Dog Friendly Cruises
Considering a cruise, but just cant stand to leave you loving dog behind? Have you wondered if there are dog friendly cruises available? Taking cruises is a popular and convenient way to travel, and is a great way to spend a couple of weeks relaxing, dining, and enjoying the many other amenities a cruise ship has to offer. However, maybe you just cant leave your dog behind because of kenneling, you cant find a dog sitter, or just cant stand to leave your dog alone. You may have thought about cruises that allow dogs.
Finding Dog Friendly Cruises
These are indeed available! While many cruise lines do not welcome dogs or pets of any kind because of the hassle to them, there is now a smaller, but growing demand for dog and pet friendly cruises and some cruise lines are catering to this need. Your best bet is to browse around online to the different cruise sites and see what they have to say. Most of the cruise lines will have a specific section that mentions pets.
Not All Cruises
One thing you will have to understand when looking for a dog friendly cruise is that not all the cruises are going to be available to you. Some of these cruise lines offer so many wonderful and brand new cruise packages, and most of them are not pet friendly. So by yourself you may have 100 or more cruises to choose from, with your dog along with you it may be 10. In addition, expect to pay a bit of a premium to bring your dog along, as the pet cruises are a bit of a special niche, and the cruise lines tend to upcharge for them.
Consider Charter
If you are really not satisfied with what the commercial cruise lines have to offer, you can opt for a full chartered cruise and do whatever you like. Chartered cruises often allow you to take multiple pets with you and give you and you dog free reign of the ship. One thing you must consider is the much higher price you will pay for a chartered cruise, far beyond what a discount cruise line is going to charge you.
Dog friendly cruises are gaining in popularity and they are definately available. I have been on two cruises now with my dog and I must say that I would never go back to the kennel method. I save money and time not having to kennel my dog, and she doesnt have to think I have abandoned her while i’m out having fun in the sun. Look into them if you are a big dog lover, they are a great idea!