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Hello all,
We are moving to Portugal with two dogs who are small but not small enough to go in-cabin under the seat. I heard someone on one of the recent Thursday calls talking about bringing her pets with her on the QM2 rather than flying them with the luggage on a plane. I looked into this briefly and it looks like an amazing option. The QM2 departs from NY and arrives in England so there is the issue of getting us and the dogs from England to Portugal... still trying to avoid having to put the dogs in cargo but at least that isn't such a long flight... maybe a one-way car rental with a big brand??
If anyone knows about this or if the person who mentioned this on the Thursday call sees this please get in touch!! I am very curious to hear about your experience!
Suzi
@SuziRed22 I believe some of these cruises continue on to Portugal via Spain, arriving in Lisbon about a week and a half after departing England (Southampton).
https://www.gotosea.com/cruises/28-night-europe-1324571
https://www.cruisetransatlantic.com/new-york.html
Maybe there's a way to arrange a lower fare if you permanently disembark a week early? That all being said, there are plenty of other options that are even quicker and far cheaper if you can set sail from Florida.
https://www.gotosea.com/cruises-from-united-states-to-portugal
https://www.cruisetransatlantic.com/usa-portugal-cruise.html
https://www.cruisetransatlantic.com/florida.html
Even though I do not have any pets to travel with, I had seriously considered these options myself. Many of the fares are competitive with one-way airfares, and the voyage is hopefully more enjoyable along the way for yourself and for your companions. The baggage allowances are typically more generous, and the security checkpoints may be a bit more lax.
My biggest hurdle is my distance from either New York or Florida. I'd need a stressful and costly multi-day trip in a one-way rental car across America just to get to the port of origin. So I'm just going to suck it up and fly instead, hopefully enjoying the shorter transit time and enduring the jetlag.
I do not have first-hand knowledge but from what I've read it is the only current cruise option for taking pets, there is a long waiting list, and few crossings per year. You'll want to dig into this early if you want the option.
Yes exactly! I looked at the website and also watched a few Youtube's... I'm hoping I can chat with the person I saw on the Thursday call... she commented she is already booked for her crossing with her dog(s)... I'm going to message Astrid to see if she knows who that person is...
Hi -
I'm actually doing a trans Atlantic crossing in September on the Queen Elizabeth out of Ft. Lauderdale. My wife and I investigated the the Queen Mary option - that ship sails out of New York and is perhaps the only ship that has a kennel (it looks to be on the top deck). Based on what I learned - pet passage is rather expensive and the ship sails between New York and South Hampton, England.
There may be other crossings but you will still have to figure out how to get from the ship's final destination (i.e. South Hampton) to Portugal.
Hope that in some way helps.
@lowellmk exactly... I have researched the Queen Mary 2 and it look like a great deal... transporting pets with a professional pet transport service is super expensive - not any more than the pet fee on the QM2... the cabin prices (depending on which one you choose) is less than our R/T biz class airfare but quite a lot... more research to be done on the best way to get from Southampton to Portugal for sure.
