Setting sail on a year of discovery from Dover Cruise Port

131 cruise calls by 19 cruise lines, 36 ships – Saga Cruises ‘Spirit of Discovery’ naming and inaugural cruise celebrations – Opening of Berth C, Dover Western Docks Revival

Dover’s 2019 cruise season gets underway on 6 February with the arrival of Saga Cruise’s, Saga Sapphire.  It promises to be a big year for Saga and Dover with the arrival in July of Spirit of Discovery (58,250gt), the company’s first new build cruise ship.  Spirit of Discovery will be named in Dover on 5 July 2019 before embarking on her inaugural cruise from the port on 10 July 2019.  In total Saga will operate 30 cruises from Dover this year.

Along with the Spirit of Discovery, Dover is welcoming maiden calls from Celebrity Cruises, Celebrity Reflection (126,000gt), Viking Cruises, Viking Jupiter (47,800gt), and Phoneix Reisen’s, Amera (39,051gt). The Port of Dover will also see the first cruise ships using the new berth C, part of its £250m Western Docks Revival.  Hapag Lloyd’s, Europa (28,890gt), is expected to be the first cruise ship to use Berth C on 9 July 2019.  The addition of the multi-purpose berth increases the port’s capacity for port-of-call visits and can accommodate ships up to 350 metres in length.

In total, Dover is expecting 131 cruise calls in 2019 on a wide range of itineraries, including Baltic, Mediterranean, round Britain, Transatlantic, and world cruises.  Fred Olsen’s Boudicca (28,388gt) departs on a 168 night ‘Grand Voyage’ from Dover on 3 October 12019, the longest and most extensive sailing ever undertaken by Fred Olsen Cruise Line.  Princess Cruises, Sea Princess (77,499gt), and Viking Cruises, Viking Sun (47,800gt), also call at Dover on their world cruises. 

Fred Olsen’s Boudicaa will also be sailing a special Royal British Legion cruise from Dover on 2 June with 300 Normandy veterans and their families to mark the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings.

Cruise Lines calling at Dover in 2019 include AIDA, Costa Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Noble Caledonia, Oceania Cruises, Pullmantur, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn Cruise Line, and Sea Cloud Cruises.

RELATED LINK:  https://www.investindover.co.uk/News/2019/A-Year-of-Discovery-for-Dover-Cruise-Port.aspx