Dog on Summit to Hawaii 1/29/06

[MBMiner]

We've been very curious how a passenger managed to have a pet dog on the recent Summit cruise to Hawaii. This was no seeing eye dog. It was a tiny dog of only a few pounds. The lady was walking the dog on Deck 11 on sea days and we also saw her with the dog in port. I always have understood all animals were prohibited on cruise ships except for seeing eye dogs. Any ideas?

Bruce

[KamloopsCruisers]

Service dogs do not only serve those with blindness. Many dog, including small ones, are trained to detect seizures or other hidden disabilities.

 

I'm confident that Celebrity personnel would not permit a pet onboard, and that this dog, was in fact, trained to assist his/her owner.

[tuggers]

Could have been a dog to detect seizures or other health problems. They can be tiny or big. Lots of different types of service and medical dogs out there these days and all are allowed on ships through the Americans w/Disabilities Act.

 

I personally, would love to sail with a dog on board. Might kind of help with my separation anxiety!:D

[Leela]

This guy I know has a service dog who can detect seziures 15-30 minutes before they actually happen. The dog goes everywhere with him, and he's allowed to drive because if the dog detects a seziure coming on he knows to get off the road.

[excitedofharpenden]

I also read on the boards a little while ago that some pets are introduced as a way of combatting stress and depression too. It's great. There seem to be an infinite variety of ways that animals can help in all sorts of situations. I have also heard that having a pet can increase your life expectancy and stroking a cat for example is very good therapy.

 

Get ahead. Get a pet!:)

 

Phil

[dkjretired]

This guy I know has a service dog who can detect seziures 15-30 minutes before they actually happen. The dog goes everywhere with him, and he's allowed to drive because if the dog detects a seziure coming on he knows to get off the road.

 

Worked in a Supermarket part time and a woman used to come in with a huge, beautiful service bird. It was there to help her with some type of neck problem. Had papers and everything.

 

Speaking of pets, new program by Cunard.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=299853

[GramaFran]

My nephew has a service dog to pick up things up off of the floor as he can not bend down, he also retrives items like phone when it rings for him. So if he took a cruise his service dog would join him, The dog flies with him in the cabin at his feet and this is a large dog.

[critterchick]

There are also dogs who are "hearing ear" dogs, often little pups.

[palolake]

We wondered the same thing so we asked her. She said it was a service dog. She said her husband was going deaf and the dog would alert him if there was an alarm. We wondered how the dog would be able to alert him since she was dragging the dog around the ship all day. By the way, it was a pomerainian that was losing it's hair!

[joramrose]

I have a bad knee that does not bend, so I always get the bulkhead seats in an airplane (cannot afford first class!)

 

Those seats literally are going to the dogs -- because anyone with a service dog ends up there up too. So I have shared lots of stories with hteir humans. Once about the only service dogs we saw were seeing eye dogs, and mostly they were big. Today we see service dogs in all sizes and in many breeds..

 

These dogs are beautifully behaved, absolutely no problem to anyone except their care giver and much better companions to fellow passengers than most humans.

 

Hey, give me a dog on board anytime complared to some people I have encountered.

[wvufan]

As long as the little doggie doesn't bring Paris with her, it's fine with me;)

 

Seriously, I recently retired from a career working with people with disabilities, and appreciate the role that service animals play. I am in favor of anything that helps such folks live life as fully as they choose as long as it does not significantly infringe on others.

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[tuggers]

Just a thought. Anxiety is a 'medically diagnosed' disease and can be so severe as to render a person totally immobile.

 

What this country needs is a good education system so that the rank and file are familiar with disabilities, both mental and physical. People who have never been around mental illness do not realize the ramifications. It is up to those of us who do know about these things to try and educate others.

 

Then we wouldn't have to have these threads.

[joramrose]

I cruised with a lovely lady and her service dog on a B2B to Alaska aboard Summit.

 

I never did ask her why she had the dog (I can be pretty blunt, but it really was not any of my business)-- and she never told me. But she did tell me all she had to go through for Celebrity to approve the dog on board, and the care she had to give the dog aboard. Some cruise lilnes had tuorned her down.

 

The dog was a sweeties. Everyoine who caqme by stopped to pet him and comment on how well behaved he was.

 

love

joan

[Ericknow32]

I have no problem with service animals as long as they are treated as service animals. As many of you have said these are not pets and they should not be treated as such. That goes for spectators and for the owners. Also, these dogs/animals should not be dressed/treated as an accessory. Put the little jacket and hat away, it has no business on a service animal. When service animals are treated like service animals there is no problem. When service animals are treated as pets there is a problem. This is the reason why their is so much confusion over service animals.

 

I am sure most people with service animals due the right thing but the ones that don't make it hard on the ones that do.

[Moeve]

It would be interesting to know how the cruiselines check the validity of such cases..... as it to lends itself to misuse just like those Handicap Cabins. I think it is this that causes a bit of aprehensiveness with some of our fellow cruises

[excitedofharpenden]

Yes, Bob has stated it very well for me too. I thought the idea of a service dog was to improve the quality of life for an individual and enable them to lead as normal a life as possible. Why shouldn't this include going on a cruise?

 

Then again, the other Bob (newhips) may be right and Titan is just stirring the pot for a laugh.:rolleyes:

 

Also, these dogs/animals should not be dressed/treated as an accessory. Put the little jacket and hat away, it has no business on a service animal.

 

No Eric. I disagree. What about formal nights, the Captains cocktail party and the like? We don't want the "me, me, me" attitude spreading to animals too!;);)

 

Phil

[tuggers]

Eric,

 

Oh, PUHLEEEEZE!

 

Moeve,

 

Authentic service animals have CREDENTIALS!!

 

I have never seen a group of people so preoccupied with taking away the independence some people have fought so hard to attain! Please, use your good legs, ears, eyes and mental/emotional health and move on to another subject. Let the disabled lead the best life they can in peace.

[fleckle]

I used to teach at a downtown college in the heart of a metropolitan area. We ran classes days, nights, and weekends because we had a diverse, nontraditional student body comprised of people of all ages. Many were working adults who were supporting families. A good number of our students used service dogs of one kind or another. We probably had more students with disabilities than you would find at a typical residential college campus because many of them lived in outlying communities and could not drive, so they depended upon public transportation to get themselves and their service dogs to and from school and work in the downtown area.

 

In all the years I worked there, with the dozens of service dogs that attended my classes as well as those that I encountered elsewhere throughout the college and out in public, I cannot recall a single instance of one of them ever causing a problem of any kind for anyone. That is certainly more than I can say for the students, staff, faculty or administrators.;)

 

The dogs were always well behaved, and a joy to have around. They were amazing animals who went everywhere with their owners (to classes, offices, laboratories, theater performances, the cafeteria, the library, museums, sports events, club meetings, neighborhood restaurants, and on field trips).

 

I can't imagine why anyone would object to having these animals along on a cruise. They never hog chairs at the pool. They never push all the elevator buttons, screech into walkie-talkies, run around wildly, play music too loudly, or smoke in non-smoking areas.

 

They never whine or complain about the food or service. They don't get drunk, get into arguments, cut in line, monopolize conversations, or behave rudely to crew members or other passengers. They won't even lose your money in the casino or run up a big tab on your sea pass card. In fact, I would greatly prefer their company on a cruise to that of a few of the children we have met, and to several of the adult passengers as well.

[tuggers]

fleckle,

 

Well said!

[hugosmom]

It would be interesting to know how the cruiselines check the validity of such cases..... as it to lends itself to misuse just like those Handicap Cabins. I think it is this that causes a bit of aprehensiveness with some of our fellow cruises

 

I can tell you first hand - my husband's Seeing Eye dog, Hugo, is pictured above - and yes, Phil, he did "dress" for formal night! He wasn't happy about it, because he doesn't usually wear anything but his harness and leash. But just for that one night...

 

Anyway - there are forms to fill out that have to be approved in advance; we had to send copies of the information that shows that he's trained and necessary for my husband. We also had to make arrangements for his "relief area" (interestingly there was another dog guide aboard but they had two separate areas). The other issue when bringing a dog is that whatever port you visit, you have to insure that the dog will be allowed in that country, and also that it will be allowed OUT OF that country. Fortunately, we've never visited any country except Canada from a cruise ship, so it hasn't been a problems, but it is an issue for some folks.

 

We were on Mercury last fall - it was our second cruise with a dog guide. I can't tell you how much it adds to my husband's enjoyment to be able to just go where he wants without needing my assistance. Hugo quickly learned even which way to turn to get to our cabin from any of the elevators - don't ask me how!

[clopaw]

My husband's guide dog also wears a bowtie on formal night...he is a stickler for the rules.

 

Most of our cruising has been in the Caribbean. There are, of course, different rules for each island. Hero was denied entry to both St Kitts and Barbados. We actually got kind of a threatening response from Barbados about dire consequences if the dog got off the ship. In those cases, we chose to leave Hero with the purser's office. They always seem thrilled to have him, and he enjoys all the attention. This relates back to the concern of islands about bringing rabies in. With the use of microchips, it is possible to prove that your animal has been tested and is safe. That has opened up places that previously were not accessible without quarantine, including Hawaii where we will be in a few weeks.

 

I think back to our cruises before Hero, and I am so thankful Paul has him. On one of those cruises, I got very seasick the first night, and couldn't get out of bed the next day. Paul was stuck in an inside cabin with me until I could get up and around. Now the two of them could take off and enjoy the day.

 

As Hugosmom said, the cruiseline doesn't just let people bring animals on a whim. You have to provide documentation. Anxiety can be very disabling. I have had some problems with anxiety myself, although fortunately not to the level that some people suffer. Just having Hero along has helped me to go from having to take Xanax to get on an airplane into some one who doesn't mind flying.

[joramrose]

Beautiful stories, Cloopaw and HugosMom.

 

Hope there are many happy cruises in your future with your animal friends.

 

love

joan

[tuggers]

Amen to that, JoAn!:D

[Moeve]

Thanks for all jumping down my throat just for asking how it was done!!!!!! oh yes credentials they can be bought und falsfied just like the dr. notes too!!!

 

If there is a good screaning process in place why not - however please don't forget that while we are making it at better for one group (those who are helped by service aninmals) there is unfortunately also another side of the story - there are also people out there who have absolute phobias concerning animals and very often they have good reasons for that. I know what you are going to say "but they are trained....." well no trainer in the world can garantee nothing is ever going to happen even with a trained animal.

 

The problem I see is that the cruise line won't tell you if the cabin next to you is occupied by such an animal and what happens if you (someone with a terrible dog phobia comes onboard) and discovers you have a dog living next to you.....corridors are too narrow to get out of the way, balconies are not completely closed off to neighbouring cabins. That can cause for a pretty uncomfortable situation - wouldn't you agree?

 

What move cabins? - well most ships sail full in Balcony cabins and higher nowdays so that is not going to be an option....

 

How do we solve it - well atleast the cruise line should inform the cabins directly next door and give those passengers the possiblity of moving, cancelling or changing ship at no additional cost even after the cancellation period or have a set of clearly marked cabins that can be occupied by service animals so that other guests who are really afraid can avoid choosing cabins in close proximity.

 

Now if you think that is taking away your "priviliges" - then you have missed the point and are just as self centered as you have accused one of the above posters of being.

[madelinerose]

ok,ok....it was that dreaded white screen that got the best of me. ;)

 

Maybe we need a service poster.....(just kidding)