Viking Vela In Search of the Northern Lights and British Isles Explorer Cruise Day 17/32 – White Cliffs and Castles of Dover and Deal
According to the plan, we were supposed to have a scenic arrival at Dover, with its majestic white cliffs appearing off the starboard side of the ship, starting around 6:30 this morning. We were in luck as our room is on the starboard side - no getting dressed, no heading up to the upper decks. Just roll out of bed, pull back the curtains, and gasp at the magnificence. I dutifully climbed out of bed just before 6:30, pulled back the curtains, and the view was, well, definitely white.
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| We were completely socked in with fog |
Well, that was sure going to spoil the view. But as we got closer, the fog lifted, and the white cliffs appeared in all their glory.
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| Approaching the dock |
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| Dover Castle, perched high above the city |
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| The harbor entry |
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| This was easily the rattiest-looking gangway that we've seen - it was in serious need of a good power washing and painting |
Our tour today was Viking's included tour, Deal and Dover Castle. It was a 2.5-hour bus tour that took us for a photo stop at Dover Castle, and then on to the town of Deal for a walk-around.
As we exited the ship, a group of officers was greeting the guests. What is the collective name for a group of officers? I like "stripe". Yeah, let's go with that. There was a stripe of officers at the gangway.
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Back row: Travel Consultant Victor, Incoming Associate General Manager Andrej, General Manager Debassious, Beverage Manager Simbarache
Front row: Garry, Restaurant Manager Joan, Cruise Director Kate, Arlona, Associate General Manager Adam
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Once we got on the bus, we looked at the photo, and we saw Andrej. Andrej was the Beverage Manager on our world cruise. We haven't seen him since 2022. We were excited to see him again. We ran into him at the Explorers Bar later in the evening, and he is on board to take over as Associate General Manager. It was a wonderful surprise for us and great to meet up with another crew member who made our previous trips better. He was one of the driving forces who infused vanilla vodka for me on our world cruise.
We left the port and headed for our first stop.
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| Approaching Dover Castle |
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| This medieval-style castle opened in AD 1179 |
Our stop at the castle was just a ten-minute photo stop. We continued about nine miles to the northeast to the town of Deal.
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| We were surprised to see a Dutch-style windmill in England |
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RNLI Walmer Lifeboat Station
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We had about an hour to explore Deal. The town was founded around 1086 and has been a maritime city ever since. Now, it is mainly a seaside resort town.
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| Embracing the Sea, by John Buck |
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| Mex on the Beach |
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| Looking back at the town from the pier |
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| Royal Mail |
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| The Port Arms Pub |
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| The King's Head Pub |
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| Time Ball Tower |
The ball at the top of the Time Ball Tower was remotely controlled by an electrical signal from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. The ball would rise up the shaft. At precisely 1:00 pm every day, the ball would drop. This would allow nearby ships to synchronize their time with the Royal Observatory's Greenwich Mean Time.
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| Everything was so stately |
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| Deal Castle |
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| Deal Castle was built by Henry VIII between 1539 and 1540 |
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| Spring was making itself known on the grounds |
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| Victoria Baptist Church |
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| Royal Mail Depot |
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| Middle Street, a preserved narrow street in Deal |
After our wanderings, we returned to our bus for the ride back to the Vela.
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| I've heard of "Hay-drian's Wall" in England - not sure if this was it (it was a wall of hay - obviously not Hadrian's Wall) |
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| Passing by Dover Castle again |
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| The White Horse Pub |
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| All who successfully swim the English Channel drink here and sign the wall inside |
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| Back at the port |
After lunch in the World Café, we hopped on the included shuttle bus to Dover for a look around.
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| St. Mary's Church |
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| The tower and western part of the nave date back to the 11th century, but much of its modern form is from 1843 |
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| Interesting architecture |
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| Town Council offices |
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| Maison Dieu House |
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| Over 800 years old, Maison Dieu is now an events venue |
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| Prince Albert Street in Dover |
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| It's funny because there are no bluebirds in Dover |
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| Market Square |
We walked through the Dover Museum and Bronze Age Boat Gallery.
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| A German V1 rocket-bomb replica |
We continued walking around town.
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| The ruins of St. James Church, all but destroyed in WWII |
After walking around town, we rode the shuttle bus back to the ship.
After pre-dinner drinks at the Explorers Bar, we enjoyed A Taste of Britain in the World Café. After dinner, we returned to the Explorers Bar for the first Trivia contest for this cruise. Cruise Director Kate ran a 15-question trivia. Our only miss was:
- In Judo, what belt color represents the highest achievement level?
- We guessed black, like other martial art disciplines - it is red in Judo
With 14/15, we won the game, scoring bragging rights and these suspicious drinks.
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| It involved prosecco and Blue Curacao, and I'm not sure what else |
We paired up with a few other guests for the game and had a fun evening.
We returned to the room and caught the Duets show, our second for this journey, streamed on the TV.
Tomorrow is the only sea day on this cruise. We will be doing the normal sea day activities like Baggo and trivia, and we'll see what else.
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