Out of control dog on the Amsterdam

We just got off This cruise. I cannot believe these post with reference to the DOG. This was one of many Grand cruises on the Amsterdam and to spend time berating the cruise and staff over a dog and its owner what a waste. There was 1,000 passengers onboard over a period of 78 days, why this would disturb your vacation to the extent it obviously has is beyond me. If this is your only complaint all I can say is "it can only get better"

 

 

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This is a concern to all of us whether we were on that cruise or not. The next cruise it might be us onboard with the DOG. No one loves animals more than me but they do not belong on a cruise ship unless they are a service animal. Unless something is done about it we will all be on floating kennels.

I think it really depends upon what your experience has been.

 

Vict0riann has set a good example. If you never see the person or the person with the dog is a non issue. If you see someone who is rude or someone who is just plain stupid with a dog, it is your experience.

 

Frankly, as a huge worker with the SPCA and a worker with service dogs, this thing is a big bother to me. Call me stupid but there are many wonderful service dogs out there and when someone abuses it, it puts a bad light on all of them which not one of these devoted animals deserves.

 

So, yes, for some of us it is a big deal. In more way than one. Abuse of this nature could curtail true service dogs coming on board or worse, more 'false' dogs come on board and passengers who have the "joy" to experience it are turned off service dogs.

 

A real service dog is a joy. It does not bounce up and down when working. It is down in the dining room and not dressed up.

 

Sorry, but I take this stuff seriously. One of my dogs was a service dog for a while. In service to the SPCA and could lure anyone to make a donation. He would sit still while three elevators worked with two escalators and people coming everywhere. And greet everyone in a sit position. That's a trained dog.

 

I don't like to see the dogs that do good coloured by owners that don't. Sorry for the vent, but this stuff is near and dear to my heart.

 

Oh,, and by the way, the dog's name is Kazu.

Excellent post! Thanks for your specialized info.

This is a concern to all of us whether we were on that cruise or not. The next cruise it might be us onboard with the DOG. No one loves animals more than me but they do not belong on a cruise ship unless they are a service animal. Unless something is done about it we will all be on floating kennels.

Yes. I am already worried that this person will be on our upcoming long HAL cruise, especially since it appears HAL did nothing effective to stop the offensive behavior. One can ignore rude behavior and try to avoid a particular person, but when that person's dog takes dumps in public areas including the Lido, it becomes everyone's health concern. (Perhaps we should threaten to notify the CDC should this reoccur.)

And I also agree that people like this make it more difficult for the legit service dogs. This spring we traveled in a group with a gentleman with a service dog. One never heard a peep from the dog on the long flight to Europe and back and the dog in no way adversely affected anyone else's cruise experience.

Is this dog still on board ms Amsterdam?

Is this dog still on board ms Amsterdam?

That cruise ended in San Diego, so they disembarked unless they booked a B2B. I don't recall a post confirming they left the ship, though.

Our friends were over last night and they were on this cruise with THE DOG. They are "glass 3/4 full" optimistic people. I hadn't read this thread until after they left. They reiterated everything negative about the dog plus some. They also had some negative issues about the cruise and the state of the ship. They were president of the Holland America fan club with over 400 days at see over the last 15 years. Because of this incident they said they will never sail Holland America again. The final straw was that the crew, senior officers included, would do nothing about it even though people were complaining daily. Maybe they were afraid of being sued, or they are afraid to offend anybody for fear of them not sailing with them again. That ship has sailed.

Is this dog still on board ms Amsterdam?

That cruise ended in San Diego, so they disembarked unless they booked a B2B. I don't recall a post confirming they left the ship, though.

Rumor has it that the dog checked into the San Diego Hilton, Room 408. I don't know where the owners are.

So sad and it is a shame.

I fear that HAL has set a very bad precedent in allowing this woman and her "service" dog to stay on board after it became obvious that this poor animal was not "trained" to be a service or "comfort" animal and this "lady" hoodwinked them. If this lady behaved in such a manner as described, she should have been put off the ship with her dog.

I have worked with a person who had a service animal in a high-rise office building, a large shepherd, and it was a pleasure to work with them. The dog was trained how to behave in public and the owner was also trained in handling the dog. Oh, and yes, the owner did pick up the dog's waste in the office complex courtyard and deposit it in the right place.

There are many people that don't show an obvious disability such as blindness, who require these animals to make their life easier. There are soldiers, who witnessed the horrors of war, and suffer from post-traumatic stress; there are children with autism whose lives are made easier by animals; people with seizures that animals can predict coming; etc. Unfortunately, this woman, and probably others, made a mockery of the ADA, and HAL, being a bunch of cowards afraid of litigation, let her get away with it. You can bet that other passengers will try and do the same and point to the Amsterdam situation and demand they are allowed to do the same. This is a lose-lose situation for everyone.

BTW, I truly feel sorry for this poor dog having this woman as his owner; at least the husband can get a divorce, but the poor dog is stuck until he dies.

Our friends were over last night and they were on this cruise with THE DOG. They are "glass 3/4 full" optimistic people. I hadn't read this thread until after they left. They reiterated everything negative about the dog plus some. They also had some negative issues about the cruise and the state of the ship. They were president of the Holland America fan club with over 400 days at see over the last 15 years. Because of this incident they said they will never sail Holland America again. The final straw was that the crew, senior officers included, would do nothing about it even though people were complaining daily. Maybe they were afraid of being sued, or they are afraid to offend anybody for fear of them not sailing with them again. That ship has sailed.

That is really sad to hear. If there is any question in anyone's mind about the impact of the situation, I think this speaks volumes.

I fear that HAL has set a very bad precedent in allowing this woman and her "service" dog to stay on board after it became obvious that this poor animal was not "trained" to be a service or "comfort" animal and this "lady" hoodwinked them. If this lady behaved in such a manner as described, she should have been put off the ship with her dog.

 

I have worked with a person who had a service animal in a high-rise office building, a large shepherd, and it was a pleasure to work with them. The dog was trained how to behave in public and the owner was also trained in handling the dog. Oh, and yes, the owner did pick up the dog's waste in the office complex courtyard and deposit it in the right place.

 

There are many people that don't show an obvious disability such as blindness, who require these animals to make their life easier. There are soldiers, who witnessed the horrors of war, and suffer from post-traumatic stress; there are children with autism whose lives are made easier by animals; people with seizures that animals can predict coming; etc. Unfortunately, this woman, and probably others, made a mockery of the ADA, and HAL, being a bunch of cowards afraid of litigation, let her get away with it. You can bet that other passengers will try and do the same and point to the Amsterdam situation and demand they are allowed to do the same. This is a lose-lose situation for everyone.

 

BTW, I truly feel sorry for this poor dog having this woman as his owner; at least the husband can get a divorce, but the poor dog is stuck until he dies.

I so agree with you. My sympathies are with the other passengers and the dog.

We were only on this cruise from Sydney to San Diego, so maybe we missed most of the drama, but for us the dog was completely a non-issue and did not impact our cruise at all. She was quiet, well-behaved, and clean. She had her own litter box on the stern on deck 2, main deck.

The Amsterdam was looking lovely and in great condition, the officers, staff, and crew did an excellent job, and both food and entertainment were great. We had the best cabin stewards ever. We enjoyed the On-location program, the lectures, and the amenities offered on this Grand Voyage. It was our first Grand Voyage.

However, we encountered some of the absolute rudest passengers we have ever met in our cruise experience. Their sense of entitlement and arrogant attitudes were shameful. Compared to them, the dog was a paragon of good behavior and sweet disposition. It was their behavior, and not the dog's, which led us to conclude that we will not take another Grand Voyage, even if it were offered to us for free.

Our friends mentioned the rude guests also, but I didn't want to stir the pot too bad. That, and the dog were the two main reasons they won't go back. The other things can be forgotten.

Our friends mentioned the rude guests also, but I didn't want to stir the pot too bad. That, and the dog were the two main reasons they won't go back. The other things can be forgotten.

I have always dreamed of doing these long cruises after I retire; however, after reading about the rude passengers, I might have to reconsider unless I mellow out in the next few years. I can take rudeness when directed at me, with a smile, but when passengers are rude to local people or the crew, watch out. You have these types of people on every cruise, but when you are on a longer cruise, they can really peeve you off.

We did this full Grand Voyage in 2012, and we found the vast majority of passengers to be nice, polite, interesting ... of course there were some we didn't care for, but outright rudeness? Almost none ... And yes, there were some who were a little too proud of their past cruises but not enough to bother anyone!

We did this full Grand Voyage in 2012, and we found the vast majority of passengers to be nice, polite, interesting ... of course there were some we didn't care for, but outright rudeness? Almost none ... And yes, there were some who were a little too proud of their past cruises but not enough to bother anyone!

Sounds like no worse than on here - there are a few posters who never fail to grab the chance to post how many cruises, how many days, how many stars, always a suite, etc etc.:D But on here you can pass on by very easily, I imagine it would be more difficult without being rude if you are a captive audience on the ship.

Our friends mentioned the rude guests also, but I didn't want to stir the pot too bad. That, and the dog were the two main reasons they won't go back. The other things can be forgotten.

The poster before you reported people being so rude that they wouldn't go on a world voyage for free. It doesn't look like they were able to "Forget" as you put it.

I say put the rude people off the ship before anything.

"The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog"

Mark Twain

Still no confirmation that the dog disem"barked" in SanDiego. I guess we will find out Monday. Anyone posters out there currently on board enroute to Ft. Lauderdale?

Still no confirmation that the dog disem"barked" in SanDiego.

......"The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog" Mark Twain

Right on. And 'Golf is a good walk spoiled'.

Right on. And 'Golf is a good walk spoiled'.

It most certainly is:)

Our friends were over last night and they were on this cruise with THE DOG. They are "glass 3/4 full" optimistic people. I hadn't read this thread until after they left. They reiterated everything negative about the dog plus some. They also had some negative issues about the cruise and the state of the ship. They were president of the Holland America fan club with over 400 days at see over the last 15 years. Because of this incident they said they will never sail Holland America again. The final straw was that the crew, senior officers included, would do nothing about it even though people were complaining daily. Maybe they were afraid of being sued, or they are afraid to offend anybody for fear of them not sailing with them again. That ship has sailed.

It is so disappointing to hear this. It sounds like HAL needs some real leadership onboard it's ships.

I worked for a public transportation company for 26 years. We had quite a few hours of training with the new "service animal" regulations. I could not find, in reading all the posts, was why she had the dog

We were trained to approach the passenger, with a smile, and ask if the animal was a pet. If they answered yes, they were denied service.Anything other than a dog or miniature pony (no, we never had anyone try a pony) is no longer considered a service animal. If the individuals answer was it is a service animal, we then asked the only other question we were legally allowed to ask. " Without disclosing your disability, what service has your dog been trained to provide?" Individuals with true service animals will give an answer something like " My dog has been trained to push against me if he/she senses a seizure coming, so I can take some medication" The law does not prohibit me from asking for specifics. It does prohibit me from asking about their illness. I want to know what specific task this dog does, not a generality.

"Comfort Animals" are no longer qualified, so the new title for those that just want to travel with their dogs is "seizure dogs" Sometimes, when you know the dog is a pet, it is rather fun to get the owner to be specific when they cant. It was also our policy to greet the animals when we talked to the owners. We would ask if we could say hello. A true service animal should be "working", and the owner would prefer us not say hello. We would ask, because untrained dogs will jump to be friendly or get attention. That is not a trained dog. It would also let us know if the dog might be aggressive.

I worked for a public transportation company for 26 years. We had quite a few hours of training with the new "service animal" regulations. I could not find, in reading all the posts, was why she had the dog

 

We were trained to approach the passenger, with a smile, and ask if the animal was a pet. If they answered yes, they were denied service.Anything other than a dog or miniature pony (no, we never had anyone try a pony) is no longer considered a service animal. If the individuals answer was it is a service animal, we then asked the only other question we were legally allowed to ask. " Without disclosing your disability, what service has your dog been trained to provide?" Individuals with true service animals will give an answer something like " My dog has been trained to push against me if he/she senses a seizure coming, so I can take some medication" The law does not prohibit me from asking for specifics. It does prohibit me from asking about their illness. I want to know what specific task this dog does, not a generality.

 

"Comfort Animals" are no longer qualified, so the new title for those that just want to travel with their dogs is "seizure dogs" Sometimes, when you know the dog is a pet, it is rather fun to get the owner to be specific when they cant. It was also our policy to greet the animals when we talked to the owners. We would ask if we could say hello. A true service animal should be "working", and the owner would prefer us not say hello. We would ask, because untrained dogs will jump to be friendly or get attention. That is not a trained dog. It would also let us know if the dog might be aggressive.

Very interesting.

If the owner couldn't describe the specific task or the dog jumped up when you greeted it, what were you authorized to do then?

When a passenger could not be specific, they did not travel. Did they get upset, yes. Were there tears & threats, yes, however suits were not instigated because we followed proper protocol. One of my favorites was a lady that has her dog in a carrier. When asked about the task, she said he dog alerted her about seizures. I needed specifics, and she said the dog licked her. IN A CARRIER???? The animals need to have close contact to sense a seizure. Had the dog not been in a carrier, it would have gone.

That aspect of my job was hard. It is never any fun refusing service to anyone, but it kept problems to other to a minimum. Thee tough part was denying service to people that had "notes" from their doctors. Not only was I not allowed to look at them, but the doctors were not informed that we could not look at them. They just gave notes for "companions" to get individuals out of their office.

One other note, service men/women with dogs just have to say the dog handles PSD. We had no problem with that and generally had not questions, unless the person seemed too young.

Wannagonow: early in the thread someone wrote the woman had said the dog alerted her if her blood pressure went up.