshine as we write. A good percentage of passengers will be venturing into town.
While we are talking tourism...here is a recent press release....
DOVER CRUISE PORT AND VISIT KENT WINS JOINT AWARD IN THE USA
Dover Cruise Port and Visit Kent are delighted to announce that they have jointly won Cruise Insight's award for the "Best Destination Experience (Organised Tours) 2011." The awards were announced and presented during the recent Cruise Shipping Convention in Miami where the two organisations exhibit in the Cruise Britain pavilion at the Cruise Shipping Conference and Exhibition.
Commented Kate O'Hara, Head of Business Delivery, Port of Dover; "The partnership between Dover Cruise Port and Visit Kent has been extremely successful in promoting the wealth and variety of attractions and themes over the past few years. As a result the joint venture has seen an increase in the number of cruise calls to Dover Cruise Port. The award demonstrates the commitment to deliver high levels of customer service and wonderful experiences that passengers continue to enjoy during their stay in Kent."
#15
Kent, not Dover. Sorry to be a pain.
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
#16
yes thats probably the problem Bern...whisked away from the immediate area...but here's the thing..can Dover offer an alternative at this current moment?
There was some talk at that recent Tourism meeting we went to, that cruise passengers can get fatigued with the same itinerary and are looking for something new. Many cruise passengers do the cruise thing over and over again year after year, so can only take so many trips to Leeds castle...this is where Dover could see some growth providing it could deliver a package.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
#17
at least it is a sunny day to greet the visitors, maybe a few of them could help spruce up the boards around the fountain while they are here?
Guest 643- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 1,321
#18
Took this about an hour ago from Western Heights. Thought the Aida Luna looked lovely in the late afternoon sun.
There's always a little truth behind every "Just kidding", a little emotion behind every "I don't care" and a little pain behind every "I'm ok".
Brian Dixon- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
#19
jacqui,your pistures dont seem to be appering unless its me,the same thing is happening on the spring thread as well.
Guest 718- Registered: 28 Jun 2011
- Posts: 195
#20
AIDAluna is the fifth AIDA ship to visit Dover. Last year we had her sister, AIDAsol, and previously we've seen the ADAcara and AIDAaura (smaller) and the AIDAblu (larger).
The latest addition to the fleet, AIDAMar, is due to call here on 15th May.
I quite like the rounded moulding of the forward supestructure, but I'm still unsure about the big eyes and lips painted on the bow.
There's always a little truth behind every "Just kidding", a little emotion behind every "I don't care" and a little pain behind every "I'm ok".
