Dogs on board ships?

[ober134]

Its a tough call. Would Carnival risk negative PR calling out a service dog vs. a support animal? I'm pretty sure those certificates can be purchased on-line, just like a marriage officiant. Also, why would Carnival risk an animal bite or a passenger who has allergies? Whatever the case, no animal should be permitted to freely roam around or be sitting at a bar.

[waytoodeep03]

I asked my wife does she have a picture but it was an Australian Shepherd 100%. 

 

Looked exactly like this guy. Tail docked and different colored eyes too

 

[sgttami]

The only time I ever saw a dog on a ship was on RCL a long time ago.

 

Petey was clearly a service dog (German Shepherd) and was with a blind college student (Debbie) who was cruising solo. 

 

They were at the table next to us in the MDR and had many conversations with Debbie during the cruise.

 

Learned a lot about Guiding Eyes for the Blind on that trip.

[waytoodeep03]

1 hour ago, MJSailors said:

@waytoodeep03 I be a few questions from reading your post.

Did you notice the dog’s owner anywhere nearby ?

Did you speak to someone at Guest Services or an officer to notify them about the dog being off leash?

If you didn’t mention the dog to someone in authority,why not?

I am very uncomfortable about any dog being off leash whether it is by itself or walking with its’ owner. 

If I saw such a situation on a ship, I would notify someone in authority and,most likely,I would take a photo with my phone of the dog.

MJ🙋🏻

 

Yes I actually spoke with the owner. He said "Its California we love dogs"  He was a nice guy but still couldnt figure out how he managed to get that dog onboard and then have the dog roam around off leash. 

 

Dog did stay near him and came when called.

[Ilovesailaway]

Could I have my "service dog" grab me a longer on the lido before the crowds show up?

Or save me a place in the pizza line at night?

[mz-s]

10 minutes ago, Ilovesailaway said:

Could I have my "service dog" grab me a longer on the lido before the crowds show up?

Or save me a place in the pizza line at night?

 

Surely you can come up with a better nickname for your spouse than that!

[deliver42]

There is no way that dog and owner should have been allowed to board.

[Guest BasicSailor]

I've noticed a few in the past even a little nippy thing in the elevator, yap, yap, yap. All the way to Lido. She said he was an emotional support dog.🙄

[Cruisefanatic71]

We cruised in 2019 with our service dog which is my daughter's service dog. We had another dog on board which was a service dog but when our dog saw their dog you could tell who was trained and who wasn't trained. The other dog began to bark at our service dog and our dog just looked away as he should have. Many people asked about him and we were always open about what he does for our daughter. People would always ask his name and we won't tell them so they wouldn't try to call him if they saw him on the ship because while we were out of our cabin he was working and when we were in our cabin he was as we call "semi off duty". He is always working to help our daughter with the tasks he has been trained to do. I just find it amazing that so many people want to claim fake service dogs for their benefit but they just don't get it why it's harmful to those that have legitimate service dogs. 

[CruiseHealing]

We have 39 cruises under our belt and I have seen 1 dog.  We were on the Carnival Dream in September 2012.  I was wandering around the jewelry store and this lady was carrying a chihuahua in her large bag.  A cute little dog. I told my wife and she walked over to to see if I had gone crazy. She came back and said “yup it’s a chihuahua and do you know who lady is?”  I said no clue. It’s the entertainer Charo.  The next day Charo actually sat next to my wife at the Lido deck pool.  My wife asked about the dog and she told her that she is responsible to take to dog out and clean up after to her.  Both Charo and the dog were very nice.

 

[Jayfo]

A guy on the MG last week had an old dog in a stroller in the casino. 

i need one of those casino alert dogs to let me know when to collect my chips and call it quits 🤣

[crazyank]

12 hours ago, mz-s said:

Outside of that though unless someone has received training to detect what is or isn't a service dog and is in charge of approving or denying guests requests, I don't see why it's any of your business.

why is it anyone's business?  very simple, sanitation and safety, we sat next to a woman in the MDR who held her so called "service animal" on her lap and fed him from her plate, the dog repeatedly put it's front feet on the table.  Same dog also snapped at people on several occasions that we witnessed including a small child. That kind of behavior is completely unacceptable anywhere.

 

[1kaper]

16 hours ago, Island Dog said:

I would rather have well behaved dogs onboard over a lot of the unruly children (and adults for that matter) that I have witnessed!

 

As long as I can pet them.  
 

[Elaine5715]

5 hours ago, crazyank said:

why is it anyone's business?  very simple, sanitation and safety, we sat next to a woman in the MDR who held her so called "service animal" on her lap and fed him from her plate, the dog repeatedly put it's front feet on the table.  Same dog also snapped at people on several occasions that we witnessed including a small child. That kind of behavior is completely unacceptable anywhere.

 

Like the man who was attacked on a Delta flight, pinned against the window by a "service dog" sitting in the middle seat.  

[ledges1]

I saw a dog once on the Elation back in 2011. The dog was part of the entertainer's act.

[ADreamIsAWish]

16 hours ago, ober134 said:

Its a tough call. Would Carnival risk negative PR calling out a service dog vs. a support animal? I'm pretty sure those certificates can be purchased on-line, just like a marriage officiant. Also, why would Carnival risk an animal bite or a passenger who has allergies? Whatever the case, no animal should be permitted to freely roam around or be sitting at a bar.

 

Those certificates are 100% scams and are unfortunately perpetuated by people who think they need to purchase a certificate to shove in people's faces to "prove" their dog is a trained service animal. Thus, making it more difficult for actual service dog owners who are harassed as to why their service animal does not have a "certificate". 😔

[mz-s]

7 hours ago, crazyank said:

why is it anyone's business?  very simple, sanitation and safety, we sat next to a woman in the MDR who held her so called "service animal" on her lap and fed him from her plate, the dog repeatedly put it's front feet on the table.  Same dog also snapped at people on several occasions that we witnessed including a small child. That kind of behavior is completely unacceptable anywhere.

 

My point is people asking questions like "well why isn't your dog near your husband, what if he goes into a diabetic coma right now" are none of your business.

 

A disobedient or dangerous "service dog" needs to be brought to the attention of the ship crew ASAP. And Carnival needs to do some investigation as to why that dog was allowed onboard. I am not disputing that. I am disputing why guests need to get involved in the issue beyond reporting it to crew.

 

YES there are ways for Carnival to weed out the illegitimate "service dogs" and allow legitimate working dogs. Carnival just has to care about the issue. And the way we make them care is to bring it to their attention.

[jsglow]

On 8/30/2022 at 7:55 AM, Angua said:

On one of the first Journeys cruises on the Dream there was a couple with a shih tzu they claimed was a diabetic service dog for the husband. We first met them in the boarding line and trying to be friendly, i asked how the dog recognized and alerted to that condition.  They were very vague and tried to get the staff to boost them up the line to get away from us.

The dog was in a stroller and had a different outfit every day and was ALWAYS with the wife.  We rarely saw the husband.  One day I asked where her husband was and she said he was sleeping.  I asked if it wasn't important for him to have his service dog while sleeping to make sure he didn't go into a diabetic coma.  

 

She actively avoided me for the rest of the cruise.  

If I was her husband I'd avoid her too!

[Angua]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

My point is people asking questions like "well why isn't your dog near your husband, what if he goes into a diabetic coma right now" are none of your business.

 

A disobedient or dangerous "service dog" needs to be brought to the attention of the ship crew ASAP. And Carnival needs to do some investigation as to why that dog was allowed onboard. I am not disputing that. I am disputing why guests need to get involved in the issue beyond reporting it to crew.

 

YES there are ways for Carnival to weed out the illegitimate "service dogs" and allow legitimate working dogs. Carnival just has to care about the issue. And the way we make them care is to bring it to their attention.

 

 

My point was that it was obvious the dog was not a service dog for the husband if it was never with the husband.  You may think it's not my business but people like that need to know they aren't as clever as they think they are and other passengers know they are circumventing the system.

I only asked a question and she declined to answer.  I didn't take any other steps to address it with the ship staff.  

 

On that same cruise was another obviously-not- a- service dog, on that cruise that had diarrhea right in the middle of the promenade on the way to dinner.  Untrained dogs do not belong on a cruise ship and people who sidestep the rules make it more difficult for people who do really need trained service animals.  If you can't bear to be apart from your pet, don't go on a cruise.  There are land vacations you can take that include your pet.

I say this as a pet lover, currently with a dog and a cat. 

[Angua]

3 minutes ago, Enryon said:

I am concerned with the number of people that feel that they are the arbiters of what is and isn’t a legitimate service animal. If you see a service animal in public it is really none of anybodies business as to the reason that animal is there. Medical conditions are deeply personal. Some people with service animals are happy to answer questions. Some people with service animals do not want to share their medical history with strangers and will probably get away from you as quickly as possible. 
 

We are qualified to determine if a service animal is warranted for a patient (or can refer to peers if the need is outside our scope of practice) and we would only make that determination in a clinical setting. Snap judgements in an airport, cruise ship, grocery store, restaurant, or anywhere that is not a clinical setting is inappropriate since it is impossible to have all the necessary information. 
 

Try putting the person first. If you see somebody with a service animal and want to talk to them. Make sure the conversation is about getting to know them and not their animal or medical condition. 

 

I don't think anyone really has a quarrel with people who need service animals for whatever reason it is, but that the animals that are being brought on board are NOT appropriately trained service dogs.

The Shih tsu in my example wasn't a problem since it was in a stroller all the time and was in truth a cutie pie, but the large untrained dogs that bark, poop, pee, and even nip at people do not belong on ships.  I know trained service dogs are incredibly expensive, but if you need one they need to be properly trained to interact in the real world.

When people bring obviously dogs that are obviously not service dogs into a situation and describe them as a service dog, that will lead people to draw conclusions about the real need of the animal, and question the seriousness of the condition.  They aren't doing anyone any favors by claiming something that isn't true about their pet/service animal.  

I love my dog but i would never claim he was a service animal because he isn't trained to serve in that capacity.