Cruising With A Cat on the Villa Vie Odyssey

On most cruises, you cannot take your pets with you. If they are permitted, they usually have to stay in kennels. But the Villa Vie Odyssey, and her epic three-and-a-half-year itinerary, is no ordinary cruise.

Three years is a long time to be away from home, with many guests planning to stay onboard the Villa Vie Odyssey indefinitely. So it makes sense that some have special permission to sail with their beloved pets in tow.

Holly Hennessy is a Florida resident who has embarked on the cruise with her cat Captain. I spoke to her to learn more about cruising with a cat.

Make sure you follow their adventures on the Captain the Cruising Kitty Facebook page!

Ship life

Holly has purchased a cabin on Villa Vie Odyssey, which gives her the option to use it well beyond the initial three and a half years of sailing. It’s expected that the useful life of the ship will be 15 years.

I love ships. I’ve done three word cruises and countless others. My winter home in Florida was a 53′ boat, and it was Captain’s winter home since he was a kitten (he’s 8 now).

After 17 years of owning my boat, I had just grown tired of the headaches and being disappointed by people who maintained her. And the costs of maintaining a private vessel were becoming crazy. So to be on the water when someone else takes care of all those things? Perfect! 

A perpetual world cruise in your own cabin really is ideal, esepcially if you want to explore as many countries as possible in luxurious comfort.

Holly admits that Captain, the ‘Cruising Kitty’, had been cramping her travel style and limiting her options. But now Villa Vie Odyssey offers an exciting opportunity to travel the world together:

The few times I did go away and left him in the care of dear friends who knew him well, his normally very social self didn’t love it, and let everyone know. So I was resigned to the fact that my travel had to include him. Villa Vie is the perfect solution. I love ships, and I love Captain. I can have them both! 

Captain’s time onboard (and ashore if possible)

Captain was lucky enough to get a peek at his cabin before the much-delayed cruise set sail, but otherwise he spent the time ashore with Holly while they waited for the ship to launch.

Now that the ship is sailing, Captain enjoys free rein within his cabin. There is also a special area outdoors where cat owners are allowed to enjoy their pets in public.

The company hopes for it to be a social spot so those who left their fur babies at home, and crave some love, can come and share. There has been a contingency of cat haters emerge, and some passengers are allergic. All cat owners will be very respectful and stay out of the way of these passengers.

With a balcony cabin, Captain does still get plenty of fresh air. Although when the balcony door is open, he’s kept in his playpen or on a leash to prevent him getting too adventurous!

Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, Captain won’t be spending much time ashore. There are lots of rules and regulations around bringing animals into other countries. But there is some hope that Captain may get to explore the world a little.

As a private yachtie, I have been a member of a Facebook group called Gatos Del Mar. These are private yachts all over the world cruising with feline crew and they share the hassles in various places. The cruise company will clear us as needed.

Holly made it clear that the cat owners didn’t want to ask for anything that forced the crew to go above and beyond. The fact that cats are allowed onboard at all is definitely seen as enough. However, if she could have anything, there was one feature she would like to make life a little easier for her and Captain:

My wish list would include litter to be for sale at the ship shop so I don’t need to waste precious port time finding litter and having to carry heavy bags of it back to the ship.

There is one other cat on the ship, and some others joining the cruise along the way. So maybe the cat owners can work together on sourcing the litter they need. The cruise line was also going to allow small dogs for the cruise, but that plan had to be cancelled once they purchased the ship, since it does not have the right facilities for dogs.

Getting to the departure port

Before the ship set sail, Holly and Captain had to get to Belfast from Florida. I asked how that went.

Captain has always been a great traveller. We would go between our Florida and Wisconsin homes multiple times of year, both flying and driving.

Holly has some travel tips for anyone who wants to take their cat with them on their next cruise:

1. Check with your airline multiple times. Policies regarding pets can change at the last minute, and aircraft can vary in terms of under-seat space for pet carriers.
2. Always check the paperwork needed for travel in advance, and arrange to visit the vet close to departure. It’s important to understand all requirements long before you set off.

Packing light

Packing for any cruise can create a few logistical challenges, never mind a three and a half year itinerary. Thankfully, there’s reliable laundry services onboard! But when you add a cat to the equation, there are a few extra things to think about.

With the UK not allowing pets in flight cabins, Holly flew to Dublin instead, and then took a specialist pet taxi to get to Belfast. She was able to use this wisely:

He was kind enough to let me have all the things a cat needs shipped to his home, so Captain had a litter box, litter, and a scratch pad waiting for him. I do that in the States when we’re flying somewhere he hasn’t been. Hotels are usually very good about holding packages. 

Cats, in Holly’s words, are just more portable than dogs. So once you can arrange the associated paraphernalia, it’s relatively easy.

Food is a different matter though, especially with a fussy eater. Captain only eats two types of dry food along with some wet food, so Holly packed as much as she could (with a kind guest bringing back another bag from the US). The ship was originally scheduled to return to the US, but that changed, meaning a re-think was needed:

We are not going to the east coast of the US as originally planned, so I ordered multiple large bags of food to pick up in the Caribbean. Thank goodness for Walmart.com. 

Other tips and advice for cruising with a cat

Holly admits that she doesn’t know the full list of challenges she’ll face when sailing with Captain. It’s a question that can be answered as the cruise unfolds.

There is a retired vet tech onboard who has offered to help in case of emergencies, and vets will be visiting the ship for vaccinations as needed too.

I am a tiny bit concerned about really rough seas, which are bound to happen. The last slip I had my cat in was quite bouncy, so he’s had a taste, but big swells will be a new thing for him. Vet says he can have tiny amounts of Dramamine if it comes to that. 

Cruising with pets is still a very limited market. You can bring your pets across the Atlantic with Cunard on the Queen Mary 2, but they must remain in the kennels onboard.

Holly has tried to find alternative options too…

I once saw a golden retriever in a Viking commercial, but when I asked, they said no pets. Because I have cruised so much, I have top or near top status with most major cruise lines, and the answer was still no pets. 

And when I asked Holly what she was most excited about with this cruise, her answer was touching:

Just the fact that I can live how I have always wanted to live and he can be with me. 

The Villa Vie Odyssey has now finally set sail, but not every guest is staying onboard for the whole three-years-plus itinerary, and there are cabins available.

So, if you’d like to try a cruise with your cat, why not get in touch with Villa Vie and see if you can join Holly and Captain on their shared odyssey?

And if not, you can still see what they get up to by following the Captain the Cruising Kitty Facebook page.

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