Service Animals on Celebrity Ship?

Hi all. We recently returned from the 4 April 2014 sailing of the Equinox. While in line one day at Guest Services, I overheard a man - with his shih tsu - asking if they would be able to take the dog ashore. I never saw the dog again, but people on my roll call saw the dog many times. The owners said that it was a service animal and had saved their life at one time. It did not wear a vest, as I have seen on most service animals in public. And it "relieved" itself in the casino, hallway and Oceanview Cafe. This is not the behavior of a true service animal. And the owners made no attempt to clean it up.

Wish I had asked Guest Services, but didn't think about it at the time. Any idea how they got the dog on the ship?

Susan

Experienced the service shih tzu on the Century to Hawaii in October. It sounds like the same couple and their service dog, was it all white? The husband had walked the dog through out the day and night on an outside deck (at least) and never bothered to pick up after the "service dog". The crew seemed to know his schedule and avoided him and the dog. The wife was said to have some type of nervous condition and the dog 'calmed' her down. She had a ' doctor's note ' according to the couple when several fellow travelers questioned them prior to the 15 day cruise at our hotel in San Diego that accepted 'service dogs'. It was well behaved but should have worn a diaper.

There are no regulations for training service dogs and I believe most businesses are not legally allowed to inquire about why you need the dog (so doesn't matter about the doctors note, which wouldn't be hard to get if you really wanted one). The exception to that rule are airlines who are allowed to ask.

I don't know if she actually needed a service dog or not, but there is a problem with people passing off dogs as service dogs just so they can bring them everywhere or avoid airline fees.

It's sadly very easy to get a service dog vest and certification papers (which don't mean anything) by buying them online. This practice only hurts those who really need true service dogs.

On our March 31 sailing on Connie, there were two service dogs. The owners appeared to be traveling together. Both owners were blind and the dogs truly were service dogs. Both were beautiful black Labrador retrievers. No idea about logistics of care for service dogs...but the topic did cross our conversation a time or two.

Service dogs are incredible animals...very well trained and they can make a significant quality of life improvement to those that are fortunate enough to have them....I have nothing but admiration for those folks and their dogs.

Then there are the scum (sorry if you don't like the word) who get their doctor to write a note that little "nutty" is needed for emotional or other support. They want to be with their pet.

Unfortunately there is no waY for celebrity to tell the difference...and if they press, there are some laws that get in the wAy. If you have scum on board, I guess you have to live with the untrained and the uncaring owners. It is unconciable for someone to walk a "service" dog on a ship and expect someone else to pick up the poop....that's real chutzpah!

I am a true animal lover, and obviously I have no sympathy for those that decide they are "special".

A true service dog can be expelled from a building, ship, etc., for not being housebroken, according to the ADA rules. They also have to be leashed (tethered or harnessed), non aggressive and under the owners control.

We had a lady where I live bring her dog to all the meetings and let the dog sit on the chairs. A lady complained and since it was not a true service dog and just an comfort/emotional support dog, the lady has been banned from bring the dog into any of the buildings. BTW, in many states if a person with an comfort/emotional support dog claims it is a service dog, they can be fined.

I have the utmost respect for service animals and total disdain for those that pose their dogs as service dogs.

Btw, some don't realize that there are trained service monkeys as well as dogs. While I have the same admiration of those animals, celebrity only allows service dogs. Not complaining..just clarifying celebrity policy as I understand it.

Experienced the service shih tzu on the Century to Hawaii in October. It sounds like the same couple and their service dog, was it all white? The husband had walked the dog through out the day and night on an outside deck (at least) and never bothered to pick up after the "service dog". The crew seemed to know his schedule and avoided him and the dog. The wife was said to have some type of nervous condition and the dog 'calmed' her down. She had a ' doctor's note ' according to the couple when several fellow travelers questioned them prior to the 15 day cruise at our hotel in San Diego that accepted 'service dogs'. It was well behaved but should have worn a diaper.

Real Service Dogs are trained to relieve themselves in large sized boxes with low sides with different kinds of materials such as fake grass or some kind of shavings in them provided by the cruise lines. They are usually away from the general public areas. The crew will keep the boxes clean for the dog. They let this so called service dog soil all over the ship and the owner not wipe up or pick up the waste in just plain disgusting! I can't believe Celebrity is allowing this. This dog should be classified as a "emotional support dog" which is a long way from a Real Working Service Dog. This dog should not be cruising if it I not properly trained where to relieve itself. I am very supportive of Real Service Dogs who are trained properly.

For whatever reason someone needs a service dog, the owners and animal really should be behaved and not in situations like our fellow cruise members described.

My husband spoke to the woman as we disembarked, she told him it was tons of paperwork but not worth it. I wasn't part of the conversation but I wondered if she felt some backlash.

We sailed on the Connie on March 17th and there was a service dog onboard. The guest was blind and the dog was a german shepherd. It was evident that it was a true service dog from day one. The shih Tzu obviously is not based on the witnesses. Calming someone is not a definition for a service dog. My cat calms me maybe I should get her classed as a service animal.

Btw, some don't realize that there are trained service monkeys as well as dogs. While I have the same admiration of those animals, celebrity only allows service dogs. Not complaining..just clarifying celebrity policy as I understand it.

And there are miniture horses.

This dog should be classified as a "emotional support dog" which is a long way from a Real Working Service Dog. This dog should not be cruising if it I not properly trained where to relieve itself. I am very supportive of Real Service Dogs who are trained properly.

My guess is that it was an emotional support dog and not a true service dog. Last year, because of a discussion on here, I called Celebrity and asked about emotional support dogs and they said they had to allow them on board. Hopefully, that has changed since then.

My cat calms me maybe I should get her classed as a service animal.

That is what I was thinking, my cat calms my PTSD, after about 4-5 days on a cruise I really miss her :(

I would ever do that as real service dogs perform a invaluable service to their owners, I get anxious but can live without her for a week, a blind person really can't do much without the service dog.

I am allergic to dogs and cats so I try to stay away from all animals.I thought I was safe on cruise ships!! I do love animals but hate it when people take there animals everywhere and think everybody is going to love there pet.For someone to say it is a service animal when it clearly is not is horrible!!!:mad:

 

Then there are the scum (sorry if you don't like the word) who get their doctor to write a note that little "nutty" is needed for emotional or other support. They want to be with their pet.

 

Unfortunately there is no waY for celebrity to tell the difference...and if they press, there are some laws that get in the wAy.

I doubt that foreign flagged ships (i.e. Celebrity) have to adhere to the US' ADA laws, but assuming they do they CAN ask 1) Is this a trained service animal? and 2) What tasks is the animal trained for? If little "nutty" is just there to keep someone calm, he is not a service animal; he's an emotional support animal and those are not covered under the ADA.

My guess is that it was an emotional support dog and not a true service dog. Last year, because of a discussion on here, I called Celebrity and asked about emotional support dogs and they said they had to allow them on board. Hopefully, that has changed since then.

I don't know of any law that requires them to accept emotional support animals, so I assume that when they say they have to allow them, it just means "we have to or someone will go to the media and/or a lawyer and say we discriminated and we'll get a lot of negative publicity and even though the person will have no legitimate basis for their complaint, we don't want the bad publicity."

There was a large service dog on our 22 March 2014 Eclipse sailing, very well behaved.

One day, when reboarding the ship, a ships porter was struggling with a large dolly loaded with plastic bags filled with bark mulch. When I asked him what it was for he explained it was 'bedding' for the Service Dog that was on board and they had an area set aside below the public decks for it.

Obviously Shi Tzus don't like going to the lower decks :rolleyes:

Cheers, h.

I was also on the 4/4 Equinox cruise and saw this dog a couple times. It was only through our roll call after returning home that I learned about all of these incidents. The dog also barked and disturbed the occupants in the cabin next to the dog owners, which generated complaints to guest services.

Also, the dog peed in someone's cabin who had opened up their cabin for a cabin crawl. :eek:

Also, hardly anyone ever saw the dog with the woman, for whom the dog was supposedly emotionally supporting. Seemed like the dog was with the man the majority of the time per the reports from others on our roll call

Also, a lady from our roll call stepped in the doggy's "doo" in the casino since the man who owned the dog refused to clean up its mess and walked off. So the lady went to Guest Relations. They offered to clean her shoe. She refused, stating that she was going to throw the shoes away.

Untrained, faux "service" dogs have no place on the high seas

I read a cruise review on the Princess board a few months back labeled the Dog cruise, or some such thing, a review of this woman's cruise where she discusses that approx 25 or 35 people brought 'emotional support dogs."

Was on this ship and saw the dog many times. It was not a service dog. It was an eccentric couple that felt they were more entitled than the rest of us.

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this is a true service dog.....:)

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=dog+on+disney+cruise&FORM=VIRE2#view=detail&mid=2DB88EB0C407BC0CF4062DB88EB0C407BC0CF406

For anyone with an interest in service dogs, there is a long, continuing thread about them on the Disabled Cruise Travel forum.

Here is a link:

Cruising With A Service Dog....everything You Ever Wanted To Know!

We were on the 4/4 sailing as well. We breed and show labradors. We sell them as service dogs, therapy dogs, show dogs, hunting dogs, and of course wonderful family pets and I can also say, the dog in question was not a service dog.

THIS is a service dog:

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/20/305131709/service-dog-guides-marathon-bombing-victims-through-a-grim-year

Happy Sailing,

Jenna

If someone wants some light reading they can start here for the regulations in the UK and Europe on assistance dogs and travel.

https://www.gov.uk/pet-travel-travelling-with-assistance-dogs

Service dogs are incredible animals...very well trained and they can make a significant quality of life improvement to those that are fortunate enough to have them....I have nothing but admiration for those folks and their dogs.

 

Then there are the scum (sorry if you don't like the word) who get their doctor to write a note that little "nutty" is needed for emotional or other support. They want to be with their pet.

 

Unfortunately there is no waY for celebrity to tell the difference...and if they press, there are some laws that get in the wAy. If you have scum on board, I guess you have to live with the untrained and the uncaring owners. It is unconciable for someone to walk a "service" dog on a ship and expect someone else to pick up the poop....that's real chutzpah!

 

I am a true animal lover, and obviously I have no sympathy for those that decide they are "special".

We had such a person on one of our recent cruises. The dog was carried or wheeled everywhere and the owner insisted that the dog sat on a chair at meal times even in the specialty restaurants. The use of service dogs is much wider in North America than in other areas of the world and the presence of this dog was the source of much controversy on board. However, the owner had a strong entitlement attitude. Her dog's "needs", it seems, overrode those of fellow passengers with allergies to dogs and had not expected to find one on a transatlantic cruise occupying chairs they may use. If a crew member argued their case with Guest Relations they were overruled.

We were on the 4/4 sailing as well. We breed and show labradors. We sell them as service dogs, therapy dogs, show dogs, hunting dogs, and of course wonderful family pets and I can also say, the dog in question was not a service dog.

 

THIS is a service dog:

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/20/305131709/service-dog-guides-marathon-bombing-victims-through-a-grim-year

 

Happy Sailing,

Jenna

Jenna,

This article made me so emotional. Rescue is a true gem! Thank you for sharing this.

Just curious, are you familiar with this organization, by any chance?

http://www.dogs4diabetics.com/about-us/

Dana

We had such a person on one of our recent cruises. The dog was carried or wheeled everywhere and the owner insisted that the dog sat on a chair at meal times even in the specialty restaurants. The use of service dogs is much wider in North America than in other areas of the world and the presence of this dog was the source of much controversy on board. However, the owner had a strong entitlement attitude. Her dog's "needs", it seems, overrode those of fellow passengers with allergies to dogs and had not expected to find one on a transatlantic cruise occupying chairs they may use. If a crew member argued their case with Guest Relations they were overruled.

Sue,

I think we actually had two such dogs in strollers on that cruise. Oh well.

“The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.”

― Andy Rooney

“The better I get to know men, the more I find myself loving dogs.”

― Charles de Gaulle

Happy Sailing,

Jenna