Dog friendly Ferries to Spain
Hi All,
We're thinking of going to Spain next summer in our MH with our dog. We'll probably do Portsmouth/Plymouth to Santander/Bilbao. I know its a 2 day cruise & they have dog friendly cabins. But what do you do with your dog for the time on board, 48 hours in a cabin with just time out to do his business etc is unacceptable. So what facilities are available on the ferries for dogs (if any)
Thanks
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Have you considered the Tunnel? Further to drive but so much kinder to the dog.
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It’s 21 hours from Plymouth to Santander, not 48 hours, and one night on board ship, not two .
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PS. If you don’t want to be cooped up in a cabin with your dog for the duration of the voyage, you have the alternative of booking your your dog into one of the on board kennels instead . That option gives you a wider choice of cabins for yourselves, and allows you to go together to the bars, restaurants, shops and cinemas on board - which you might not want to do if you were stuck in a cabin with your dog, or if it meant leaving the dog alone in a cabin. Brittany Ferries customer service team will discuss the options with you.
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Hi, We are not dog owners but have seen many posts, here and elsewhere, that dog friendly cabins, and/or kennels, are in very short supply.
As euror says it’s only one night aboard sailing from Plymouth. This would be in the Pont Aven and a quick look at the BF website may help.
https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/ships/cruise-ferries/pont-aven/pets
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I think your post raises the difficulties involved. We've taken our dogs on ferries and prefer the shortest routes possible where they sleep in the motorhome which is a familiar place to them. I think if you use a cabin you will be confined to the dog areas but can take it in turns to use the rest of the ship. That's about the best you can experience.
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Living here near Plymouth would mean a drive of 2200 miles to get to Santander and back again if we used a ferry from Dover or the tunnel from Folkestone. A dog might prefer it but my wife might have something to say. She would get a Commodore cabin and a dog would get an on board kennel.
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Hi euror, Like many things in life there are a variety of options for dog owners when they holiday, but it does seem that for some the starting point is that Fido takes precedence over all other matters.
Not being a dog owner its harder to empathise, but it does seem that, as with many aspects of our hobby, compromise will be needed.
I have resisted the rather obvious comment re cabin V kennel!
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It’s not just getting there FB. I would imagine the Summer temps in Spain will take some coping with for humans, let alone a dog that might not be used to such. Not for one minute saying folks don’t cope, but it needs some careful planning. We met an ex pat couple from Spain last June on a site in Matlock. The temps in Spain were horrendous, and they had chosen to come over here to visit relatives until things chilled out a bit. They had a lovely little dog, well used to heat, but did say he had struggled. Relatives, or kennels over here might actually be a kinder option. Might depend of course on your tour itinerary, there will be cooler spots.
Good luck with whatever you choose🙂
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My view is that sitting in your dog friendly cabin is no worse than sitting at home on a very wet and windy day, were the dog would probably only go out for its "business" and then come back in.
We have travelled the Portsmouth Spain route many times but always with a dog friendly cabin and I suggest that not only the driver but also the dog would prefer this to a long drive via the tunnel and then down through France.
An alternative that might be acceptable would be to use the Portsmouth Caen crossing or the Portsmouth Cherbourg route. The Normandie has dog cabins and we have also used that when the Spain routes were full, and it was a two day haul down to Northern Spain with one overnight stay as the night ferry from P/mouth docks at about 06.00 hrs. That was not too painful a route and might be an excellent halfway house if you do not like the thought of 3o hours in a small cabin.
I hope this helps
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Does it trouble you that there will have been 200 or 300 other dogs (some clean but some dirty) before you in a “pet friendly” cabin over the course of a year. They will have been sitting or sleeping on the beds and the fold away settee. I wonder about cleaning routines and hygienic standards in those cabins. They may be called pet friendly, but are they people friendly? I wouldn’t want to sleep in a cabin where so many dogs have been before me.
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I wouldn't worry about it Euror, you won't be staying in a dog cabin, I presume you'd want one where several hundred "unknown" humans have slept before you?!
Having taken dogs on ferries I can say that it's ok and I'm sure the dog cabins are clean and comfortable for all concerned.
Hope FB finds the more helpful posts useful!
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We travelled Portsmouth Santander 21st Oct on the BF Galacia, it was a 2 night crossing, fido was in kennels onboard, not an ideal situation but we took this crossing at last minute dot com as finding diesel in France was difficult, we will be returning in January Santander - Portsmouth with a dog friendly cabin booked well in advance, we choose the Santander crossing during the winter months as the weather in France can be worse than the UK so no fun, but during the summer months we normally do Portsmouth - Caen, 5 hour crossing, and then a pleasant drive thru France & Spain, fido is perfectly ok in the boot or dog friendly cabin if available.
Temperatures currently in the region of 22-25 degs (Mazarron), last year when travelling home late June it was 43 degs in the Madrid area not pleasant for dogs or humans in a caravan, and would certainly not do July/August unless you have very good a/c in your unit and you are all used to high temps 40 deg +, even the locals hide.
p.s. it is possible to sit on the upper deck with your dog, no need to use the kennel, but of course if the weather turns rough the upper deck could be out of bounds which would mean your dog would have to be locked in its kennel, we take a small fold up chair, our fido is ok to be left in cabin alone, he is fairly old so he just sleeps, you can buy calming pills for dogs which some say work very well, but never used them, guess only like sleeping/sea sickness pills for humans.
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