One of the first things we did to begin planning our move was research what to do about our cat. Cats cannot enter the UK on a plane in the cabin (they can enter mainland Europe this way, which I will say more about later). Cats can only fly directly to the UK in the hold. Our cat was already a teenager when we began planning and we were worried as an older cat, he wouldn’t do so well in the cargo of a plane. So we researched other options.
…enter, a boat
We quickly found out that it’s possible to take the cat on a boat instead of flying. The Queen Mary 2 from Cunard has an onboard kennel, but there is limited space and they sell out quickly. I first emailed about availability in August 2021 (!) and got this auto reply
So that told us you really gotta plan ahead to take the boat! In May 2023 I booked a ticket for October 2024. All of the eastbound kennel spots for 2024 and even early 2025 were already booked at this point, but it’s only once you book your ticket that you are able to even join the wait list. Cunard lets you email to request information about the current status of the wait list as many times as you want (shout out to Debbie Fernandez, Cunard’s kennel contact, who was always so fast and helpful with replies). They send out a spreadsheet listing all of the crossings and describe how many (if any) spots are open and let you know how many people are on the wait list in increments of five. I asked a few times as I decided which crossing to book as I was trying to gauge which times were more busy. Since we had flexibility with our travel times, I reasoned fewer people would travel during the fall so booked to avoid the summer.
After joining the wait list in May, we found out in August that they had space for our cat and our kennel reservation had cleared! We paid the $1,600 for his reservation (cats have to book two kennels, one for them and one for their litter box). The trip could really happen!
Preparing for the voyage
Zeus was already 17 when his reservation got booked. I honestly had a bad feeling the whole time that something would happen to him before the trip since he was so old. Then, in April 2024 he got sick and stopped eating. I started asking for the kennel availability spreadsheets again. There actually was some availability on the crossings that were happening quite soon! I was really surprised. I think it may be that last minute bookings can work if you have flexibility with your plans. We ultimately decided to stick with the October plan (there were several open kennels on our crossing, but the one after us was 24 dogs in 24 kennels, so you really just never know!).
We monitored our cat extra closely over the summer (…and I began hand feeding him from a spoon) and got him some new prescription food for chronic kidney disease and he seemed to do better.
It finally came time to get him officially ready for the boat!
There’s a bunch of paperwork you need to get ironed out to take a cat into the UK.
They need to:
- have an ID chip
- have received a rabies vaccine within one year (you can get a three-year vaccine but the UK requires it to be within the first year) and to have received the vaccine with the chip already in place
- have received the rabies vaccine at least 21 days prior to the voyage (our vet got nervous and had us do an extra dose of vaccine cause even though he received his vaccine earlier in the year, there had been a monthlong gap between his prior one-year booster and that vaccine and the vet worried it wouldn’t have been considered “continual” coverage given the gap, ugh!)
- get a checkup from the vet who then fills out paperwork that gets sent to the USDA by snail mail and back to you by snail mail
The paperwork has to be signed by your vet no more than 10 days before arrival in the UK. Given that our boat trip was 9 days, I was really confused how this is even remotely possible given snail mail back and forth! After calling the USDA, they confirmed the “arrival date” for a boat trip is considered the day you board the boat, not the day you physically arrive in the UK. So that was a huge relief! We scheduled the visit 10 days before the day we left (one of the other pet owners mentioned he sometimes even fudges the leaving dates by a day or two since they aren’t on the official form. It’s a bit risky because if the form somehow got turned around instantly, it would be too early, but could be a way to build in a little more cushion). It was very stressful waiting for the mail, but our vet setup the mail to be overnighted there and back so that took out some of the uncertainty and waiting.
The total cost for the final vet appointment and paperwork was $674.20. (Our usual vet had a USDA certified vet on staff luckily, but if you have to go to a new vet, they often make you pay for an intake appointment too. This fee included shipping, appointment, and a fee for them to research all of the requirements for our specific trip.)
It was also $118.60 for the appointment to get another rabies booster. Basically, you should plan to just spend a lot a lot of money.
To recap, total cost:
- Kennel on the boat - $1,600
- Vet and USDA paperwork - $674.20
- Additional appointment - $118.60
Total for the cat: $2,392.80
Our cost for the boat (two people): $3,422.89 (we got a room with a balcony but easily could have paid about half this cost for a regular room, you’re basically never in the room!)
Finally getting on the boat
Once our paperwork arrived, the next hurdle was getting him to the boat! We live about two hours away from New York so got a ride from my mom to the cruise terminal. It was really easy to find the terminal. We read confusing information online about what happens with your bags, but it was actually very easy. When you pull into the parking lot, there’s tons of carts collecting luggage, so we were able to put all of our big bags on the carts and did not have to carry them with the cat into the ferry terminal. What a relief!
After going through security at the terminal, we got directed to an area with other pet owners. The kennel master, Oliver, was already there and welcomed Zeus by name right away, just seeing his carrier!! We were wowed! Even though we were a little early, everyone was very welcoming and helpful. We waited a little bit and a Cunard staff person reviewed the documents for “Zeus the cat” and he said we were good to board. What a relief, he could board the boat!! We found out later another pet owner actually got turned away because they did not have the snail mail physical copy of their documents, so that definitely can happen. But, luckily all of our paperwork was in order and we could board the boat!
First, we dropped off Zeus at the kennel. There was a cage with his name on it already (and the cat icon even sort of looks like him!). We left his food also and instructions for feeding and were told to come back at 5:30pm for an official welcome to all the pet owners.
Zeus in his home for the week.
When we returned, we found out Zeus was one of 4 cats and 8 dogs on this crossing, which was apparently a very small number for how busy the kennels usually are. We also found out … in addition to his regular food, Zeus could be fed fresh poached salmon every day, if we thought that was ok. After trying to search a bit online about whether salmon is safe for sick kidneys, we agreed. Apparently, Zeus would go on to devour salmon twice a day.
Several pets on the boat were doing return voyages. Everyone was really friendly and would chat a lot since the dog owners needed to walk and visit their dogs a lot. Oliver and the other kennel worker, John, helped everyone get settled and oriented, and told us stories of many pets from prior voyages.
There were visiting hours three times a day and we tried to stop by during each of the time frames. Zeus hadn’t been around dogs really before and would hiss at the dogs sometimes but he really seemed fine. Especially as the week went on, he was devouring all of his food, including his prescription food. The luxury may have brought his appetite back!
Later in the week, we got a folder with Zeus’ official paperwork back. I thought there would be one final hurdle when we disembarked the ship and went through the border crossing, but actually the entire border crossing was handled while we were on the boat. So actually, he was all set. He was ready to be a British cat!
Disembarkation was similarly easy to getting on the ship. We got tags to put our bags out the night before and then just had to take him out by hand. All the pet owners gathered in the kennel in the morning to leave together as one of the earliest groups to get off. We got a ride from our mum on the British side and we were off!
Even though I was nervous, and there were many many stressful times of second guessing and worrying, we made it!
Zeus looking at me dozing off on the way to our new home in the UK.
Alternate route: US -> AMS -> UK
We almost went this route instead. It requires getting paperwork for the EU in addition to the UK, but you can do a direct flight to Amsterdam and then a train in the Netherlands (pets are allowed on the train) and then a ferry to the UK (pets are allowed on the ferry). This person described on reddit how they did this point by point.
In my (and that person, and many other people on reddit and Facebook and similar pet moving forums) experience, you really can do it yourself and don’t have to pay thousands of dollars to some pet transport company! If you’re nervous about it or have any detailed question I didn’t cover, please reach out.
- Header photo description: our cat Zeus, a stripey guy with a “Queen Mary 2” little cat coat on and on his leash on deck on the boat.
- Photo credit: Katherine Wood (all photos)
Last modified on September 14, 2025
