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

[rangeley]

Happy and healthy new year everyone!!

 

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[Algebralovr]

Happy Thursday, everyone. My area of south-central Missouri is still in a deep freeze. We've not seen anything above freezing temperature of water for over a week now. At least it got up to the high teens today. Scooter still prances outside, even in negative temps.

 

The week at the vet, followed by a week of sleeping on the couch while I fought the flu was hard on training. Scooter did great the first two days back to the office, then today he wanted to pull and visit with everyone. Sigh. I keep reminding myself that if he was a program dog, he probably would still be with the trainers, working on proofing. He turned 2 just before Christmas. Of course, that is no different than the students. Two weeks of no routine means everyone breaks. I'll just have him back in shape when I go on the next cruise, for two weeks. I'm still not sure about taking him, so I'm planning to leave my son here house-sitting and Scooter-sitting. I'm sure we'll have plenty of training to do again once we return. He'll likely also be glad to get back to a routine, since son spends a lot of time on campus studying and won't be taking Scooter with him. Poor puppy will be stuck in the house a lot.

 

Roz - how is the week at work going with the SD issue and being told to leave him out of the public spaces? Any updates? I can't believe they would expect you to leave him while you use the restroom and warm up your lunch. That is so much in violation of the ADA! Any updates to share?

 

Hope the rest of you are well.

[wizard-of-roz]

Happy Thursday, everyone. My area of south-central Missouri is still in a deep freeze. We've not seen anything above freezing temperature of water for over a week now. At least it got up to the high teens today. Scooter still prances outside, even in negative temps.

 

The week at the vet, followed by a week of sleeping on the couch while I fought the flu was hard on training. Scooter did great the first two days back to the office, then today he wanted to pull and visit with everyone. Sigh. I keep reminding myself that if he was a program dog, he probably would still be with the trainers, working on proofing. He turned 2 just before Christmas. Of course, that is no different than the students. Two weeks of no routine means everyone breaks. I'll just have him back in shape when I go on the next cruise, for two weeks. I'm still not sure about taking him, so I'm planning to leave my son here house-sitting and Scooter-sitting. I'm sure we'll have plenty of training to do again once we return. He'll likely also be glad to get back to a routine, since son spends a lot of time on campus studying and won't be taking Scooter with him. Poor puppy will be stuck in the house a lot.

 

Roz - how is the week at work going with the SD issue and being told to leave him out of the public spaces? Any updates? I can't believe they would expect you to leave him while you use the restroom and warm up your lunch. That is so much in violation of the ADA! Any updates to share?

 

Hope the rest of you are well.

 

Barb, I hope your life hasn't been turned too upside down with your weather.....not a great start to 2018.

I've learned over the years that our dogs are more resilient and pliable than we think. If you're there, if they have water and food....life is good. They'll adapt to anything and be okay.

Thanks for asking, I am so uncomfortable at my new workplace.....even though I know I have rights and can go wherever "they" go with my Horton it just feels so wrong and, although I've been with the company for more than 20 years, I feel out of place and disjointed. I have a huge health issue that has been nagging at me for the past several months, maybe it's time to get it taken care of.

I'm a firm believer in doing the very best I can do and NEVER give up but it may be time for the "white flag!" Just to save my self respect and moral fortitude!

[S.S. Cruisers]

Hugs Roz and Horty, I get it. Sometimes even if we are right and "win" we don't really "win". If you can, I would just get your health issue taken care of and play it by ear, after that. :hearteyes::*

[rangeley]

Take care of your health issue Roz, and tell work to screw!

Its a balmy 6 degrees with well below zero wind chill. We got 17" of snow. ☹️ 14 more days and we're out of here!! Poor Wex is having his usual cold weather paw issue. Hes fine and all of a sudden a paw voes up in the air and he can barely walk. A few seconds later hes running around. What a wuss! Yesterday is was 2 paws up. I dont even know how he could walk. Im guessing he might be happy to get to Florida.

I dont remember it ever being this cold for this long. Its been rough.

 

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[rangeley]

Sorry doesnt work. Wont let me delete.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TTfm5Of1bjiZYF572

 

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[rpclmc]

Take care of your health issue Roz, and tell work to screw!

Its a balmy 6 degrees with well below zero wind chill. We got 17" of snow. ☹️ 14 more days and we're out of here!! Poor Wex is having his usual cold weather paw issue. Hes fine and all of a sudden a paw voes up in the air and he can barely walk. A few seconds later hes running around. What a wuss! Yesterday is was 2 paws up. I dont even know how he could walk. Im guessing he might be happy to get to Florida.

I dont remember it ever being this cold for this long. Its been rough.

 

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It was 29 in my part of Florida this morning, 1 hour north of Tampa. But it is supposed to be back to normal on Monday.

 

Could Wes be getting ice melt on his paws? The ice melt is really painful to them.

 

Linda and Halo

[rpclmc]

Roz, please take care of yourself. Sounds like it is stressful and that can make health issues worse. Being happy is so much more important than being right, the principle of things and bad health. Everyone here understands that.

 

Linda and Halo

[rangeley]

It was 29 in my part of Florida this morning, 1 hour north of Tampa. But it is supposed to be back to normal on Monday.

 

Could Wes be getting ice melt on his paws? The ice melt is really painful to them.

 

Linda and Halo

I guess its cold everywhere. Its suppose to warm up to 30s this week.

Its not ice melt. We are very careful about that. Its just cold paws i guess. If he has to walk in the snow for more than than a minute he does it. He's so delicate. Lol

 

Cindy

 

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[wizard-of-roz]

Roz, please take care of yourself. Sounds like it is stressful and that can make health issues worse. Being happy is so much more important than being right, the principle of things and bad health. Everyone here understands that.

 

Linda and Halo

 

Linda, wise, wise words. Thank you ♥

[wizard-of-roz]

Take care of your health issue Roz, and tell work to screw!

Its a balmy 6 degrees with well below zero wind chill. We got 17" of snow. ☹️ 14 more days and we're out of here!! Poor Wex is having his usual cold weather paw issue. Hes fine and all of a sudden a paw voes up in the air and he can barely walk. A few seconds later hes running around. What a wuss! Yesterday is was 2 paws up. I dont even know how he could walk. Im guessing he might be happy to get to Florida.

I dont remember it ever being this cold for this long. Its been rough.

 

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Take care Cindy, you are in count-down......one of the best part of cruising!

[wizard-of-roz]

Hugs Roz and Horty, I get it. Sometimes even if we are right and "win" we don't really "win". If you can, I would just get your health issue taken care of and play it by ear, after that. :hearteyes::*

 

Thank you Nancy. You have always been a wonderful source of great advice ♥

[Caribbean Chris]

Please let me know. I'll have to check out the Aphis we site.

Mexico is the only place I've ever had to bring the dog down for inspection, which they barely glanced at him. I think k Roz stated the same.

 

Hi, Cindy. We took the standard APHIS form and also the form my vet copied & pasted onto his letterhead, then filled out and signed, per Mexico’s instructions (required text shown on the APHIS site now as Option B.) I did not need to have either of those endorsed by the state APHIS office.

 

I had to take the dog down before the ship cleared in Cozumel to have her inspected by a nice woman, one of the Mexico officials. She looked at the papers, looked in Raylene’s ears and examined her two front paws. She gave me a copy of the ship’s clearance document (stating one dog) to carry ashore in case I needed it.

[Caribbean Chris]

Hi All, we’re back from a short Celebrity cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. We picked a great week to be gone since it was so cold even in Florida. All went well, except for weather. The ship skipped Key West and it poured rain after we got off in Cozumel. (We didn’t do the paperwork for Cayman on purpose, and we’ve been there several times, so stayed on board. The ship had to anchor away from Georgetown to tender as often happens due to high waves at the port there.)

 

Enjoyed being back on Celebrity Reflection and saw some crew we met previously. It’s my favorite of their ships. We even booked the same cabin from two years ago.

 

I didn’t care about the bad weather since we like being on board and just enjoying relaxing on the ship. And it wasn’t really BAD, cold weather. But I was sorry for other people who wanted more sunshine and hot weather.

 

They placed the garden-mulch-filled box in the usual forward starboard crew area. Box was a little small, definitely not 4’ square, but she managed to fit diagonally! The next day, it was impossible to get to it since All the starboard side doors to the deck were locked or couldn’t open against the wind. A nice crew member came along, helped us get to the box, and suggested he could move the mix to the port side. That location worked out fine.

[Algebralovr]

Hi All, we’re back from a short Celebrity cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. We picked a great week to be gone since it was so cold even in Florida. All went well, except for weather. The ship skipped Key West and it poured rain after we got off in Cozumel. (We didn’t do the paperwork for Cayman on purpose, and we’ve been there several times, so stayed on board. The ship had to anchor away from Georgetown to tender as often happens due to high waves at the port there.)

 

Enjoyed being back on Celebrity Reflection and saw some crew we met previously. It’s my favorite of their ships. We even booked the same cabin from two years ago.

 

I didn’t care about the bad weather since we like being on board and just enjoying relaxing on the ship. And it wasn’t really BAD, cold weather. But I was sorry for other people who wanted more sunshine and hot weather.

 

They placed the garden-mulch-filled box in the usual forward starboard crew area. Box was a little small, definitely not 4’ square, but she managed to fit diagonally! The next day, it was impossible to get to it since All the starboard side doors to the deck were locked or couldn’t open against the wind. A nice crew member came along, helped us get to the box, and suggested he could move the mix to the port side. That location worked out fine.

 

 

Glad Reflection went well for you! We will be on Silhouette in under 6 weeks. Doing western then eastern as B2B. Never been to Key West, so hope we get to.

 

Where is the forward area with the box? What deck? I'm trying to picture. We've done Reflection 3 times, Silhouette 4, Eclipse 2, Solstice 1 and Equinox 2, so we like the S class ships.

 

I'm probably leaving Scooter with son in Feb, but not positive. We are on the way to the airport and fly to San Diego right now. We'll see how he flies this time.

 

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[wizard-of-roz]

Hi, Cindy. We took the standard APHIS form and also the form my vet copied & pasted onto his letterhead, then filled out and signed, per Mexico’s instructions (required text shown on the APHIS site now as Option B.) I did not need to have either of those endorsed by the state APHIS office.

 

I had to take the dog down before the ship cleared in Cozumel to have her inspected by a nice woman, one of the Mexico officials. She looked at the papers, looked in Raylene’s ears and examined her two front paws. She gave me a copy of the ship’s clearance document (stating one dog) to carry ashore in case I needed it.

 

Ears tell it all......If they're red, have dirt in them or smell they can ask that your dog NOT go off the ship. It's a good idea to keep your dogs ears clean!!!!! ;)

[wizard-of-roz]

Hi All, we’re back from a short Celebrity cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale. We picked a great week to be gone since it was so cold even in Florida. All went well, except for weather. The ship skipped Key West and it poured rain after we got off in Cozumel. (We didn’t do the paperwork for Cayman on purpose, and we’ve been there several times, so stayed on board. The ship had to anchor away from Georgetown to tender as often happens due to high waves at the port there.)

 

Enjoyed being back on Celebrity Reflection and saw some crew we met previously. It’s my favorite of their ships. We even booked the same cabin from two years ago.

 

I didn’t care about the bad weather since we like being on board and just enjoying relaxing on the ship. And it wasn’t really BAD, cold weather. But I was sorry for other people who wanted more sunshine and hot weather.

 

They placed the garden-mulch-filled box in the usual forward starboard crew area. Box was a little small, definitely not 4’ square, but she managed to fit diagonally! The next day, it was impossible to get to it since All the starboard side doors to the deck were locked or couldn’t open against the wind. A nice crew member came along, helped us get to the box, and suggested he could move the mix to the port side. That location worked out fine.

 

The box should NEVER be placed in an area where the guest or the dog is exposed to the elements or the chance of the door being blocked or locked!!! Every ship has a stairwell.......it's an enclosed area that does NOT interfere with anything or anyone else onboard. And, there's one on every deck!

You're such a positive person, I'm sure you turned the potty box into a good experience for all concerned! ♥

[wizard-of-roz]

Glad Reflection went well for you! We will be on Silhouette in under 6 weeks. Doing western then eastern as B2B. Never been to Key West, so hope we get to.

 

Where is the forward area with the box? What deck? I'm trying to picture. We've done Reflection 3 times, Silhouette 4, Eclipse 2, Solstice 1 and Equinox 2, so we like the S class ships.

 

I'm probably leaving Scooter with son in Feb, but not positive. We are on the way to the airport and fly to San Diego right now. We'll see how he flies this time.

 

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I hope Scooter flies well and that you take him on that long awaited and earned cruise.

I like Celebrity and had a wonderful experience cruising with them. I haven't tried them with Horton yet.

Again, if you have a cabin with a veranda convince them to place the box on it. Although, I have to tell you guys, my daughter was not crazy about having the box on the veranda......she said she thought that it took away from the "veranda experience" and, we had an extended balcony. She really wouldn't have liked it on a "regular" balcony. I don't mind it at all and quite frankly prefer it to be there than anywhere else. it's so convenient to open the door, let Horton step out and go potty. Either there or a stairwell, on my deck.

[DUTRAVEL]

I had to take the dog down before the ship cleared in Cozumel to have her inspected by a nice woman, one of the Mexico officials. She looked at the papers, looked in Raylene’s ears and examined her two front paws. She gave me a copy of the ship’s clearance document (stating one dog) to carry ashore in case I needed it.

 

Isn't it funny how inconsistent they are? Mexico was the one place that did not want to inspect Henri - Guatemala and Costa Rica inspected her and Columbia wanted a fee to inspect her if we were taking her off the ship.

 

Dianne

[DUTRAVEL]

They placed the garden-mulch-filled box in the usual forward starboard crew area. Box was a little small, definitely not 4’ square, but she managed to fit diagonally! The next day, it was impossible to get to it since All the starboard side doors to the deck were locked or couldn’t open against the wind. A nice crew member came along, helped us get to the box, and suggested he could move the mix to the port side. That location worked out fine.

 

I had a long chat with someone at Celebrity corporate regarding the inaccessibility of the relief box (on our last cruise it was also deck 5 Starboard - which was inaccessible all day because it was blocked off for embarkation). I have had good luck with getting the relief box moved after speaking to the hotel director after we have boarded the ship. I asked if it was possible to get the location settled before boarding (so that I didn't have to spend most of the first day dealing with the issue) and the best he could come up with is that he would put it on his calendar to e-mail the hotel director to let him know that I wanted to meet with him once we boarded.

 

Dianne

[DUTRAVEL]

I'm probably leaving Scooter with son in Feb, but not positive. We are on the way to the airport and fly to San Diego right now. We'll see how he flies this time.

 

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Good luck with you flight.

 

On the "S" class ships - as you are facing the theatre, go out the automatic doors to the right and then the box will be located to your left forward in the crew area.

 

Dianne

[DUTRAVEL]

Again, if you have a cabin with a veranda convince them to place the box on it. Although, I have to tell you guys, my daughter was not crazy about having the box on the veranda......she said she thought that it took away from the "veranda experience" and, we had an extended balcony. She really wouldn't have liked it on a "regular" balcony. I don't mind it at all and quite frankly prefer it to be there than anywhere else. it's so convenient to open the door, let Horton step out and go potty. Either there or a stairwell, on my deck.

 

I prefer the balcony too Roz. So much more convenient, especially first thing in the morning. If they would not let me have the box on the balcony, then I would probably start parading around the ship in my jammies!!

 

Dianne

[MDTrip]

They placed the garden-mulch-filled box in the usual forward starboard crew area. Box was a little small, definitely not 4’ square, but she managed to fit diagonally! The next day, it was impossible to get to it since All the starboard side doors to the deck were locked or couldn’t open against the wind. A nice crew member came along, helped us get to the box, and suggested he could move the mix to the port side. That location worked out fine.

 

We have had Celebrity block the doors with a "closed due to high winds" ribbon, but they have never locked it. We just always went under the ribbon or took it down and had a crew member or some strong fellas open the door for my friend and her seeing eye dog. (The wind made it hard to open.) Once the deck was blocked due to embarkation and again we got a crew member to let us through.

 

One time they had a box way to small for the 75 pound Labrador. It was the size for a 25 pound dog! I told the crew member the urine would go on the floor, and the crew continued to insist it was fine. At that moment, Gary, the dog, lifted his leg on the box, and though his aim was fine, it went on the floor. Immediately the staff sent someone ashore to Home Depot to buy more wood to build a bigger box before we set sail. Celebrity has always been good to work with, once you find the right crew member.

[wizard-of-roz]

They placed the garden-mulch-filled box in the usual forward starboard crew area. Box was a little small, definitely not 4’ square, but she managed to fit diagonally! The next day, it was impossible to get to it since All the starboard side doors to the deck were locked or couldn’t open against the wind. A nice crew member came along, helped us get to the box, and suggested he could move the mix to the port side. That location worked out fine.

 

We have had Celebrity block the doors with a "closed due to high winds" ribbon, but they have never locked it. We just always went under the ribbon or took it down and had a crew member or some strong fellas open the door for my friend and her seeing eye dog. (The wind made it hard to open.) Once the deck was blocked due to embarkation and again we got a crew member to let us through.

 

One time they had a box way to small for the 75 pound Labrador. It was the size for a 25 pound dog! I told the crew member the urine would go on the floor, and the crew continued to insist it was fine. At that moment, Gary, the dog, lifted his leg on the box, and though his aim was fine, it went on the floor. Immediately the staff sent someone ashore to Home Depot to buy more wood to build a bigger box before we set sail. Celebrity has always been good to work with, once you find the right crew member.

 

Every ship has a wood-working dept. This is where they repair furniture, cabinets, drawers, etc. Sometimes they go through such nonsense to perform the simplest of tasks!

[wizard-of-roz]

I prefer the balcony too Roz. So much more convenient, especially first thing in the morning. If they would not let me have the box on the balcony, then I would probably start parading around the ship in my jammies!!

 

Dianne

 

Dianne, on one cruise I looked like "Sasquatch", early in the morning; with rollers in my hair, p.j.'s, slippers and no bra. I had to take an elevator to another deck where the box was placed. The poor folks who had to run into me at 7:00am. We had a Suite, with a huge veranda and you know I insisted that the box be moved there once I was introduced to the Hotel Manager. Again, they try to tell me about the health laws that prevent them from doing this.......THERE IS NO SUCH LAW! Always insist and they will listen!