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

[wizard-of-roz]

50 minutes ago, DUTRAVEL said:

Our Hawaiian Cruise on April 20th just got canceled today. We are disappointed because it was an unusual itinerary and we had lots of perks. However, we were going to cancel anyway, but are glad that Celebrity canceled first because we get the choice between a refund or future cruise credit. Unfortunately, if we book another Hawaiian Cruise my service dog will need a new titer test. My husband said he would serve me unlimited drinks to make up for the drink package. 

Awww!  I'm so sorry.  That's a wonderful cruise experience.  And, I love the drink packages and your husband's promise to treat you so special.  We too, had a drink package, WiFi, and gratuities.  It was the perfect cruising package.  

 

You know the Titer's are good for a few years.  Check with your Vet.  Maybe, because of the inconvenience Hawaii will accept the Titer you already have.  There has to be some concessions made, and I'm sure the cruise lines will color our business with all sorts of offers.

 

None of what has happened has scared me away from cruising in the future.  I hope that my old bones can take lots more cruising.  And, I pray that my Horty will be able to enjoy them with me.

[Caribbean Chris]

9 hours ago, rangeley said:

Glad Raylene got to have some fun! Poor Oak has no friends around here. 

 

Please stay safe! They said all the New Yorkers are heading down to Florida and the Carolinas to get away from NY but not knowing if they're infected. 😮

I know, and yet our governor won’t close things down as aggressively as some other states did, as he’s leaning toward the “resume soon” theory because of course the economy us tanking. He has decreed that arrivals from NY & NJ must self-quarantine, but that won’t happen.  And here we sit with a very large elderly population and an outbreak that has a much higher mortality rate for seniors. 

 

it’s good to have our dogs in the house to keep things feeling somewhat normal, isn’t it? 

[Caribbean Chris]

9 hours ago, wizard-of-roz said:

If you're referring to the 35 rolls of TP that I ordered from Amazon on March 10th.....I was emailed last night that the product has been "discontinued"........what a pile of moron's.  I gave them a horrible review.  I don't blame Amazon but they should be more careful about the companies who sell through them!!!!

Oh, no! Bad news, auntie Roz. I read that all TP sold in US stores is made in North America, so the factories will keep re-supplying. Bob went to Costco near our house Monday and they were handing them to customers, limiting to one big package each cart to stop the hoarders/resellers from emptying the supply so fast.

[Caribbean Chris]

9 hours ago, rangeley said:

Oh no!!!! John has a pill that has to be taken with vitamin c. Little did I know everyone on earth is buying it up to boost their immune system. And of course we are all out. We even called our pharmacy and they have none. I finally scoffed up 2 bottles on a GNC website. Bought 2 bottles and shipping, $29.00. Ugh  Had no choice but to buy it. Went back on Amazon and preordered 2 bottles for 6 bucks a piece. Will be here some time before the end of April. The GNC one Friday.

That’s terrible that it disappears, when people like John need it. I read that Lupus patients can’t get their drug, the one for malaria which Trump keeps talking about at the press conferences, because people snapped it up the minute he mentioned it. You can actually see the “oh no!” looks on the faces of the doctors standing behind him, who try to explain it’s only being given in clinical trials, no proof yet that it’s going to be some magic bullet.

[Caribbean Chris]

7 hours ago, DUTRAVEL said:

Our Hawaiian Cruise on April 20th just got canceled today. We are disappointed because it was an unusual itinerary and we had lots of perks. However, we were going to cancel anyway, but are glad that Celebrity canceled first because we get the choice between a refund or future cruise credit. Unfortunately, if we book another Hawaiian Cruise my service dog will need a new titer test. My husband said he would serve me unlimited drinks to make up for the drink package. 

Darn, so sorry to hear, but it was inevitable, and I’m glad you’ll get that refund option. So much for getting one more use out of the pricey titer.  Go, Peter! Tell him you want little umbrellas and orchids in your drinks.

 

i was really looking forward to the good mai tais in Hawaii, but at least we can use the titer for two more years.

[rangeley]

10 hours ago, DUTRAVEL said:

Our Hawaiian Cruise on April 20th just got canceled today. We are disappointed because it was an unusual itinerary and we had lots of perks. However, we were going to cancel anyway, but are glad that Celebrity canceled first because we get the choice between a refund or future cruise credit. Unfortunately, if we book another Hawaiian Cruise my service dog will need a new titer test. My husband said he would serve me unlimited drinks to make up for the drink package. 

Sorry to hear. That stinks. Ugh, you did all that testing and paperwork for the dog and you can't go. How disappointing. 

[rangeley]

3 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

I know, and yet our governor won’t close things down as aggressively as some other states did, as he’s leaning toward the “resume soon” theory because of course the economy us tanking. He has decreed that arrivals from NY & NJ must self-quarantine, but that won’t happen.  And here we sit with a very large elderly population and an outbreak that has a much higher mortality rate for seniors. 

 

it’s good to have our dogs in the house to keep things feeling somewhat normal, isn’t it? 

Resume soon isn't going to happen. He's listening to the president. I know these governors don't want to shut down the state but it's the only way to stop this. Even doing that people in NY are all out and about. I guess they have the "I'm not going to get it" attitude. Or are just stupid. 

 

We are so glad to have the dog. He keeps us entertained all day. 

 

3 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Oh, no! Bad news, auntie Roz. I read that all TP sold in US stores is made in North America, so the factories will keep re-supplying. Bob went to Costco near our house Monday and they were handing them to customers, limiting to one big package each cart to stop the hoarders/resellers from emptying the supply so fast.

I have ordered groceries. They will be here next Wednesday. I did order some tp. I wonder if I will get it or will it be out of stock. In fact wondering how much of the stuff I ordered will actually be delivered. 

[Algebralovr]

Hi everyone.  We are just keeping watch at the moment.  I still can't believe all the crazy things people are doing.  

The supply chain is starting to catch up in some places.  The biggest issue will be if they need to stop production due to COVID-19, at least for a couple of weeks.  

Meanwhile,  don't forget about the CCI Puppy Cam!  They look so sweet in their puppy pile snoozing away!

 

If you are on Facebook, look for a business called The Pooches Palace in Missouri.  They posted some great photos yesterday.  Some of them included Scooter.  We took him to go play for the day, since things at home are currently "wrong" in his world.  Dad isn't leaving to go to work, and I'm not going daily errands.  I just didn't have enough for him to do to stimulate his brain.  I'll work on beefing up his training again after this passes.  Since he is actually owned by me, not gotten through an Org, I can make that kind of decision.  🙂  

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for the reminder about the puppy cam.

[wizard-of-roz]

5 hours ago, rangeley said:

Resume soon isn't going to happen. He's listening to the president. I know these governors don't want to shut down the state but it's the only way to stop this. Even doing that people in NY are all out and about. I guess they have the "I'm not going to get it" attitude. Or are just stupid. 

 

We are so glad to have the dog. He keeps us entertained all day. 

 

I have ordered groceries. They will be here next Wednesday. I did order some tp. I wonder if I will get it or will it be out of stock. In fact wondering how much of the stuff I ordered will actually be delivered. 

Don't be surprised if they tell you that there is no toilet paper and it was removed from your order.

 

I went to Target this AM [during the one hour time slot on Wednesday's for seniors/handicapped and pregnant women only] and they were handing out TP, Paper Towels and Clorox wipes.  By the time I got to the front of the line all the TP was gone......W H A T!!!!!!!  And, there wasn't any tissue of any kind to be had anywhere. 

 

When this is all over I'm buying a supply of toilet paper and I'll never worry about such nonsense again! 

[wizard-of-roz]

9 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Oh, no! Bad news, auntie Roz. I read that all TP sold in US stores is made in North America, so the factories will keep re-supplying. Bob went to Costco near our house Monday and they were handing them to customers, limiting to one big package each cart to stop the hoarders/resellers from emptying the supply so fast.

Same thing at Target.

 

 

[wizard-of-roz]

Out of the 100 people that I saw out and about this morning, 90 of them were wearing masks and about half of them were wearing gloves.  One lady was wearing gardening gloves and couldn't manipulate her purse, credit card and the shopping cart, sh kept dropping everything.....if it weren't so sad, it would have been funny!  😂

 

 

[wizard-of-roz]

Have a safe distance weekend everyone.

 

When this is over I promise to come over and hug you so tightly it will hurt!!!!!!!  ☺️

[lindaler]

Well, I have been waiting for this to stop so I could write a review about our cruise with a service dog on the Rotterdam. We were the last normal cruise and left the ship March 11, 2020. We spent 32 days on a back to back through the Panama Canal. 

 

Many things happened in regard to having a dog with us. Chavela is my service dog for my PTSD and had already done an Alaska cruise and all went well except the box was at the other end of the ship on the Amsterdam.  That is why I booked a room at the end of the Main floor very near the back of the ship. On the hidden deck is where they put the relief area. 

 

When we arrived on Feb. 8th. I was told that there had been a service dog on the previous trip. We located the relief area exactly where we expected it. There was sod but it looked like it hadn't been watered since it was put in 14 days before. Chavela didn't mind. 

[lindaler]

However a few hours later we were surprised to find the relief area with just artificial turf.  This wasn't too bad but there was no holes in the astro turf and as you can imagine within the first day of them washing down the deck and her using it the water was sitting on top.  And there was nothing underneath the turf. 

[lindaler]

I met with guest services and told them they needed to put something absorbent under the turf and to poke holes in the turf so that she wasn't standing in her own pee.  When we returned they had put towels under the turf and had poked holes in the turf.  But then the turf disappeared and just the towels were there before new turf returned hours later but no new towels. 

[lindaler]

When we reached Fort Lauderdale we had another service dog on board and there was sod and two side by side boxes. 

[lindaler]

As the cruise progressed Melany from Guest services helped with each port that needed to see the dogs. One required $20 whether we got off or not and the next one required $10 if we got off. The inspecters were a little rough. One seemed to keep pushing on Chavela's head like he was trying to see if she was aggressive but she just looked at me as if to say, what is this guy doing.  We had been told that we couldn't get off in Curacaos but Melany had sent all the forms to all the ports and she said, that if there was proof that Chavela had parasite medicine she could get off. I showed her the report again, pointing out the meds, also the receipt for the test and the sale of the meds and that I had brought enough on board to give her some at the right times. I had kept the paper that came in the boxes and she sent those off and it did the trick. We were allowed off. She walked with us through the get off and get on in case there was problems but they didn't even look at any of her paperwork in Fort Lauderdale.  

[lindaler]

The majority of the people were very nice, only a few asked me what was wrong with me. Some asked how hard it was to get her on board and I explained the steps I had taken, how much training she had and talked about what was expected of them. When we would meet up with the other lady with a service dog they were perfect. They would look at each other and then go back to sleep or just sit and watch their person.  However there was one black spot on the trip. If you look at the picture below of the deck the relief area was on you can see the stairs. There was two workers who were replacing the wood step part. They had grinders that shot sparks off about five feet, it was noisy and they had chairs all over the deck that made it hard to get through. Several times the noise was too much for me and distracted the dog from doing her duty as she was worried about me.  I asked them to hold on for just two minutes when we came out as that was all she needed. Being nice didn't help. The next day they were still working on the stairs but had some kind of air guns. When I came out on the deck they stopped and just as Chavela was squatting down to pee they let roll with about four loud blasts of their air gun. It sounded like bullets and sent me into a full blown attack, I admit I even peed myself and screamed and couldn't stop. My granddaughter was with me and I was crying so bad. I changed my clothes and went up and told Melany what had happened. She went down and spoke to them and they were laughing so hard, they thought it was funny to scare the old lady and her dog. At least they weren't working on the stairs for the rest of the cruise, another couple of guys finished them while we were in a port without any loud equipment. It was such a triggering, disrespectful way for crew to act that I am still upset by it.  Every other crew member was very kind and helpful and willing to help anyway.   

[lindaler]

Other then the stair workers, we had a very nice time. Dinning was great, shore excursions were wonderful. Shore excursions checked with the tours to make sure there was no problems and we had a good time.  I did bring booties and used them several times when the sand or sidewalks were too hot. We got lots of laughs but I figure if I can't stand on the ground due to the heat then its time to break out the booties. They worked well and she knew they were there for a reason and didn't fight them. I admit it was scary to go down to inspections at 6:30 in the morning but Melany was there and helped to explain what they wanted and she took the money and handed to them as they wouldn't take it from our hands.  Over all it was a fun trip with my son and granddaughter and my service dog. A lot of thanks goes out to you guys who have helped me know what to expect and bring and plan for. Chavela had her own suitcase with some turf rolled up, 34 days of food, blankets since she gets cold and likes to sit on a blanket under the tables and her treats. Thanks for your help. She now has 50 days under her belt as a cruiser. 

[wizard-of-roz]

3 hours ago, lindaler said:

However a few hours later we were surprised to find the relief area with just artificial turf.  This wasn't too bad but there was no holes in the astro turf and as you can imagine within the first day of them washing down the deck and her using it the water was sitting on top.  And there was nothing underneath the turf. 

Oh!  No!  Worthless isn't it!  I would have gone to Guest Services and asked for a bag of wood shavings and a sharp knife [to poke holes in the turf.]

 

Horton would have never stepped on it if it was wet.  He doesn't like wet paws!

 

What did you do?

[wizard-of-roz]

3 hours ago, lindaler said:

Other then the stair workers, we had a very nice time. Dinning was great, shore excursions were wonderful. Shore excursions checked with the tours to make sure there was no problems and we had a good time.  I did bring booties and used them several times when the sand or sidewalks were too hot. We got lots of laughs but I figure if I can't stand on the ground due to the heat then its time to break out the booties. They worked well and she knew they were there for a reason and didn't fight them. I admit it was scary to go down to inspections at 6:30 in the morning but Melany was there and helped to explain what they wanted and she took the money and handed to them as they wouldn't take it from our hands.  Over all it was a fun trip with my son and granddaughter and my service dog. A lot of thanks goes out to you guys who have helped me know what to expect and bring and plan for. Chavela had her own suitcase with some turf rolled up, 34 days of food, blankets since she gets cold and likes to sit on a blanket under the tables and her treats. Thanks for your help. She now has 50 days under her belt as a cruiser. 

Good job.....I'm very proud of how you handled every situation and made Chavela feel good about her cruising experience!

Edited March 30, 2020 by wizard-of-roz

[wizard-of-roz]

3 hours ago, lindaler said:

The majority of the people were very nice, only a few asked me what was wrong with me. Some asked how hard it was to get her on board and I explained the steps I had taken, how much training she had and talked about what was expected of them. When we would meet up with the other lady with a service dog they were perfect. They would look at each other and then go back to sleep or just sit and watch their person.  However there was one black spot on the trip. If you look at the picture below of the deck the relief area was on you can see the stairs. There was two workers who were replacing the wood step part. They had grinders that shot sparks off about five feet, it was noisy and they had chairs all over the deck that made it hard to get through. Several times the noise was too much for me and distracted the dog from doing her duty as she was worried about me.  I asked them to hold on for just two minutes when we came out as that was all she needed. Being nice didn't help. The next day they were still working on the stairs but had some kind of air guns. When I came out on the deck they stopped and just as Chavela was squatting down to pee they let roll with about four loud blasts of their air gun. It sounded like bullets and sent me into a full blown attack, I admit I even peed myself and screamed and couldn't stop. My granddaughter was with me and I was crying so bad. I changed my clothes and went up and told Melany what had happened. She went down and spoke to them and they were laughing so hard, they thought it was funny to scare the old lady and her dog. At least they weren't working on the stairs for the rest of the cruise, another couple of guys finished them while we were in a port without any loud equipment. It was such a triggering, disrespectful way for crew to act that I am still upset by it.  Every other crew member was very kind and helpful and willing to help anyway.   

 

Oh!  My Gosh!  I'm so sorry that you had such a negative experience.  The crew members who acted in this terribly rude manner should have been told that when you come out with the dog they are to STOP what they're doing and leave the area, only returning when you leave.

 

If you have a chance and are up to it please write a letter to management and let them know what had occurred.  You should have been given some sort of credit on your shipboard folio for this horrible experience.

 

 

[wizard-of-roz]

3 hours ago, lindaler said:

As the cruise progressed Melany from Guest services helped with each port that needed to see the dogs. One required $20 whether we got off or not and the next one required $10 if we got off. The inspecters were a little rough. One seemed to keep pushing on Chavela's head like he was trying to see if she was aggressive but she just looked at me as if to say, what is this guy doing.  We had been told that we couldn't get off in Curacaos but Melany had sent all the forms to all the ports and she said, that if there was proof that Chavela had parasite medicine she could get off. I showed her the report again, pointing out the meds, also the receipt for the test and the sale of the meds and that I had brought enough on board to give her some at the right times. I had kept the paper that came in the boxes and she sent those off and it did the trick. We were allowed off. She walked with us through the get off and get on in case there was problems but they didn't even look at any of her paperwork in Fort Lauderdale.  

It sounds like Melany was a great help for you.

 

FYI:  This is for EVERYONE to know.  If a Customs Agent, TSA Agent, Immigration Official or any other ship or country official seems to be handling your dog a little too roughly......You have the right to ask them to please be more gentle and request that they DO NOT PUSH YOUR DOG IN AN AGGRESSIVE MANNER!  It's a good idea to request this prior to them examining your dog.  Remind them that your dog is highly trained and does NOT require a "heavy hand!"

[wizard-of-roz]

3 hours ago, lindaler said:

When we reached Fort Lauderdale we had another service dog on board and there was sod and two side by side boxes. 

I would have placed my artificial turf over this disgusting looking grass......And, I would request that they NOT wash it down in the morning.  HAL does this and it's so annoying and unnecessary.  Every time we'd go out in the morning, the deck was wet and slippery and I was always afraid of sliding off my feet and Brenda's paws were always wet.

 

I had a long talk with the Purser's desk and asked that if they're washing off the deck to please skip washing off the dry, dead grass, that it made walking very unsafe!!!!  After the first morning meeting with Guest Services [Purser's Desk], they finally stopped with the water and wet deck.