The DFDS (Germany) to Klaipeda (Lithuania) overnight ferry saved us a huge amount of time as we made our way from the UK to Latvia for a family wedding back in the summer. We are a family who often go on long ‘road trips’ with the children and the dogs, so it all came down to good planning! On this occasion we had limited time to get to Latvia between the schools breaking up for summer and the wedding day. Travelling with two children and two dogs works for us when we have a day of driving, then two nights in a location to give us a whole day (out of the car) to explore. Without the DFDS Kiel to Klaipeda ferry, we’d have had to drive long day after long day, missing great places as we whizzed by.
It was an eureka moment when I learned that there was a Baltic ferry where dogs were allowed in certain cabins. The ferry journey was 20 hours in duration – there’s no way I’d ever consider leaving the dogs in the car (even with lots of visiting) for this length of time. So we booked a single crossing, on the Athena Seaways ferry that included a 4 berth pet-friendly cabin from Kiel in northern Germany to Klaipeda in Lithuania. The cost for this ‘short cut’ was £415 – most of this was for the cabin, and although it sounds a lot of money, when we took into account the cost of fuel and accommodation had we driven the distance, it wasn’t such an extravagance. It also meant that we could schedule a whole day of sightseeing in Hamburg, which was close to Kiel.
In Hamburg, Izzy and Jack went to spend a day with a lovely dogsitter, while the rest of us walked miles around Hamburg – the children loved it there as they managed to fill their Pokedex’s with loads of new Pokemon (I know, I know …!)
Miniatur Wunderland, Hamburg, Germany
We also took the opportunity to visit Miniatur Wunderland, a huge and incredibly intricate model railway that is the most impressive you’ll ever see. There’s even a fully working model airport that mimics the schedule of a nearby airport – well worth the effort to visit. I wrote a post about Miniatur Wunderland – read it here.
Miniatur Wunderland, Hamburg, Germany
Laboe Naval Museum and U-995 Submarine
The following day, on our way to the DFDS Kiel-bound ferry, we stopped at Laboe – a Naval Museum on the Baltic coastline – where the children took a tour of German submarine U-995. This was very good value, and was a brilliant insight into just how small a submarine is inside. Claustrophobia wasn’t really an option for a WW2 German submariner!
DFDS Athena Seaways
Boarding the DFDS to Klaipeda ferry was effortless enough, but with all ferry travel there’s that initial mad rush once your car is manoeuvred into place and you have to get out and up onto the passenger decks. Of course in this instance we didn’t just need an overnight bag for the four of us, but we needed the dogs, their food and bowls, some food/snacks for us … imagine four people laden with bags, being pulled up flights of metal stairs by two excited springer spaniels … that was us! There were lots of steps too, and with all the other passengers equally determined to reach the passenger decks, those few minutes were a bit stressful. But once we reached the passenger deck, and the info desk, I quickly picked up our room keys (well, cards) and we headed off to find our cabin. Of course it was the opposite end of the ship, but we got there eventually!
The cabin was perfunctory. Nothing luxurious, in fact the air conditioning appeared to be pumping warm air into the cabin for the entire journey, so we were sweltering (no opening windows obviously), but it was workable. There were two sets of bunk beds either side of a small table, an area for bags and hanging coats, and a small shower/bathroom. But the most important thing, above all else, the dogs were with us and they settled in really quickly, having each picked a lower bunk to fall asleep on!
We were not alone – all the pet-friendly cabins were booked, so there was a lot of dog walking activity in the area outside our porthole window. The dogs, obviously on leads at all times, were allowed in the outside area only – the top open deck (helipad) was the best place to take them, armed with lots of doggy bags.
Apart from the occasional ‘woof’ at passing, yappy dogs, the journey was really smooth and efficient. We were relaxed as we were all together. The dogs were fine because they had their food, water, bed and us for company.
As for Athena Seaways, well she was a typical car ferry in the sense that she was functional and acceptably comfortable. There were a small number of public areas that you could visit – the restaurant, bar, café bar and very small shop. Huw and our then-7 year old son made full use of the bar – on a quest to hunt me down a much-needed flat white coffee, they took the opportunity for father-son beer (and Coca Cola) moments … a highlight for Toby as he often talks about his grown-up drinking sessions with dad! We took our own ‘picnic’ food on board, so can’t really comment on anything other than the coffee, Cola and beer … all reasonably priced and of good standard 🙂
The only worry, if you can call it that, was knowing we’d somehow have to carry everything back DOWN to the car deck once we docked, and being pulled down steps with dogs (while in a crush with people) wouldn’t be much fun. As it turned out, it wasn’t SO bad and we all safely reached our vehicle and loaded ourselves in.
When we drove off the ship we were in Lithuania; just over an hour’s drive to the Latvian border, with only a further 30 minutes on top of that to get to the wedding venue and our accommodation for a few nights.
Izzy and Jack definitely enjoyed their first major sea voyage. They usually travel under the sea, via the Eurotunnel, as I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving them in the car on a cross-Channel (or any other) ferry. Over many years of travelling with pet dogs, we’re amazed that ferry companies haven’t taken the wishes of pet-travelling families more seriously. More and more people travel to Europe with pets than ever before, and most that I know, will only ever consider Eurotunnel as you stay in the car alongside your pets. It’s time that ferry companies woke up and smelt the coffee – give us more options! On short crossings, let us take our pets to a covered outside area – we are tough, we’d happily sit outside with our dogs than worry about them being stressed in the car. Make ferry travel more pet-inclusive and more of us will travel that way. It’s a huge market being ignored, in my opinion.
Our DFDS to Klaipeda ferry experience, overall, was a good one. It would never have been an option had some cabins not been pet-friendly. And the dogs (all of them on the crossing) bothered noone.
The one thing that could have been better would have been for the air conditioning to be working! It was August and four people and two dogs in such a combined cabin soon overheated … and with the aircon pumping out warm air rather than the much-needed cold, none of us slept that well and we had to keep going outside to cool down!
