Stena Line is launching new pet-friendly cabins on its Irish Sea routes.
The Swedish ferry company has said pet cabins are now available on its Dublin-Holyhead, Rosslare-Fishguard and Belfast-Liverpool services.
A new pet lounge will also open next month onboard its Superfast service from Belfast to Cairnryan.
It comes as a new survey, carried out by Stena Line, revealed 95% of dog-owners said their dog's needs were important to them when planning a holiday - with 17% saying they won’t travel at all without their pet.
Over one-quarter said some of their fondest holiday memories involved their canine travelling companion - while 73% admitted to missing them while on holiday, and 36% said being without their pet ruined their trip.
Pug dogs in Cork in September 2016. Picture by: Wavebreakmedia Ltd UC37 / Alamy Stock PhotoStena Line Travel Commercial Manager Irish Sea, Orla Noonan, said the new facilities have been introduced after consulting with customers and pet experts.
"Requests for pet-friendly cabins and pet lounges are some of the most frequent we receive from our customers," she said.
"We recognise pets are considered family members to many of our passengers and we wanted to really enhance our customer experience and become the best choice for pet travel.
"Our aim was to broaden our offering for those travelling with pets and we’re now in a position to offer pet-friendly cabins alongside our existing options of pet kennels and pets remaining in vehicles," she added.
