Ferry traveling in North East USA and across to Canada
One of the reasons why I am writing this block page is to hopefully assist you to have easier time finding out how, where, what and need to know…Kaya is 74lb/34kg and Rhona weighs 43lb/20kg so we are talking about bigger dogs.. and as they do not fit into my hand bag we needed to take things into consideration. I do not know what the policy on board is with smaller dogs that can be carried around.
OK.. back to the subject..
Towards new adventures…
Our first ferry ride with the kids 2025 was going across from St. John’s New Brunswick to Digby Nova Scotia, Canada. It is cheap and easy way to cut off a days drive for 2h 30 min crossing with the Bay Ferries. Dogs do not cost extra and we left the Kids into the RV for the trip. They slept happily for few hours! It is surprisingly quiet on the car deck and they have personnel checking the deck all the time during the sailing and they WILL come and get you if your pet is in distress in the car! But as I said.. even our princess Kaya was good with the ride and totally asleep when we returned to the van at the arrival. There is possibility to get Kennel space on the Vehicle Deck and there is designated outdoor pet area but pace is limited.. our Kids stayed home… to keep it all simple for few hours.
There was not extra paper work as they checked Rabies vaccine certificates on the border when we crossed from US to Canada.
Must remember though that passengers are not allowed to stay in the car or camper while the ship is sailing on any of the car ferries!!! If you are not willing or able to walk up stairs few decks up introduce elevator riding with your pup. Its great skill for your pup to know and easy to practice anywhere.
Other short ferry ride last year was from Caribou, Nova Scotia to Wood Island PEI. It was fun and short trip, about 75 min ferry ride and you do not need to leave the dogs into the car. It is the only ferry ride around here that allows you to bring your dogs inside the ferry. There are designated seating area for the whole family.
Seagull watching …
Bonus is that dogs do not cost extra on the Northumberland Ferris. Perfect service and lot of nice fellow travelers to give the Kids cuddles.
2025 the Kids got used to ferry traveling with our short ferry trips so we were quite happy to jump into 2026 with longer ferry trips. This year our first ferry experience was from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Wanted to cut out few days drive in New Brunswick out and treated ourselves on this 3 h ferry ride. All the paperwork for border crossing from US to Canada is done before boarding the ship. In Bar Harbor you have good space to walk the pups before boarding as well. The CAT is super luxurious and fast ride across. Pet’s cost from $29 to $49 per crossing depending on the season and can stay in the car or in a kennel. We left the Kids into the RV for this ride as well. We had such a good experience from last year. We rather leave them home where they feel safe than putting them in a kennel onboard. It’s only 3 hours and they were fast asleep while we listened to live music in the lounge. Perfect sail.
We do always book a RV camping spot relatively close to the destination harbor, for the next night so it’s easy to get the Kids out and exploring sooner than later… not that they know any better but I DO.. !!
Also if you go for ships kennel option on any ferry do bring your dog bed and maybe a blanket for your angel. Kennel rooms are air-conditioned and cool with out too much of extra fluff.
Our first longer ferry ride was from North Sydney, NS to Port aux Basque, Newfoundland in June. This sail was 7 hours long and again… your options are ether leave the Kids into the RV (Not an option for us.. too long sail), rent a kennel or a pet friendly cabin. We went for the Kennel option this time. It was a day sail so did not want to splash out $$ on a sleeping cabin as none of us sleep during the day…. so… the kennels cost little extra $ and so does the pet friendly cabin $$. We ended up having the entire kennel room for ourselves. Do bring maybe some chew toys or sticks… the outside “pee area” is so small that Kaya did not even fit in.. ha ha.. but you can walk the side deck and peeing on the deck is not a problem as it gets washed by the sea etc. (do wear proper shoes, no sandals or flip-flops , you will get your feet wet). We took turns of an hour each to be with the Kids in the kennel and they were NOT traumatized by the sail or the metal kennel area. Marine Atlantic Ferries have great ships but do book early… we have 24ft RV and a truck that we travel with … and I got tickets last year November when they were running huge sale.
How full the ferries are to Newfoundland during the summer is no joke..ships are full of cars, trucks, RV’s etc. not so much of people.
65% of all the goods to Newfoundland are coming in with these ferries.
Getting a pet friendly cabin, specially for the longer route (17h sail) that runs from Argentia (east part of Newfoundland) is difficult. In my mind the kennel option is not an option for this route and there are no other options for your dog…. so before you plan your visit to Newfoundland “too far”.. get your ferry tickets and then decided where to start your adventure. It is 560 mile/10 h drive from St. John’s to Port aux Basques (from east coast to “the shorter 7h ferry ride”), so it is good to plan ahead little.
We have had fantastic summer in Newfoundland and the ferry ride is defiantly NOT a reason not to come here and experience this amazing Rock.
