I knew I would fly into London a day ahead of my Holland America Line “Arctic Explorer” cruise, departing July 25, 2011, from Tilbury, England, but I was puzzled as to whether to stay in London or near the port, itself. Luckily, a British client of mine felt I would prefer to stay in London, so he did some checking for me.
He told me to stay in a hotel near the Tower of London from which I could easily reach Tilbury Town Station by a British Rail train that left Fenchurch Street Station (on the Shoeburyness line).
I stayed at the Grange Tower Bridge Hotel (45 Prescott St., London, E1 8GP, U.K.; phone +44 [0] 20 7959 5000, fax 5100) for only £89 (near $144) plus tax. From there, it was about a 20-minute walk to the bridge and over to Butler’s Wharf, where there were many restaurants.
My client also heartily recommended the more costly Tower Hotel (St. Katherine’s Way, London, E1W 1LD, U.K.; phone +44 845 305 8335), part of the Guoman chain, at £280-£490 per night.
Not far from my hotel was an entrance to Fenchurch Street Station, but the signs indicated that if you wanted an elevator, which I surely did because of my luggage, you had to go to the main station entrance. I checked the routes ahead of time and found one free of steps, so I was able to walk (about 20 minutes) to Fenchurch Station on departure day.
There was no problem catching a train; one left every 40 minutes (I don’t remember the fare). The trip to Tilbury took about 45 minutes.
Other passengers heading for the ship stayed closer to, although not in, Tilbury at the Premier Inn West Thurrock (Stonehouse Ln., West Thurrock, Essex, RM19 1NS, U.K.; phone 0871 527 9094) or the Holiday Inn Express (University Way, Dartford, DA1 5PA, U.K.; phone +44 1322 290333), and I understand they were very pleased with the free ride the cruise line provided from their hotels to the port.
However, they agreed, as my research indicated, that it’s tricky to know ahead of time whether any hotel that is said to be “near” the cruise port is on the “right side” of the river there and, therefore, truly close to the port.* Originally, when I told my client that I was considering staying at the Hilton Dartford Bridge in Tilbury, he said that it was on the inconvenient side of the river.
Once I reached Tilbury Station, the only problem was that when the bus provided by Holland America came to the station, it stopped on the other side of the tracks and was reachable only by a pedestrian bridge accessible by a long flight of stairs. Perhaps due to a misunderstanding, the driver refused the station manager’s plea to come over and get us at the main station entrance.
Rather than cross the bridge, about a dozen of us got free rides on the public service bus serving the ferry port (perhaps 20 minutes away), but the driver could take only a few of us at a time, in order to leave space for his regular riders. I later found out that the HAL bus finally did come around to the Tilbury station entrance.
DONNA SANDIN
Reston, VA
*Editor’s note: ITN asked subscriber Pat Erricker of London to review the above letter, and he wrote, “If you simply overnight near Tilbury, try to stay in a hotel NORTH of the River Thames, in Essex county (at the Premier Inn West Thurrock, for example), not in Kent county to the south or you may have a longer, more costly transit.”
He added, “By the way, the M25, London’s ring road, crosses the River Thames close to Tilbury and is readily accessible by cab from Gatwick Airport.”