These are some of the dogs I saw at Grimaldi Lines on a cruise from Sardinia to Barcelona last summer.

Travelling with your pet on Grimaldi:

✅ Pet friendly “Pet Kit” cabins (typically €10 fee per cabin & journey)
✅ Dogs welcome on all outer decks
✅ A genuinely well-placed relief area

❌ Cages, with access only at set hours
❌ No access to indoor lounges unless they’re in a carrier
❌ Wearing a muzzle is technically mandatory for all dogs

Grimaldi Lines is a 3/5 for me.
For comparison, Silja Line is a 4,5/5. The only thing holding it back is a pet relief area that’s tiny and badly placed. Grimaldi’s is far better located.

So why does Grimaldi score lower?

I found the passenger flow, in and out, particularly chaotic both ways.
Getting on, we waited at the bar almost two hours for our cabin to be cleaned before we could use it. Getting off, you’re kicked out about an hour before docking, even if you paid for late check-out.

And the muzzles and the cage option? Like we’re back in the 90s.

You can book the pet friendly cabin and keep your dog or cat with you the whole crossing with no restrictions on weight, exactly as it should be. But the rule of muzzles for all dogs is very much outdated at this point and still in shock whenever I find that the cage option still exists.

These are typically cold, sad metal cages situated in the upper deck far from your cabin, near by the ventilated technical room, so while covered from direct rain, these areas are noisy, windy, and subject to engine vibrations. If something goes wrong with your pet in between, there are no cameras and nobody is there to notice. That option should be erased completely.

Ferries are a nicer option than airplanes but with lots of restrictions still.

While pet friendly doesn’t mean anything, pet inclusive means never leaving them alone behind a locked door, and I will always advocate for that 🧡

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