Owen's Mom

Hi everybody,

I posted a "hello" a while back (before I was teamed up with my service dog), but now my family is starting the initial planning stages for our first cruise with a SD. Owen and I have been teamed up since December, so we will have been together about 8 months by the time we cruise.

I wanted to get input from experienced cruisers on (1) best cruise line options and (2) best ports to travel to with a SD.

Personally, I would be happy with staying on the ship the entire time, but I know with some countries you still have to worry about customs clearing your SD even if you won't be getting off the ship. I am also very nervous about the possibility of taking Owen off the ship with me in an unsafe country, and would not be doing so, even if my family did get off the ship.

However, my parents will be moving overseas this summer and it will be our last family vacation for a while (and the last time I see them until the holidays), so if it were safe to get off the ship with Owen and be with my family, I would like to do so.

That being said, what would your recommendations be for a relatively hassle-free cruise?

My family is very open to where we go; they want to leave out of Seattle, a California port, or Galveston but as to the cruise we do, they seem to be very open to different options right now. We are looking at traveling in July of this year.

Any ideas/suggestions?

I'm sure I'll have loads of questions about the actual cruise once we get closer, but for right now we just want to get something booked!

I want to thank everybody who has contributed to this forum over the last five years (especially Roz who started it!). I am going to be receiving my service dog in a short 10 weeks - yikes! - and one of the first things I looked up when I first applied to my program a year ago was whether people cruised with their service dogs. My family enjoys cruising, though I've only been on one cruise post-disability - and all the others I have been on were as a child. The one cruise I've been on recently I spent the majority of in the dark cabin with a severe migraine; a comorbid condition of my disability. I can't wait to experience cruising with a service dog and actually get to experience the cruise! :D

I have so enjoyed reading all of your stories and getting a glimpse into each of your lives; you have made me more confident and more anxious to meet my new "hero". I am finally close enough I can start buying dog things and I am communicating with my apartment and university about my future with a service dog. I can't wait to meet my new hero and begin this new chapter of my life; without fear for my safety and with the confidence to do all the things I want to. (I think my spoiled cat might disagree though, he's in for a rude awakening come September...)

I also have to mention that I am very excited to see so many CCI dogs here! I am not getting a CCI dog - my dog is going to be a cross-trained mobility assist/psychiatric service dog - but, my family were puppy raisers once upon a time when we lived in Texas. Unfortunately neither of our two dogs passed; one was released after advanced training as he was too "distractable" (and he was) and the other stayed for many rounds of team training camps before they finally released him because he never found a match (both have found great forever homes though with their adoptive families). I always wanted to be a puppy raiser when I "grew up", little did I know then that I would be receiving my own service dog!

I have been hinting to my family that a "celebration" cruise when I graduate next summer from grad school would be a nice family trip, and I can't wait to take my new "hero" on the cruise ship with me. And reading each of your experiences makes me feel more confident that I can make this happen! Here's a picture of the dog they are training for me; I can't help but share. :) His name is Owen and he is a (huge!) English Labrador.

Thank you for taking the time to share your lives; reading about your experiences with your heroes only makes me more excited to start my life with mine!