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

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='Algebralovr']We've done 5 on Celebrity. No SD, but I can answer most general questions. My DD spent the most recent on in a WC and she was thrilled with how they handled her requests.

What questions do you have?[/QUOTE]

Thanks! Glad you had good experiences with them.

I asked about special dining food needs over on the Celebrity board and everyone said they do it well, so that is good to hear, as both myself and another family member have special food needs and restrictions, leading to very limited menus of what we can eat.

I also asked about the type of lighting in the staterooms (specifically on the Summit), but haven't gotten a response to that question yet. Do you know what kind of light bulbs they use (fluorescent, incandescent, halogen, LED) in the staterooms, including the bathrooms? Fluorescents are harmful to me, so I will have to make special arrangements/bring my own bulbs for the table lamps if that's what they use.

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='Rolls Royce Lover'][COLOR="Indigo"][B]I can remember how difficult it was to leave Brenda behind after Morey had passed away. My son took care of her when I cruised and although she couldn't walk far, it was still sad to leave her behind.[/B][/COLOR]

[COLOR="Indigo"][B]Morey, Brenda and I did the Celebrity Summit out of L.A to Mexico for 7 days. We liked the ship and the staff. It was the only time onboard a ship where a staff person was sent to our cabin to walk Brenda to the potty box. I remember that we liked the cruise and were treated very well. The potty box was placed on another deck, forward [really far from our cabin.] [/B][/COLOR]

[COLOR="Indigo"][B]Celebrity had a full room service breakfast [something that Morey and I both liked!] And, something that Princess does not offer. [/B][/COLOR]

[COLOR="Indigo"][B]Our HC Cabin was huge, with a veranda. I'd cruise onboard Celebrity again.[/B][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Glad you enjoyed the Summit, as that's the ship we're looking at going on!

I will have to think about who to let care of my current service dog, since all those who I would normally think of for doing that would be on the cruise with us. We shall see!

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='fairbourne']Thanks Quam - that's great advice which I immediately undertook in the toilet .... only "two" other problems .... all "three" dogs trooped in after me! LOL! So two big dogs despatched to the kitchen and Aruba and me tried it. It took a few goes but we sort of managed it, but she has such long legs!

We took her to a local supermarket cafe for a quick snack yesterday and she went under the table and stayed there for most of the time but I had her blocked in with a spare chair - she did the occasional "head up" but when I tapped her lightly to go back down, she did. Yesterday I think all the idiots were in that supermarket, the number of people who tried to distract her was incredible and I had to leave as I was getting so cross! You know the sort of idiot who is a real smart "hmmm well I can't use the word here", who snaps his fingers and makes loud kissy type noises as he's passing her, or the woman who grabs her before I could say or do anything, or the lad who thinks he's being funny and whistles at her! Honestly, I do wonder if they left their brains at home, seeing as how it was Sunday!:rolleyes:[/QUOTE]

First, what a wonderful photo of her in her vest! I'm sure she'll get used to it soon enough. :) The other day, my trainer took a photo of my new girl in her in-training vest for the first time - so exciting! It looked good on her, too! :)

Too funny how ALL the dogs went into the bathroom with you!! That must have been quite the sight! :-D

Unfortunately, once the dog is partnered with its disabled person, the idiots who try to distract the dog don't stop. :mad: I've even had idiots bark at my service dog! Crazy people! This is why your training Aruba to ignore such things is so important. Sounds like you're doing a great job with her!

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='S.S. Cruisers'][COLOR=SeaGreen][SIZE=3]Quam: We did the 15 day Hawaii cruise on Celebrity. (quite a few years ago!) without service dog. Hands down our all time favorite cruise line. Every thing was fabulous. Food was awesome, wait staff was above and beyond. The one bartender would even go get fresh fruit from the buffet for our fruity drinks! He was tipped nicely for his service. I can't think of anything bad to say about Celebrity. :D[/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Ooh, a fifteen-day Hawaii cruise sounds wonderful!! We can't do that one (not everyone in the family can be away for that long and one person has flight-length restrictions), but maybe someday I will get to Hawaii. I think the only way I would want to do Hawaii is a cruise.

So glad you enjoyed Celebrity! I am feeling much better now that everyone had good experiences with them! And, mmm, fruity drinks from the bar ... yes, please! :D

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='DUTRAVEL']We have sailed Celebrity several times. Handicapped accessibility is very good (on the S class ships). No thresholds, automatic doors, huge rooms, ramps to the veranda. I have not cruised with a service dog (yet) so I can't answer anything about that. We have also had great wheelchair accessible excursions (in Europe). The special needs department responds quickly, but you do need to contact the shore excursion department well in advance.[/QUOTE]

Good to hear! :cool: I wish we could do a European cruise, but the man in the anniversary couple cannot fly for that long due to blood clots - too bad there are no round-trip transatlantic cruises/back-to-back cruises!

Do you have a service dog or are you on a waiting list to get one?

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='Caribbean Chris']Hi Quam - We've been on Celebrity three times (no service dog with us then) and had good experiences. (A five-day from Florida to the Caribbean, a transatlantic from Southampton on an S class ship, and a 15-day from San Diego to Hawaii.)

The food & service was exceptionally good on the Hawaii cruise, especially the variety & preparation of fish dishes in the main dining room.

We'll be going back on Celebrity in December, 9-day Caribbean, first cruise for Hearing Dog Raylene. I will be reporting back.

Some positives for us: (which may not matter to everyone; other lines may have some similar policies, of course.)
- a firm no-smoking policy, including on your veranda (only a place on deck allowing smokers to congregate).
- they have a lot of wine-related events for an extra charge which we enjoyed very much.
- the staterooms and bathrooms are quite roomy and nice on the largest, newer S class ships.
-there are a lot of veranda rooms at fairly reasonable prices versus some of the Holland America ships with fewer verandas.
-they frequently offer promotions (123Go, or Wave, or Pick Your Perk) whereby the cruise fare includes a classic beverage package - alcohol drinks or wine by the glass up to a certain dollar amount, also soft drinks, fresh juices, bottled water, and barista type coffees like lattes. Sometimes promo also includes a shipboard credit.
- they have a policy to reduce your cruise fare if they institute a price drop before your final payment date, which saved us about $500 if I recall correctly, and did not affect the promo.

(We like Holland America for other reasons - excellent room stewards, the wrap-around full promenade deck, and the lovely library-internet-coffee lounges, some with views of the sea. I miss those three things, but have to say the food and dining room/wine steward service has been better on our Celebrity trips in recent years.)

Happy to answer questions.[/QUOTE]

I am looking forward to hearing about Raylene's first cruise! (LOL, autocorrect corrected her name to "Ray Leno"! She must be a musical and comedic dog!)

Do you have to submit a form when you find a lower price or do they automatically reduce your fare? On Carnival, I booked with the Early Saver fare that meant if you found a lower fare for your room category, you could submit a form to get the price for your cabin lowered. It did save me some money when I got to submit forms twice on one cruise!

I will have to sign up for their e-mails to know about such promotions; thanks for the tip on looking for those!

I love no-smoking policies on cruises and in hotels. :D

[DUTRAVEL]

[quote name='Quampapetet']Good to hear! :cool: I wish we could do a European cruise, but the man in the anniversary couple cannot fly for that long due to blood clots - too bad there are no round-trip transatlantic cruises/back-to-back cruises!

Do you have a service dog or are you on a waiting list to get one?[/QUOTE]

No service dog for me yet. I am on CCI's waiting list. Hopefully I will get my dog in the next 12 months.

Dianne

[S.S. Cruisers]

[COLOR=SeaGreen][SIZE=3]Quam: Another thing Celebrity did was buy one get one free for alcohol for the day. Hubby is a beer drinker, they let him buy a case and get one free! :o Which really only equates to 3.2 beers a day. Then we didn't have to worry about his beer purchases, just the foo foo ones! Quite a savings. As I said, they were very accommodating for us. Maybe not so much now, with all the penny pinching, but if you don't ask, you definately won't get the "other" perks. :D[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[S.S. Cruisers]

[COLOR=SeaGreen][SIZE=3]By the way, we have been on other cruise lines that sell buckets of beer. Well, the bar we went to did not any buckets left, so they wouldn't sell hubby the beer at the bucket price. We waited and when we went back later that day, still not buckets. I went to another bar, bought the bucket and brought it back to the aft of the ship. Guess what? If the bucket needed to be re-filled, I went back to the bar that sold it to me and they got the extra tip. That was just laziness and maybe someone not liking their job so much. Few and far between that we have encountered that type of an attitude.

[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Algebralovr]

[quote name='Quampapetet']Thanks! Glad you had good experiences with them.

I asked about special dining food needs over on the Celebrity board and everyone said they do it well, so that is good to hear, as both myself and another family member have special food needs and restrictions, leading to very limited menus of what we can eat.

I also asked about the type of lighting in the staterooms (specifically on the Summit), but haven't gotten a response to that question yet. Do you know what kind of light bulbs they use (fluorescent, incandescent, halogen, LED) in the staterooms, including the bathrooms? Fluorescents are harmful to me, so I will have to make special arrangements/bring my own bulbs for the table lamps if that's what they use.[/QUOTE]

My DD is allergic to soy, rice, peanuts, tree nuts, melon, citrus, eggplant, and a couple more that don't come to mind. They did a good job, just remind them every time you place a food order. She was even able to eat the chocolate fondue dessert at the Tuscan Grill specialty restaurant. She just had to pre-order her meal.

I'm not sure about the kind of lighting used. I believe the newer S - class ships are a combo of LED and fluorescent bulbs. My suspicion is that the Summit, and the rest of the M - class are the same, but I'm not certain.

Did you ask specifically about lighting on the Celebrity board? I'm sure someone can answer or look on an upcoming cruise. You might also ask on a roll call for the Summit.

[wizard-of-roz]

[COLOR="Indigo"][B]Aruba, your pictures are so, so cute. I'm very proud of your accomplishments and receiving your "big girl" vest is quite an honor for you and for your Mum![/B][/COLOR]

[COLOR="Indigo"][B]Nothing and I mean nothing makes me crazier than the folks who whistle and make noises at Horton, purposely trying to distract him. Brainless wonders, that's what they are! I punish them with words and dirty looks. I promise you I don't let them get away with it! I call them OUT for their stupid behavior and give them a tongue lashing, which ALWAYS embarrasses them in front of others![/B][/COLOR]

[COLOR="Indigo"][B]I used to just walk away but no more.......They need to be stopped and taught how to behave around a Service Dog![/B][/COLOR]

[wizard-of-roz]

[COLOR="Indigo"][B]Trudy, I hope all is going well with you and your new baby.[/B][/COLOR]

[Caribbean Chris]

[quote name='Quampapetet']

Do you have to submit a form when you find a lower price or do they automatically reduce your fare? On Carnival, I booked with the Early Saver fare that meant if you found a lower fare for your room category, you could submit a form to get the price for your cabin lowered. It did save me some money when I got to submit forms twice on one cruise!

D[/QUOTE]

On Celebrity, no, they don't do it automatically. So I check their website every now and then, and if my category price has dropped (and if it still includes the Promo such as 123GO), my husband calls our travel agent. If it does not include the promo, I do the math, and decide if it is worth it to me to give up the free drinks package.

It's important to clarify if you'll give up anything by switching to a lower rate so you can make an informed decision. Sometimes a new rate drop or promo will specify "For new bookings only."

This time, there was a $100 per person drop. When we called, the agency had some sort of special price at that moment too, dropping an additional $150 pp, total $500 for our room. We had to go to a "guarantee" but within a few days, were reassigned to virtually the same stateroom nearby. We are quite happy we called.

I find that checking the Celebrity board on this forum gives very good info on the promos. Host Andy just posted info on a current one.

Enjoy!

[Algebralovr]

Another difference is that with Carnival 's early saver, you can still get the reduction after final payment. With Celebrity, reduction are only available through final payment. After final payment, nothing most times.

[wizard-of-roz]

[quote name='Algebralovr']Another difference is that with Carnival 's early saver, you can still get the reduction after final payment. With Celebrity, reduction are only available through final payment. After final payment, nothing most times.[/QUOTE]

[COLOR="Indigo"][B]I'm in a Mini-Suite onboard the Golden Princess on April 6th. Final payment is not until January. I called my TA yesterday and asked if there were any price drops and boy did he have a list for me!

He emailed me back and said there would be a $300 p/p drop; Pre-paid gratuities, and shipboard credit of $110.00. I'm doing the "happy dance!"

Always, always check on this with either the cruise line direct or with your TA. You never know when you're going to save money and get some surprises along the way! ;)[/B][/COLOR]

[Algebralovr]

[quote name='wizard-of-roz'][COLOR="Indigo"][B]I'm in a Mini-Suite onboard the Golden Princess on April 6th. Final payment is not until January. I called my TA yesterday and asked if there were any price drops and boy did he have a list for me!

He emailed me back and said there would be a $300 p/p drop; Pre-paid gratuities, and shipboard credit of $110.00. I'm doing the "happy dance!"

Always, always check on this with either the cruise line direct or with your TA. You never know when you're going to save money and get some surprises along the way! ;)[/B][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Congrats on the savings, Roz!
My February cruises have only gone up in price. Final payment is the first of December. I don't expect the price to drop before that. Once final payment passes, I'll check to see if we can upgrade, but I kind of doubt that will happen. One can always hope, though! We booked with Celebrity's 123GO, so we have the Celebrity beverage package. Love those chocolate martinis after dinner!

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='DUTRAVEL']No service dog for me yet. I am on CCI's waiting list. Hopefully I will get my dog in the next 12 months.

Dianne[/QUOTE]

I hope you get your dog soon! :D Twelve months is a long time to wait ... I only had about five months to wait between the breeding and actually getting my new puppy and I still overbought (especially toys), even with forcing myself to hold back until the puppies were born! ;) Yup, my pup is just as spoiled as my current dog and she doesn't even live here yet! I have to resist getting her anything else, but I will send something at Christmas, of course. :D

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='S.S. Cruisers'][COLOR=SeaGreen][SIZE=3]Quam: Another thing Celebrity did was buy one get one free for alcohol for the day. Hubby is a beer drinker, they let him buy a case and get one free! :o Which really only equates to 3.2 beers a day. Then we didn't have to worry about his beer purchases, just the foo foo ones! Quite a savings. As I said, they were very accommodating for us. Maybe not so much now, with all the penny pinching, but if you don't ask, you definately won't get the "other" perks. :D[/SIZE][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

Haha, nice! I don't like beer, but give me a Bahama Mama or Rum Runner any day! :D

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='Algebralovr']My DD is allergic to soy, rice, peanuts, tree nuts, melon, citrus, eggplant, and a couple more that don't come to mind. They did a good job, just remind them every time you place a food order. She was even able to eat the chocolate fondue dessert at the Tuscan Grill specialty restaurant. She just had to pre-order her meal.

I'm not sure about the kind of lighting used. I believe the newer S - class ships are a combo of LED and fluorescent bulbs. My suspicion is that the Summit, and the rest of the M - class are the same, but I'm not certain.

Did you ask specifically about lighting on the Celebrity board? I'm sure someone can answer or look on an upcoming cruise. You might also ask on a roll call for the Summit.[/QUOTE]

Sorry to hear about all your daughter's allergies! :( Glad the ship did a good job with her food, though.

I did ask about the lighting on the Celebrity board and nobody replied.

[Quampapetet]

[quote name='Caribbean Chris']On Celebrity, no, they don't do it automatically. So I check their website every now and then, and if my category price has dropped (and if it still includes the Promo such as 123GO), my husband calls our travel agent. If it does not include the promo, I do the math, and decide if it is worth it to me to give up the free drinks package.

It's important to clarify if you'll give up anything by switching to a lower rate so you can make an informed decision. Sometimes a new rate drop or promo will specify "For new bookings only."

This time, there was a $100 per person drop. When we called, the agency had some sort of special price at that moment too, dropping an additional $150 pp, total $500 for our room. We had to go to a "guarantee" but within a few days, were reassigned to virtually the same stateroom nearby. We are quite happy we called.

I find that checking the Celebrity board on this forum gives very good info on the promos. Host Andy just posted info on a current one.

Enjoy![/QUOTE]

Gotcha. On my old laptop, I had a program that monitored your cruise' rates every day - it was very helpful! I don't know if it still exists or if they now have a phone/tablet app for such a thing.

[alexspepa]

Hey Folks - Dean Koontz' dog Anna has written an advice book, and all proceeds go to CCI:

 

http://www.cci.org/site/c.cdKGIRNqEmG/b.9203145/k.16F2/Ask_Anna_and_Support_Canine_Companions.htm?msource=xhq14koontz

 

Anna was going to be a Service Dog herself but she had a little problem with birds, and the Koontz family adopted her, so of course she decided to become an author herself...

 

a good cause and I am sure a very funny book.

[wizard-of-roz]

Hey Folks - Dean Koontz' dog Anna has written an advice book, and all proceeds go to CCI:

 

http://www.cci.org/site/c.cdKGIRNqEmG/b.9203145/k.16F2/Ask_Anna_and_Support_Canine_Companions.htm?msource=xhq14koontz

 

Anna was going to be a Service Dog herself but she had a little problem with birds, and the Koontz family adopted her, so of course she decided to become an author herself...

 

a good cause and I am sure a very funny book.

 

Also, if you call at 9:00pm today-10/8- at: 760-901-4300 - You can get Anna's [Dean Koontz' autographed book "Ask Anna" for $25.00] - [All proceeds will benefit CCI-Have your credit card handy!]

 

Who doesn't need advice from a Golden Retriever?

Edited October 8, 2014 by wizard-of-roz

[Algebralovr]

Sorry to hear about all your daughter's allergies! :( Glad the ship did a good job with her food, though.

 

I did ask about the lighting on the Celebrity board and nobody replied.

 

I honestly never saw your question on the Celebrity forum, and I read it all the time.

 

You might email Host Andy directly. He has sailed the M - class ships quite a bit and might be able to answer, or at least look his next cruise. I would help, but all my cruises have been on S - class ships. If it helps, I can look when I'm on Reflection in February. That won't tell you anything about Summit though.

 

I do know one of the IT guys personally. I wonder if he would know?

[DUTRAVEL]

I hope you get your dog soon! :D Twelve months is a long time to wait ... I only had about five months to wait between the breeding and actually getting my new puppy and I still overbought (especially toys), even with forcing myself to hold back until the puppies were born! ;) Yup, my pup is just as spoiled as my current dog and she doesn't even live here yet! I have to resist getting her anything else, but I will send something at Christmas, of course. :D

 

Thanks - I hope its soon too!

 

Dianne

[wizard-of-roz]

I honestly never saw your question on the Celebrity forum, and I read it all the time.

 

You might email Host Andy directly. He has sailed the M - class ships quite a bit and might be able to answer, or at least look his next cruise. I would help, but all my cruises have been on S - class ships. If it helps, I can look when I'm on Reflection in February. That won't tell you anything about Summit though.

 

I do know one of the IT guys personally. I wonder if he would know?

 

Quam, I forgot about your question about the lighting onboard the Summit. I don't recall what kind of lighting it had.

 

My suggestion; call Celebrity Cruises: 800-235-3274.