Miki_moto

I’m curious...

In all my correspondence with Cunard regarding my service dog, their reply has been “Your reservation has been noted...”

yet my copies have no mention of a service dog.

Has anyone gotten their booking confirmation or other documentation with any mention of your service dog?  

I’ve printed off all my email correspondence but I can’t help thinking how muck easier it would be - for all involved - if my booking documentation was updated to say the dog and all documentation pertaining to him was received and up to date. 

Heck, I’d settle for just a note about the dog!

4 hours ago, Mary229 said:

But they do have choices.  The dog is an option and among the handicapped it is not really common of an option.  There are other choices.  .......  I am not denying their option I think the cruise lines need to police the option and the other passengers who request a distance from animals be notified.

I think everyone should recognize that Mary has a point.  I know many people who would qualify for a service due to their disability but choose not to have one.  The reasons for their decisions are as varied as the individuals and their disabilities.  And as Mary went on to say, she’s not denying our option to work along side a service dog.  Rather, that cruise lines do a better job at vetting to the extent possible.

When a so called service dog proves to be bogus - toileting inappropriately, excessive barking, or the owner insists on ignoring cruise line policy - feeding the dog at the table, etc. - the cruise line should exercise their right to have the dog removed at the first opportunity.  I’m aware Cunard required the removal of just such a dog on a transatlantic cruise; said dog embarked in Florida but was removed in NY.

FYI - a cruise line will tell you if there is a service dog onboard.  Just send an email to the special needs department and ask.  

6 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

On Cunard? Which cruise? 

Q918 - round trip from Vancouver on June 20th.

Sometimes the problem isn’t so much the dog but the handler.  The first service dog I saw on a cruise was on a Cunard transatlantic crossing.  I had lost my service dog several months earlier so I was interested in learning about this dog on the eight day crossing.

i saw the dog prior to boarding and again when I did my first tour of the ship.  I went over and chatted with the handler who immediately told me the dog’s name and told me she was friendly and I could pet her.  I would never ask to distract a working dog but he was most insistent that I pet his dog!

During the trip the dog acted quite well behaved, except for those times the handler was a jerk!  The topper was during a lunch we shared in the pub when the man ordered an extra plowman and proceeded to feed it to the dog.  Not that he was discreet about it - he was flinging the food up in the air!!!  The dog - understandably - was leaping about to get the food.

The chatter over this pair was rampant, full of speculation over why the man needed a service dog; he didn’t have a visible disability.   After one lecture a woman very bluntly asked why he had the dog.  The response of “she assists me with my medical condition” was vague and probably doesn’t meet the ADI requirement of a task so the woman said “Do you have fits?”   

In conversations with the man, I was told he had the dog professionally trained.  The dog may have been trained, but the owner clearly didn’t get the memo about service dog etiquette in public!  I would give the dog a “B+” but the man an “F”.

5 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I think (or hope) that most people can recognize a properly trained service dog by its behavior and attention to its owner, and will respond with tact and understanding. Some people may ask you what the dog does for you, but let's hope that's genuine interest in and admiration for the variety of tasks dogs can be trained to do, not a challenge to the legitimacy of the service performed.

 

I think we may be on the same Alaskan cruise!  I’ll be the one with the dog - also a power wheelchair but most people clock the dog first.  🙂

2 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

What I believe should happen is that non-profits should be able to "test" a dog that was owner trained (due to cost, or inability to get one from a non-profit for whatever reason), and then certify that dog for free, or for a charge to the government, and make certification universal.

My service dog was trained by an ADINA school in Canada.  I believe it’s possible for non-profits to test owner trained dogs but I’m not sure why they would want to.  They know the dogs in their programs - and release many of them as unsuitable.  They extensively train both dog and human handler and do yearly follow up testing.  In BC, Canada, my Guide Dog/Service Dog ID is only good for two year so the ADINA trainers add that test to our requirements.

Getting a ‘snap shot’ view of an owner trained dog in order to meet certification requirements couldn’t begin to give a full picture of how a dog reacts in complex social situations.  Why would an organization want to certify that dog/handler pair as well screened/trained/tested as one of their own?

Thanks to ADINA, my 1st service dog made six trips to England and current dog one - all in the business class cabin of British Airlines - and I’m looking forward to our Alaskan cruise in five weeks!  

But I admit to having a few misgivings about how we’ll be treated by our fellow passengers after reading some of the comments here and on other threads regarding service dogs cruising.  I can only hope we’ll be treated as fairly as we treat others.

Seven weeks to go for Nico’s first cruise!  Have fun, everyone.

Check if you need a tender at any ports - Sitka will be a tendered port for us in late June.  You will have to manage a gap of usually 18” or so but more importantly you will need to be responsible for getting the wheelchair or scooter on and off the tender.

8 hours ago, wizard-of-roz said:

Carnival uses a metal 4x4 box filled with bark [placed on your veranda]  - HAL uses a 4x3 wooden box filled with sod [usually on an outside deck, forward [Once they placed it on our veranda] -  Princess uses a cardboard-like 4x5 box filled with wood shavings [placed in a stairwell near my cabin [Once it was placed on my veranda.] - Celebeity uses a 4x4 wooden box filled with some sort of mulch [placed on a forward deck.]  - NCL uses a 4x4 wooden box filled with cyprus mulch [placed in a crew closet down the hall from our cabin.]  Oceana uses a 4x4 wooden box filled with mulch [placed on our veranda.]  Costa uses a 4x4 wooden box filled with mulch [placed on our veranda.]  I have not taken Disney or RCL with my Service Dog, maybe someone else can attest to their potty box care!

 

One day, this will be consistent.  The cruiselines will treat our canine partners as well as they treat us.  There will be a priority placed on the appropriate placement of the potty box, the filler and our dogs treatment in general.

 

To the cruise staff and officers who have treated me and my Service Dogs with the deserved respect and dignity, thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart.  You are the reason that I continue to cruise and enjoy my days at sea with my service partner.

I agree Roz, it would be nice to know what to expect ahead of time!  

I’ve decided to take a wait-and-see attitude.  If by some miracle the box is on my balcony (it’s their policy NOT to put it there according to the form letter they emailed me) AND there’s still room for us to sit out there, I’ll thank them kindly.  But if it gets stinky, I’ll have to get them to move it.  If I can’t get out on the balcony I’ll have to ask them to move the box.

If it’s close to our cabin but in an area I can’t manage, I’ll discuss options with the crew.  At that point I think it’s better off closer

inside then a long trek outside - or my DH thinks so and he’s the one who would be doing ‘potty patrol’ at that point!

Thanks for all your replies.  

44 minutes ago, DUTRAVEL said:

On our November cruise, the box was located mid-ship in a crew stairway area. This was the first time we have had it located inside (due to high winds on our Atlantic crossing - they were even tying down the furniture on the balconies and so we were unable to have it there).  The area had automatic door so there was no problem accessing the box by myself in a manual wheelchair.  We have also had the box located outside down a narrow corridor (the aptly named wind tunnel) with heavy manual doors and difficult thresholds. On those occasions, I was unable to access the box myself and insisted that it be moved. It might be a little easier with a power wheelchair since at least you would have one free hand, but it would still be difficult.

 

Dianne

I’m not willing to put myself out to make things easy for the cruise line so I’ll have to see where they put the box.  It isn’t as if Cunard doesn’t have decades of experience dealing with dogs onboard - at least on the Queen Mary 2!

The balcony would be a handy place for the box but if I can get something manageable near our stateroom I think that would be the best option.

2 hours ago, wizard-of-roz said:

There is no odor, even after a 21 day cruise.  Again, I place the green patio piece over the filler, I cut drainage holes in it and Horton is a 85 pound big body reliever kind of dog [if you know what I mean.]  The fake grass is great for Horton to walk on easily, no matter what filler they use.  The best way to keep the odor down is to pick up the solid waste immediately and place into a closed receptacle.   I also bring a deodorizing spray and squirt it a few times after each use.  You can place another kind of air deodorant in the area.  My favorite lavender/vanilla.  

 

The stairwell door is extremely heavy and has a lip to step up or down.  If you're in a chair it would be difficult to maneuver.   If you have someone with you to assist in helping with the opening and closing it would be better.  You can time your dog's potty usage to the time that the Stewards are making up the cabins, and get their help in opening and closing the heavy door.

 

 

I bag the solids when they are deposited.  The odor is from urine.  This guy has the stinkiest pee of any dog I’ve ever met!  We can’t toilet him near the house because of it.  This is the reason I’m happy not to have the box on the balcony.

I got a piece of the replacement fake grass made for dog potty stations.  He has no problem going on it and I plan to get a fresh piece to bring with us.  He doesn’t seem bothered about going on on any surfaces; he’ll go on anything.  

Maybe I’ll have to pass over the potty duty to someone else!  ;-)

Wow, thanks for the replies!

I’m noticing that the box/pool setup I’ve been using for training purposes is pretty stinky, even though it’s still outside and it’s dumped after every use and we keep changing the location!  I can’t help but wonder what it will be like after ten days.  

We encountered a service dog on one of our Transatlantic crossings.  I spoke to the handler about the box and he said it was placed in a stairwell close to his stateroom.  He was vague as to what fill was being used and I meant to check it out but never got to.

So I’m wondering if I can manage the door to the stairwell without help.  I’m guessing those doors can be pretty heavy.  Has anyone dealt with the space restrictions of a narrow corridor, a power wheelchair and a heavy door?  

A question about potty boxes - do they have some sort of bottom or something other than bark or chips to absorb the ‘liquid waste’?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

On 4/4/2019 at 9:43 PM, GUT2407 said:

My luggage has spinner wheels and can handle it fine in my power chair.

Off topic but I’m wondering if you somehow attach your luggage to your chair or if you pull it by hand.

Thanks in advance for your reply!

Thanks, 1980dory!

I believe the dock in Sitka is relatively new - which may account for some of the confusion - and there’s only room for one ship.

According to the port schedule, we’re supposed to anchor at Crescent Harbor so it’s a tender.

http://www.cruiseportinsider.com/sitkaonyourown.html

The majority of cruise ships arriving in Sitka will dock at the Old Sitka Cruise Terminal Dock at Halibut Point Marine, which is located about 5 miles north of the city proper. The terminal building features large restrooms, Alaskan gift shops, high speed WiFi, and an outdoor covered terrace for passengers to view activity in the adjacent boat yard. From the terminal, you'll take a free shuttle bus ride into downtown Sitka. 

On days when there's more than one ship in town, the second ship will lay anchor in Sitka's Crescent Harbor, and you'll take a ship's tender to one of two tender piers--either the Crescent Harbor Lightering facility (the most frequented), or the O'Connell Bridge Lightering facility.

Sitka and Icy Strait Point are listed as tendered on our dates by Cunard.  I’ve already cross checked the port schedules and the associated berth listings.  Sitka and Icy Strait are listed as anchor.

I’ve cruised on the three Cunard ships so I’m familiar with all their documentation regarding special assistance.  I’ve never considered attempting a tender, just for this reason.

My friends were so insistent that I thought I must have missed something.  I guess they are just misguided or (gasp) pushy!

Wow, Chris, thanks for all the information.  

The boxes do look a bit disappointing.  I had to laugh, though, since it looks much like the setup i’m using currently for our pre-cruise training with Nico!  I figured if he used it, anything better on the ship would be a bonus.  🙂

I’m using one plastic ‘raised bed’ from a pair I got from Costco - $89 Canadian at the warehouse.  We shift it to to different  places in the utility section of our yard so Nico knows it’s going in the ‘box’ that’s important, not the exact location.

At the suggestion of one his trainers, I’ve just added the kiddie pool that Nico refuses to use as a pool (!) to the box.  I’ll start shifting it towards the garage where, hopefully, Nico will pee in the pool in the box so that he knows it’s okay to pee inside.  That said, he had no problem going in the doggie relief area at SeaTac prior to our trip to England.  It will need cleaning out but better the pool than the garage floor!

1 hour ago, Schoifmom said:

We could probably provide a little better advice if we knew the cruise line that you will be on.  Most cruise lines require you to be able to walk onto the tender (down a few steps) and many will not take a non-folding wheelchair on board.  Different cruise lines do have different requirements for tender accessibility.

We’re on Cunard.  As you’ve said, they mention steps in their tendering info.  I know about of the limitations for manual wheelchairs and using a power chair makes some things a manual chair user can manage impossible.

Does anyone here have experience tendering at Sitka?  

I use a power wheelchair so I thought I’d have to miss this port, but I’ve been told by some rather insistent friends that it’s doable for me.

If anyone can shed any light on this topic, I’d be grateful.

Book now!  I booked a wheelchair accessible cabin as soon as booking began in early January, 2018.  My cruise is in late June.

4 hours ago, DUTRAVEL said:

Since we are posting pictures - Henri didn't want to be left out.

She’s beautiful!  💗

4 minutes ago, wizard-of-roz said:

Nico, such a handsome boy.  You've got those HUGE ears......so does Horty.  But, I think yours win.  And, you've got the frowny face down pat!!!  So cute!!!

The frowny face indeed!  His ears are not only huge but remind me of Dobby, the House Elf from Harry Potter.  😍

58 minutes ago, rangeley said:

Oh Roz I clipped Wexlers nails every week. They made me show them at training that I could do it. I will attempt to do it over the weekend. 

I was taught how to use a Dremel tool for nails.  It’s so convenient and cheap.  As long as there’s the odd carrot treat, my dogs didn’t/don’t mind it at all.

Since we’re doing photos...

Skinny looking 70lb Nico sporting a new vest he’s testing out.  He’s got long legs and a Very Long body!