Private jet to the United Kingdom! Fur real!

We have not blogged in over a week because life has been an absolute whirlwind. In our last blog post, you saw that our long-awaited transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2 had been canceled. We did a 180° turn and figured out our own very expensive way to get there and salvage our summer vacation. It was very convoluted and exhausting, not to mention hideously spendy.

But wait! There's more! Moments after I finished that last blog, I got a call from Cunard asking If we would like to fly to the United Kingdom on a private jet! What? Seriously? Yes, seriously. Recognizing that the pet owners were going to have great difficulty getting their precious dogs and cats into the United Kingdom without the QM2 bringing them over, Cunard made the incredibly expensive decision to fly the pet owners and their pets over. 

Bombardier jet chartered by Cunard

Of course I said yes. Brokenhearted about losing the transatlantic crossing, at least that's something we can do again. In fact, we are booked on the August 11th return journey to the USA. But flying in a private jet? That's a once in several lifetimes opportunity. 

The next several days became yet another whirlwind. One problem is that the private jet could take people and pets, but only about 30 lb of luggage each.  Cunard offered to pay to get our luggage to the United Kingdom, but we had to tell them where to send it. 

Of course from April 30th to May 7th we were to be on the ship. Suddenly we had to find a week of accommodations and I didn't know where in the UK I wanted to stay, and was too mentally exhausted to even think about it. Because we had a non-refundable hotel booking in Southampton for the two nights after the liner arrived in England, I tried to change my reservation to a week earlier. They couldn't do it. Since I already paid for those two nights, I decided to just stay in Southampton for a week.  I found a wonderful Airbnb with a water view, a very quick walk to the water, and that's where I am right now. I contacted my hosts and asked if I could have my bags sent to them and they said yes of course. 

Traveling with a dog and being limited weight wise meant that I had to pack, repack, repack and repack in order to have enough things for Dazzle and I until the luggage arrived in the UK. The estimated wait time was up to 10 days, so I really needed to make sure we had what we needed, especially for my girl. It was like solving a Rubik's cube but I finally got it done.

The problem is that they couldn't pick my luggage up until I already left Florida. My good friend Ruffy to the rescue, I took my bags to his house and he waited the next day for DHL to pick them up. He even texted a photo of the DHL truck.  He also offered that I could leave valuables at his home for the summer. If you don't know, I live in a motorhome. In the event that my RV would be destroyed by weather, at least my valuables would be safe, and the tiny home on wheels itself is insured. 

DHL picking up my bags in Florida

At this point we were beyond exhausted, but we needed to carry on. It was time to shower and dress for the journey and prepare the Winnebago for the summer. Dear friends Spring and John offered to take me to Orlando Airport. To save time in the morning I stayed overnight at Spring's. She even fed me dinner and breakfast before the long slog to MCO for our JetBlue flight to JFK. 

The flight on JetBlue was noneventful. Dazzle slept in her SturdiBag the whole way.

Dazzle bound for NYC

Before the flight, I wasn't sure how I was going to get from JFK to Teterboro Airport. Some friends gave me links to public transportation apps, and a generous friend offered to meet me at JFK and take public transportation with me. Yet another offered to drive from another state to drive me, but I thought that was just way too much to ask of anyone. Due to my extreme mental and physical exhaustion from the events of the week, when a friend offered up the link to an inexpensive car service, Carmel Limousine, I reserved it immediately and it turned out to be a good choice. The driver picked me up right outside the baggage area. I will certainly be using them in August when I return to the USA.

I'd not been to New York City before. My driver was really good about pointing things out, but he was from Pakistan so I could barely understand him. Still, I appreciated his efforts and his friendliness. The sheer size of the city was overwhelming, but I didn't get to see much of it before we were at Teterboro Airport for the transatlantic flight. He stopped for me to pick up a takeaway dinner because the flight was not until 10:00 p.m. and we arrived about 5:00.

I finally get to New York City
 for the first time in my life and
I’m only there for a few minutes
for a taxi ride!

Teterboro Airport was quite the experience. The staff there apparently think that if you're there to catch a flight, you must be a VIP, and Dazzle and I received extreme celeb treatment. It was quite posh, like the lobby of a five-star hotel, with lots of complimentary snacks and beverages and beautiful bathrooms. We were the first of the pet owners to arrive, and it was fun watching them trickle in. All in all we had seven dogs and a cat and their owners, plus a Cunard rep who flew with us to make sure things went smoothly on both ends. 

Because I got to Teterboro airport so early, many people were coming and going and every one of them was attracted to Dazzle. I got to chat with two different female private jet captains, a female private jet co-pilot who aspires to become a Delta pilot, and a well-dressed man who is the bodyguard for somebody famous but he wouldn't tell me who. The airport has some private areas where I suppose the real VIPs wait sight unseen. 

Our plane was a Bombardier Global Express. You can see interior and external photos of it here. I have only ever flown in tiny private planes or in coach on commercial airlines, so the Bombardier was an over the top treat.

Even though it was a very short walk to the plane, they even drove us to the jet door. Total VIP service.

The flight was amazing. The Bombardier flies at a much higher altitude than a commercial airliner, so there was absolutely no turbulence. The entire flight was smoother than gliding on ice. Our ascent to altitude was so steep that I almost felt like I was in a rocket. We were up there in just moments! We had the loveliest flight attendant who served us from the open bar, and beautiful snacks including fruits, chocolates and charcuterie. Most of the dogs either slept in the aisle...or on a seat! For her own safety, and because she did not mind, I left Dazzle in her Sturdi Bag for the whole flight, and she didn't make a peep. The Cunard rep who flew with us brought calming blankets for every pet, and potty pads in case any dogs had to relieve themselves.

Here are the Pets Of The Jet, in order of arrival.

My Dazzle

Archie

Winston

Lily

Mickey and a photobomber

Cocoa

Sloan Pupperer

Ruey 

Archie and Sloan angling for cookies

Here are a few in flight photos.  I was sitting across from Nicki and her lovely cat Micky.  You could tell they had a mutual admiration society going on.

Dazzle is in her SturdiBag.  She slept
the entire way across the pond.

Because it was an overnight flight and we had all had quite the stressful week, including getting ourselves to Teterboro Airport, everyone slept on the flight over. We were in England soon enough. We landed at the fabulous Farnborough Airport, where a UK licensed veterinarian boarded and checked each pet's paperwork before we could get off the plane.

Dazzle and I arriving in England on the Bombardier

Dazzle the jet set pet

I had not arranged accommodations for the first two nights in England, so I used the free Wi-Fi in the posh airport lounge. Everyone was so very helpful and they were offering to find accommodations for me, but I really wanted to do it myself because I knew they would be looking at expensive ones. I was able to find the loveliest inn, the Basingstoke Country Hotel and Spa, dog friendly for less than $60 a night. Just a short taxi ride away, I booked it over the phone. Check in wasn't until 4:00 p.m., but they said that we could hang out in their pub until then.

I was going to hire an Uber, but airport personnel, thinking that they were being helpful and thinking that because I arrived by private jet that money is no object, insisted on hiring a taxi for me. Although it was a pretty short ride, it ended up costing about $80 USD. Uber would have been about $20. I really regret not insisting that the airport staff just let me do my own thing, but oh well, it is what it is.

The inn was really amazing for the price. They have lovely grounds, and although it is a much older property and shows a little bit of wear around the edges, I was absolutely delighted. When I arrived, the very friendly young woman at reception welcomed me to stay in the pub until 4:00. She said that if the room was available earlier, she would come and get me. Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, at just 1:30 p.m., she said your room is ready! Being an older property, it was kind of convoluted to go upstairs and down halls to get to it. The room was clean, spacious and comfortable.

I booked two nights in order to try to recover from the exhaustion of the previous week. That ended up being a good decision because I spent a lot of time napping. When not napping, Dazzle and I enjoyed the pub. The barkeeper, Kevin, is an extremely friendly man who used to run yacht charters and has spent a lot of time in Fort Lauderdale and many of the islands where I have scuba dived. He made Dazzle and I feel absolutely at home. Our meal the first night was just amazing, a chicken and mushroom pie with carrots, mash and broccoli. Later in the evening when I went to the bar to get a cider, Kevin asked me if I liked the meal and I said oh it was absolutely delicious. He said "I'm glad you liked it because that's the chef." I greeted the man sitting next to me at the bar and he was so glad that we liked it.

Enjoying the pub

Eggies for brekky

Chicken and mushroom pie with mash was delicious

A woman with an American accent traveling solo with a dog gets a lot of attention from the locals. Everyone wanted to chat with us. I currently live in Florida, USA. I was especially delighted when a woman said "I have a friend in Santa Barbara."I  said "that's in California on the other side of the country, 3000 miles away."  She laughed at me and said “America is America!” 

We really enjoyed our stay, but soon enough it was time to head to our next destination. I'm going to close out this post, and the next blog will be posted in a couple of days. We are loving it here in England, and if it wasn't so cold I would want to move here in an instant! Dazzle is loving the attention from everyone, and I am grateful for the kindness of the British people.

Until next time, thank you for reading, please subscribe using the form at the end, and feel free to forward to your friends.

Love, 

Debby and Dazzle 

OH NO!!! Our transatlantic crossing has been cancelled!

Dazzle and I have been planning for a few years to make the transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2, the only cruise ship that has kennels. OK, technically it is an ocean liner, in fact it's the only ocean liner in service today, but still it's the only ship with kennels. We booked the journey about a year and a half ago.

Queen Mary 2 Kennel Master with four legged passengers

We've been so excited for our planned April 30 crossing from New York City to Southampton, England that it's pretty much all I've been talking about for months. I've spent countless hours doing research and purchasing clothing, travel guides, maps, and other items for living three months abroad, and I don't even want to think about how much money I've spent. This was to be the trip of a lifetime. A dream. Bucket list.

I awoke this morning to messages on the Cruise Critic forum for my particular journey saying that today's crossing from Southampton to NYC was cancelled, leaving some 2,000+ passengers scrambling to figure out how to get to NYC.

Queen Mary 2 docked in Southampton, UK for repairs

There was much speculation as to whether our April 30 Eastbound crossing would also be cancelled, then we received the e-mail:

"We are very sorry to advise you of the cancellation of Voyage M311A from New York to Southampton on April 30, 2023. This is due to necessary technical maintenance taking place on the ship in Southampton this week.

You will receive a full refund and a Future Cruise Credit of 20% of monies paid. This will be set up automatically and will be registered to your Cunard World Club number. You will be able to use this Future Cruise Credit on any future booking booked prior to 23rd April 2025.Any shore experiences purchased for this voyage will also be fully refunded to the original payment method.

If you booked your voyage as part of a holiday package with a third party tour operator, please contact your operator regarding any gesture of goodwill.

Once again, we are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience this will cause.

Kind regards,

Cunard"

The dreaded letter cancelling our long awaited voyage.

I'd planned today to blog a bit about the requirements to get Dazzle into the UK and our progress through them. On Friday we had a vet visit for an exam and to fill out mounds of UK import paperwork. On Saturday I made the 7 hour round trip drive to Gainesville to drop off the paperwork with a prepaid Fedex label so that they could endorse it and overnight it in time for our trip. She is to be dewormed on Thursday. Now that the ball is rolling and the funds have been spent, the latest she can enter the UK without needing new documents or another deworming is May 1.

Dazzle waiting to see the veterinarian for her health exam.

USDA APHIS office in Gainesville where we dropped off our paperwork for approval

This looming deadline meant that I needed to scramble ASAP to get her into the UK, or I'd have to start the expensive and time consuming process all over. So today was spent trying to find another way to get us into the United Kingdom by May 1.

As it turns out, it is nearly impossible to get a dog into the UK on an airplane except for private jets. The only reasonable ways are the Queen Mary 2, a ferryboat from an EU country, or the Channel Tunnel. If by Chunnel, the dog can NOT travel on the Eurostar train. It seemed my only solution was to fly to France and then find a way to England on a ferry or car transport. Renting a car was not a reasonable solution as a French rental car apparently cannot be dropped off in the UK because the steering wheel is on the opposite side of the car. Or so said the rental agencies.

I already have a nonrefundable ticket on JetBlue for April 28 from Orlando to JFK, but my first thought was to just eat the cost and find a flight directly from Orlando to France. However, none of the many flights I looked at would work as they were all code sharing and that meant no pets aboard.

After spending hours waiting on hold for various airlines whose pet policies were ambiguous, I finally reached an Air France representative. As it turns out, I can still fly on JetFlue from Orlando to JFK on April 28 with the ticket I already have, then catch a nonstop Air France flight directly to Paris. The cost is astronomical, and their pet fee is a whopping $200, but what could I do? There was no way I was going to cancel my entire summer abroad. So I said "charge it" and I have a confirmed booking for Dazzle and me.

Now that getting to France was sorted it was time to find a way into the UK, and Le Pet Express seems to be the perfect solution! There are many very expensive pet transport companies, like $1,500 to go through the Chunnel, but LPE is reasonable. They charge $205 to get a pet and their parent through the Chunnel. I've also found that I can "probably" walk onto a ferry from Dieppe to Newhaven for about $60, and when I have to return to the UK from Portugal at the end of July, I will attempt to do that.

Simple solution to get a pet from France to England.

I'm emotionally exhausted from this but relieved to have an alternative plan set into place. I just keep reminding myself that at least the roof of my motorhome didn't blow off in a remote area on a North Dakota interstate. Yes, that really happened to me in 2017, but that's a story for another time.

Many thanks to my Facebook friends who were cheering me on today as I was able to change course to save our summer. I hope that you will subscribe using the form below, and feel free to share with your friends. More later! Thanks for reading,

love,

Debby and Dazzle

Why start a travel blog when there are already so many?

I'm a lifelong traveler.  So is my little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Dazzle.  She's been traveling since she was 12 weeks old, and all of my dogs before her were travelers too.  She's flown under the seat in front of me a few times, but she has mostly traveled by motorhome.  

A recent layover at Boston airport.  "Mommy, aren't we there yet?"

Dazzle's most recent long journey was riding shotgun on a 3,000 mile trip from Southern California to South Florida in a Miata...securely fastened in an approved carrier, with the airbag turned off of course. 

Dazzle's fleet.  She's been around much of the USA in the motorhome, and she recently made a cross country trip in the convertible.  

So far, her only international trip was to Baja by RV.  But that's about to change!

Soaking up the sun on a San Felipe beach

A few years ago, I learned that you can take dogs and cats on the Queen Mary 2, but only on their transatlantic voyages from New York to Southampton or Hamburg.  Last spring we managed to book the NYC-Southampton crossing leaving this April, and returning in August.  I was over the moon with excitement!

Before booking, I did the research on getting Dazzle into the UK. If I had a dollar for every piece of wrong advice I got, I could pay for a night in a good hotel room! Dozens of "I thought" and "I heard" and "you can't take a pet there" and "but what about the quarantine", but no "here is the official information".

Obviously people need the correct information.  Since things could change, instead of giving you instructions on importing your pet into the UK and back home, I'll give you the link to the official UK government website right here and to the official USA government website right here. (If your home is not the USA, use Google to locate your country's official pet travel website.) Just read what is needed and find a qualified veterinarian to assist you with the paperwork. Yes, it is a wee bit complicated but it's a whole lot easier than bringing a dog into Hawai'i while bypassing quarantine...another thing that people don't know is possible, and which I've done successfully. 

My first Cavalier, Barkley packed and ready for his fourth, and final flight on our move from the USVI to the Big Island in 2012. 

There is a plethora of articles and blogs on how to get a pet into various countries, but I needed to know what to actually do with her for three months once we got there! I started searching for blogs about traveling within countries other than the USA with dogs, but there just aren't very many.  

That's why I decided to start this blog. I'll be linking to official information, and I'll be writing about our pre-journey plans, the voyage, and the adventures we have once we get there.  Just wait until you read how we are getting from Florida to NYC...you'll be surprised!

If you would like to get updates via e-mail, simply fill out the form below.  I promise NO SPAM.

~ Debby and Dazzle