ExpertNovice

Hey there! We're sailing at the end of July as D+ and heard mixed reports of access to the concierge lounge and what coupons were being offered. Have you had a chance to go to the lounge? 

What other D+ exclusives are there other than the backstage tour you mentioned and were they documented anywhere? 

Just now, GUT2407 said:

Yes, I’m luckier than many, I can survive without my Maxy dog by my side 24/7, but by heck he makes life easier when he is there, and even more he makes my life better by being there even when he is just being my mate. I look at my cruises as his holiday time, he stays with our daughter and runs wild with her Dalmatian with no responsibilities or cares or worries about me. Just like a human carer needs a break I see a real benefit to me mate in having a break from worrying about me. 

Absolutely, and you both deserve it! Like I hope many others understand, it's hard work for both the individual and their service animal. We discussed alternatives but this is the situation we're in and we'll make the most of it!

37 minutes ago, tutzig said:

 

HIPPA/ADA gives the cruise line etc the ability to ask.. However, not the general public or curious CC posters..

 

My son has a guide dog and constantly deal with people that do not respect that he has a guide dog in a lot of different ways. He had to escalate issues at Busch Gardens because they were trying to discriminate against him. Could list plenty of other examples..

 

He has a trained guide dog and I get frustrated as much as anyone on people that trample of someone with needs rights, because they "bought" their animal's way..

 

Sadly, people railing against this issue is making collateral damage to the people that do need their service animals.

You are correct and I absolutely understand the stress of having to deal with these situations.

As the general public, you may ask, but we absolutely have the right to tell you it's not your business. We're pretty open about sharing in most cases, and do to educate people on service dogs, but some individuals enjoy their privacy. If you continue to push it, it is discrimination and there are laws in place for not interfering with a working dog and their handler under the Ada (not HIPPA, which is only for medical workers and surrounding medical facilities)

Two questions can be asked by a business:

Is the animal a service animal

What service does the animal provide

This is absolutely abused by people without service dogs and some answers are not valid and you can be asked to leave for, I.e. Emotional support.

Whelp, I've come on CruiseCritic for the first time in many many years for my first cruise in many years to, unfortunately, see this thread when looking into bringing my SO's service dog on our cruise! It seems it's a fairly big problem with both fake service dogs (ESAs) and individuals who are angry about dogs being there at all!

I'm going to say this from my side, hopefully so that individuals understand it from a service dog handler/owner's side. Service dogs aren't regulated in any way, and most of us wish they were! There are some that are home trained due to how costly it can be for training ($10k - $25k if you cannot wait in line for a free dog through certain programs), but in order to effectively do their job, a dog needs to have the right temperament and physical and mental ability to do the job they are required to do. That INCLUDES public access, a reason many dogs fail out of training as a puppy and an ability that is 100% required of all service dogs, which is hundreds if not thousands of hours of training from as early as 8 weeks, to be in public areas. Generally, you can spot a dog that has this training on something like a cruise because the dog will stay close to the owners side and not be distracted by anything else going on around them. They won't be distracted by food if it's on the ground or next to them, and trust me, that takes a lot of training to learn for some dogs!

All of that being said, a service dog is still a dog. A few of our concerns, and why we were looking, is that they still need down time; that usually means me, being more able-bodied to do so, will have times when the vest is off (this signifies to the dog work is over) and we can get his energy out through some running and playing. It seems that the cruise line offers some on-deck time very early in the morning to allow the dog some off leash time if they are given notice, though we're still trying to work that part out. I can understand if someone is afraid of dogs how this can be an issue, and I'm hoping they can create a better way to facilitate this but I know it's hard given how many people are on the ship and how little space there is. Outside of that, new experiences can be scary, which is why training on a plane and train are important before we ever go on big trips. A ship is of course a new beast if it were very rocky, but our thoughts are that everything else would follow all other training to a T.

Being a dog, accidents also can happen. The post about a dog pooping on the carpet and him just walking away is appalling, and a service owner would absolutely be paying attention to this (service dogs usually are trained to go to the bathroom on command and we're diligent about it). That being said, we've had times that it has happened because the dog was usually sick and we didn't have advance warning. It's incredibly embarrassing for the owner, but we do our best to find a staff member to assist and clean what we can. Walking away is one thing, but I'd hate to feel more ashamed because someone thinks the dog isn't truly providing a service for someone with a disability because of an accident. For those individuals reading that DO have service dogs, we were assured that a potty area would be set up for our dog in a common area, or even on our balcony.

Lastly, fake service animals are a huge hindrance to service dog handlers too! While service dogs are specially trained for public access and to act on their best manners, a fake service dog not being handled properly and being allowed to bark or even run up to a service animal can be incredibly dangerous and always troublesome. When a dog and even humans (trying to pet a dog that works or trying to get their attention) distract a dog, it can be dangerous for the owner who (in our case) may be using the dog for mobility issues or (in possibly even more dangerous ways) for medical alert.

All in all, it's frustrating for us and scary going on a cruise for the first time with our service dog, but I'm hoping our experience sets a standard for how dogs should behave when working on a trip like this.