Dogs and ferry crossings

As it is a long time since I last took mine on a ferry I googled it ... and to be honest I am gob smacked ...
Britany ferries £16.50 to travel over in your own car! so in other words your pet is imprisoned below decks ... £69 return to Spain but that does include a kennel ... but not an option to have your dog with you

On some ferries they have very limited availabilities of dog friendly cabins ...

Nearly all have a kids go free or family ticket ... yet charge for dogs/pets

Euro Tunnel charges £18 each way per pet ... and that is to travel in your own car ... they are coining it in for a 35min journey ... what a rip off

In the tunnel your pets travel with you in your car/van. On the short ferries you leave your dogs in the car and on the long routes the ships have kennels and to Spain there are some dog friendly cabins but these days you have to book very early

We used Euro tunnel for first time with a dog ,was concerned about leaving him M/H for two hours on Dover /Dunkirk ferry on lorry deck.Used Tesco vouchers for ferry fare and paid separate for dog,(yes £18.00 each way how much are kennels per day),we went for a month .
No issues either way quick and easy ,pet reception at Calais well marked, got earlier train ,no extra charge .Apart from heat in Provence in September good experience for all.

Considering the extra work and documentation dealing with DEFRA,specially trained staff etc perhaps it is not that bad. We pay more for the Santander ferry but it is still good value

ferry fare and paid separate for dog,(yes £18.00 each way how much are kennels per day),we went for a month .

I know kennel fees are expensive Frank60 ... what I was surprised at was that the animal has to stay in the vehicle so what does the charge cover ... when they allow up to 9 people in a vehicle for the price but yet want £18 each way per dog ... The ferry companies are the same and to me it smells of profiteering ... they know people don't want to leave their pets at home and play on it to increase their bottom line ...

I dont like paying more than I have to but it is noticeable that checking each of our dogs to come back takes very much longer than checking in the van and the humans. Some one has to pay for it and you can be sure the ferry company will not. At the end of the day it is the DEFRA rules that make the ferry companies charge for dogs.

I don't do foreign trips, so do not have the problem with my dog in the van, I went to Isle of Wight & was quite surprised to find that dogs are allowed on the bottom of the 3 decks, so my little girlie travels with me on deck on my return trip, I think she found it an experience as she normally sleeps, but she was awake & alert all the way home.

I guess that there are a couple of things to consider here
1. As stated before lots of paperwork
2. Dogs are not likely to spend any money, so no point in a free trip that will be compensated for in other ways!
3. Space given over to kennels and dog exercise cannot be used for anything else so the ferry company will charge for this.
4. Not everyone is a considerate dog owner.

I suppose it's just one of those things that we have to take into account when we budget for a trip - there's no way around it so it's down to finding the best

Two trips to France this year and used Tunnel both times with our dog, all very easy and she just slept through the tunnel. Advantage over ferry is she stays with us and it's only 35 minutes. The return journey where you check your dog in at the terminal all worked well and only delays you for around ten minutes but just have their passport in order.
Chris

Well we have been Portsmouth to La Havre over night ferry with no probs you go down to car deck to take your dog out in a exercise area