Dog Travel - Sailing with Brittany Ferries from Ireland to Europe

We chose Brittany ferries for the route and for its pet-friendly options. At the time we booked, the new Salamanca had not begun sailing to Bilbao, but it had on our return some months later (see later blog). We chose the Cork to Roscoff route which was around 15 hours travel on the Pont Aven ferry which left midafternoon and arrived around 6am into Roscoff the next morning. Pet friendly cabins are in high demand, and we booked 4 months in advance to make sure we got one.

The pet friendly cabins were ideal, we booked a 4-berth pet friendly cabin (inside/no window) with ensuite which was located down a short corridor close to a pet area on the pet deck for walking and toileting (they must be muzzled when out). There isn’t a great deal of room with two dogs but there was enough space for their 2 beds and for our built-in beds without using the extra bunks. When we booked originally, we had to describe their size in order to have agreement from the ferry company that we could have the two of them in the cabin.  

The process to board was fine, there were many queues outside leading to the ship, so this easily took a few hours, we had arrived in good time.  The mood was one of excitement outside with lots of sports cars and camper vans, it felt like we were all off on an adventure which of course we were. 

After the microchip check we boarded and pets were to be muzzled, we had to bribe the dogs with hidden handfuls of chicken as they were not happy about this. We parked and went straight to the elevators with our bags, their bag and bed and it worked fine, we zoomed straight to our floor and our room was a short walk. Staff were very helpful if anyone was not sure or struggling with excited pets.  Some had loosened their muzzles, but all behaved well and there were no shenanigans

Pets are not allowed in the main public areas on the ship. They were very comfy in their own cabin, and it was literally a few minutes from the main restaurants and bars to be able to check them and bring them for a quick deck hop.

The Pont Aven was fabulous with a nice restaurant, good food, and a large lively bar. There were many more facilities I’m sure, but travelling at night this was all we needed. 

We arrived well rested into Roscoff. Leaving the cabin and loading the car was yet again very easy.  We had a quick exit through the small port and onto the main road.  The dogs were in good form, driving on the other side of the road was easy, on good main roads and highways.

Our big adventure had begun.