Taking a dog on Ferry

layton1837
layton1837 Forum Participant Posts: 109
edited June 2019 in Overseas Campsites & Touring #1

Has anyone had experience of taking a dog on either the Portsmouth to Caen ferry or the longer ferry to Santander. we have a 12 year old Yorkshire terrier.who is very timid We have taken her abroad for the last 10 years. Have only ever used ferries twice,once from Dover to Calais and once from Dover to Dunkirk. Not happy to leave her in the car deck for 2 hours, would not do it again. Since then we have used the Tunnel so she can stay with us. We usual end up in Spain so looking at possibly using ferries. can you give your opinion on the options available and the best time to book ferries for departure next May 2020 

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  • RRead
    RRead Forum Participant Posts: 3
    edited June 2019 #2

    We have taken a dog to Spain for the last 7 years Portsmouth to Santander or Bilbo you can book a pet friendly cabin.  

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,829 ✭✭✭
    2,500 Likes 1000 Comments
    edited June 2019 #3

    Brittany Ferries has three ships sailing from Portsmouth to Spain. Although two of those three ships have pet friendly cabins where your dog can be with you for the whole journey, for passengers with caravans only their "CapFinistere" ship provides that option. Not the others. 

    Those cabins will book up very quickly indeed when the new timetable is issued - usually sometime in July. I would contact Brittany Ferries customer service now and ask if you can be put on a waiting list for notification of those bookings.

    You can also ask them about pet friendly cabins on the Caen route and again the ships differ - one of the two ships there will have pet friendly cabins next year,  the other won't. 

     

  • ValDa
    ValDa Forum Participant Posts: 3,004
    1000 Comments
    edited June 2019 #4

    We had a pet-friendly cabin on a Le Havre/:Portsmouth crossing - I think on the Etretat.  The cabin was fine, we got a free sachet of treats, and a folding water bowl as a 'freebie'.  The ship was a little basic, but that was all we needed.  There is a list of which ships have pet-friendly crossings, and advice on booking one when travelling with a pet on the Brittany Ferries website.

    https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/information/pets-travel-scheme/onboard-kennels-and-pet-friendly-cabins

  • Geejay
    Geejay Forum Participant Posts: 232
    100 Comments
    edited June 2019 #5

    As others have said.  Follow their Twitter feed in July as they get many questions about the date of release.  Get on the mailing list.  Use the Chat facility to find out when they will be released.

    If you want to book a Pet Friendly cabin on the Cap Finistere which sails from Portsmouth to Bilbao you will need to book up within the first couple of days of the timetable being published.

    There's a dog walking area on the deck above where dog owners try to get their pet to do their business - not an easy task.

    We have travelled on the Sunday night 2 nighter on the CF for the past few years.  It's not such a popular sailing but for us it has some advantages.  You leave late Sunday, so straight to bed, all day Monday to get through, an excellent meal in the restaurant Monday night and an early arrival on Tuesday morning means we can get well down the road to our first campsite.  Can be a bit boring and it doesn't suit everyone.

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