Awww! Dog-friendly cruise liner to get special doggie features

The only cruise liner in the world to offer dedicated kennels for dogs and cats is about to get even more pet-friendly.

Cunard today announced plans to add a lamp post and a fire hydrant to a deck-top area of the Queen Mary 2 reserved for dog walking to make the animals feel more at home.

The line also will add 10 more kennel spaces for pets to the vessel, its flagship. The additions will be part of a major overhaul of the Queen Mary 2 planned for 2016.

Known for trans-Atlantic cruises between New York and Southampton, England, the Queen Mary 2 currently can carry up to 12 dogs and cats on each crossing in kennel spaces that the line says frequently sell out.

The lamp post and fire hydrant were a feature of the kennels on Cunard's former flagship, QE2, and were first introduced on board the line's historic Queen Mary at the suggestion of The Duke of Windsor.

Announced today, the overhaul of the 11-year-old Queen Mary 2 also will include the addition of 15 cabins for solo travelers -- a first for the ship. Thirty more balcony cabins also will be added to the vessel. More additions and changes will be announced in the coming months, Cunard says.

The extensive makeover will take place over 25 days at a dry dock in Hamburg, Germany starting on May 27.

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Click through the carousel below for photos of a historic meet-up between the Queen Mary 2 and its two sister vessels, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, in May.