Malta to Catania

Dear Readers, we have successfully made it to Sicily and so comes our first post in this series of updates that we promised to share with you along the way.

Our voyage from Malta to Catania was quite long, 7 hours to be exact. It took so long because we opted to travel wth Tirrenia (offered by SMS Mondial) and not Virtu Ferries. The main reasons for this choice were:

• The ticket price which was considerably less expensive with Tirrenia.
• With Virtu Ferries the dogs must be left inside the vehicle during the whole voyage (or in kennels in the garage) and are not allowed on deck which for us was a deal breaker. I sincerely wish this policy changes ASAP. If anyone gets to know that this policy has indeed changed please contact us so we make an updated post to reflect the change.

In 2015 we had taken a break and went on a similar short road trip and back then we booked the ferry with Virtu Ferries and our review is based on the experience we had with both lines.

In summary I would tell every dog owner that:

If you are happy to opt for the more expensive option, leave the dog in the car for a short period of time (around 2.5 hrs to Pozzallo), get to Sicily faster and be on a more luxurious vessel, then opt for Virtu Ferries.

If on the other hand you wish to opt for the less expensive option, do not mind a considerably longer voyage (7 hrs to Catania), in a much less comfortable vessel but wish to have the dog with you on deck (or in the kennels on deck) then opt for Tirrenia. Additonally they also offer the possibility of booking a pet friendly cabin so the dog is comfortably with you all the time.