QUEEN MARY 2

has anyone brought their dog over from us to uk on the queen mary 2..........this is my decision to transport my doggies over as im afraid flying them is far too risky......any info you can offer would be great.......thanks steff

Just curious..why do you think its too risky too fly your animals?  Are they short nosed breeds?  Generally speaking, flying is perfectly safe for animals as the cargo area they will be transported in is climate controlled and pressurized.

one of my chihuahuas is older and has anxiety when away from me.......i have checked and the dogs are not allowed any sedatives during the flight..........its not fair to him or guests to put him under the seat and listen to him scream the entire trip.............at least on the queen mary he will be able to share a kennel with my second chi and i can visit him several times a day with actual physical contact.........i know it seems obsured that a dog would cry and scream so much but i promise you he will.......oh the life of living with chihuahuas......so for us this pretty much is going to have to be the way to go...........which is actually okay as ive never been on a cruise.......what i have read they are over the top in their care for dogs/cats........i was curious if anyone on here had actually went this route........thanks for your advice......steff

its not fair to him or guests to put him under the seat and listen to him scream the entire trip

It's also not allowed.  The PETS scheme requires that pets fly in their special cargo hold.

at least on the queen mary he will be able to share a kennel with my second chi and i can visit him several times a day with actual physical contact

Are you sure they can share a kennel?  Some transporters allow this for small dogs, but others only allow it for puppies, I think.  I have a 60+ lb. dog, though, so it was never really an option, so I may be mistaken.

well i had no idea that they had to fly in cargo.......so thats definately out of the question.

i read last night that on the queen mary that it is not customary for two dogs to be in one kennel but they will if the owner requests such......ive sent them an email to confirm that.........the smaller kennel will hold dogs up to 25 lbs so my two dogs combined only weigh around 13lbs.........but i am waiting to hear from them.

steff

Hi Steffuny,

I have nothing to add as far as whether or not they'll allow 2 dogs but if you need the direct email address of Cunard's kennel I have it. My cat and I will be traveling to England via Queen Mary 2 in August.  To me the biggest advantage is price! Continental quoted me $1,007 to fly my cat but by boat it was only $300. Can't beat it!

Hi Steffuny,

I have nothing to add as far as whether or not they'll allow 2 dogs but if you need the direct email address of Cunard's kennel I have it. My cat and I will be traveling to England via Queen Mary 2 in August.  To me the biggest advantage is price! Continental quoted me $1,007 to fly my cat but by boat it was only $300. Can't beat it!

Hi Audrey!

Could you share the Cunard kennel e-mail? I'd love to ask them a few questions. Thanks!!

Lucie

Deborah Alfaro
Cunard Line
Queen Mary 2 Kennels
1(800) 528-6273 - US

email (which they respond to!) kennels@cunard.com

Deborah Alfaro
Cunard Line
Queen Mary 2 Kennels
1(800) 528-6273 - US

email (which they respond to!) kennels@cunard.com

excellent!!! Thanks :-)

I'm sure the Queen Mary will be lovely, but I can assure you that there is nothing in the slightest bit dangerous about transporting pets by air. So many of us here on UKY have done it and I don't recall a single bad story. It's fine, really.

well i had no idea that they had to fly in cargo.......so thats definately out of the question.

i read last night that on the queen mary that it is not customary for two dogs to be in one kennel but they will if the owner requests such......ive sent them an email to confirm that.........the smaller kennel will hold dogs up to 25 lbs so my two dogs combined only weigh around 13lbs.........but i am waiting to hear from them.

steff

The only thing I can think of is that if you put two dogs in a small kennel, it reduces the area they can move around in, but maybe they'd let you book a large kennel for the two of them to share?

For anyone consider the QM2, I would clarify with them what the costs would be...I was under the impression that it might be about even, even with a pricier fare for me (rather than airfare), since the fees for the pets would be lower.

However, not only was the fare for a single person insane (more than the quote for the pets + myself on a plane together), they also wanted me to book 2 kennels per pet...one for the cat, one for the cat's litterbox (?!), and two for my dog.  That brought their fare up to $1,600 by themselves, plus my fare.

The facilities did sound nice, though, FWIW (the kennels seem fairly roomy - especially when they charge you 2/pet! - and they have a separate area where you can take your pet out of the kennel and hang out with them).  Your pets will still be left alone, however.  Apparently "visiting hours" are limited to set times, so you won't be able to hang out with them 24/7 or anything.

However, not only was the fare for a single person insane (more than the quote for the pets + myself on a plane together), they also wanted me to book 2 kennels per pet...one for the cat, one for the cat's litterbox (?!), and two for my dog.  That brought their fare up to $1,600 by themselves, plus my fare.

The facilities did sound nice, though, FWIW.

I thought they put cats in the "large kennel" to cover having room for the litter box, and would charge accordingly (assuming there is a price difference between large and small kennel), not charge for 2 kennels.  I was quoted at £165 for a "small upper kennel", which according to the reservation person I was emailing, but that wasn't directly from the kennel side. 

I think when I checked, cruising was £799 for one, which IS more than flying, but on the plus side, you can bring on as many bags as you'd like and not have to pay extra - which is one of the reasons I'm considering the QM2 when I move over.  IMHO, the extra cost of the cruise itself makes up for the extra baggage or shipping fees for baggage.

I thought they put cats in the "large kennel" to cover having room for the litter box, and would charge accordingly (assuming there is a price difference between large and small kennel), not charge for 2 kennels.  I was quoted at £165 for a "small upper kennel", which according to the reservation person I was emailing, but that wasn't directly from the kennel side.

They said they would want my cat to be in 2 kennels size 27" x 36" x 30" each (so I'm not really sure how that can't fit a cat and a small litterbox, really).  The larger size kennel is 36" x 36" x 30".  I believe they're $300 and $500 respectively.

I think when I checked, cruising was £799 for one, which IS more than flying, but on the plus side, you can bring on as many bags as you'd like and not have to pay extra - which is one of the reasons I'm considering the QM2 when I move over.  IMHO, the extra cost of the cruise itself makes up for the extra baggage or shipping fees for baggage.

True, though the quote I just got, for going July 6 (their earliest date they could fit kennels in) was $2,703 for their most bare-bones single room.  I can fly for ~$600, which would leave me $2,100 to ship my belongings (and would allow for shipping a lot of stuff!).

Also, FYI, they apparently don't travel east at all between November and April, I guess, because if I booked after Nov, my earliest date was April 29, and then when I factored in the need for the pets, it pushed it back to July 6.

We aren't paying near that much! We're taking the August 23rd ship and are paying $2,128.62 total including taxes (that's for me, my fiance and the cat.) They said one small kennel is fine for the cat and never said anything about him needing an extra one for the litter box. I've seen pictures of cats in the small kennels onboard and the litterbox is in there with them.

Here's a picture I took from someone's blog of their cat on the QM2:



In the 2nd pic you can see the cats at the top in the smaller kennels.