Do they let (non-service) dogs onboard?

[viaggi_per_mare]

As I posted before we were on the ship with a seeing eye dog and a blind man (there was no question that this was legit) The dog came to the diningroom and the buffet area and laid down quietly next to his master. I wish I could have filmed this because it was so cute.....a child passed with a cone and a big glob of ice cream fell off the cone onto the buffet floor. The mother glanced back, did nothing and kept walking with the child in tow. The dog did not move even though his nose was a mere 12 inches from that ice cream...then we watched the dog...he scooted a bit and laid down on his side...he stretched and wiggled a bit until he was in range...then, not ever getting onto his feet, he laid there and stretched his tongue until he could get to the ice cream. He knew he wasn't supposed to but he just couldn't help himself, he was a plain old dog first and a seeing eye dog second.

Wish we had caught it on film because it was the first time we even saw the dog breech anything that wasn't proper on the ship....it was funny how he did it.

[2thesea]

Let me know which one you're going on so I can get the cabin next door and come over and pet Wall-e and Harley. Cruises are the only vacations we don't take our labradoodle on and I really miss her.

 

My 2 are 140pounds (each) worth of Great Pyrenees ~ they are GREAT dogs and I love them to pieces. Could you imagine have both in a cabin :eek: The cabin stewart would have a stroke when he opened the door! ;)

 

Service animals are so important in their owners lives. I have a close friend that is a "puppy" raiser for companion animals and she has raised some wonderful puppies that make a real difference in peoples lives :)

[blindrid]

Rainbow bridge. Makes me sad just reading those words. :( For some of us pets are beloved family members. And I agree I wouldn't bring them onboard myself. I also agree true service animals shouldn't be a nuisance, they're very well trained.

 

I would suggest that not all "service" dogs are well trained if ADA has this one under their Q&A:

 

Q: What if a service animal barks or growls at other people, or otherwise acts out of control?

A: You may exclude any animal, including a service animal, from your facility when that animal's behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. For example, any service animal that displays vicious behavior towards other guests or customers may be excluded. You may not make assumptions, however, about how a particular animal is likely to behave based on your past experience with other animals. Each situation must be considered individually.

 

[lillian marie]

CCL only allows service dogs.

[salty dingo]

Yuck I have never seen it except on their upper scale ship that goes across the ocean.

It i smy understanding that such dogs are confined to a "kennel deck" and cannot roam the ship or come to a passenger cabin.

 

There is an attendant on duty to care for the animals, and passengers can go there and visit the pet, but cannot take them unless they are disem-barking. Pun intended :)

 

I have seen a couple of service dogs on cruises, and even had one laying on the carped at the table right next to me in the dining room. The dog was a perfect angel, but it did leave a bit of fur on the carpet. Nothing a quick vacuum could not remedy, though!

[stevexy]

The issue here is that there are real service dogs, and people who claim (and get a certificate for a dog for emotional support--here is a quote from a SF newspaper:

-----------------------------------

 

The ADA legislation, enacted in 1990, is so vague that it has created two classes of service animals. The first is for animals that perform a specific task - Guide Dogs for the Blind, wheelchair assistance, hearing dogs, and animals that can detect medical emergencies, like seizures, and summon help.

 

The problem is the second classification - emotional support animals. All animals - lizards, chickens and snakes - have been designated service animals because they lend emotional support to the owner. In most cases they have no task-specific training.

 

"People can't believe there isn't some kind of official licensing or training," Herndon says. "I think the policy is misused and abused."

 

Technically, there is a licensing process, but it is hardly restrictive. Katz says her office requires a valid license, a local address, a signed affidavit saying the owner needs a service animal, and a letter from a doctor. After that, the permit is issued with no questions asked.

-----------------------------------------

 

So, basically you can get a service dog for emotional support and cheerfully bring the barking dog on the ship and leave the dog in the cabin all day while you are at the beach. People are taking advantage of a people needing a service dog for blindness, etc and getting a service tag so they can bring the dog into hotels, restuarants etc.I am a dog lover and have a very sweet older dog I rescued--but I wouldnt bring the dog on a boat.

 

Now, I wonder what CCls policy is for service chickens? Snakes on a Ship...?

[paulandfran]

I would suggest that not all "service" dogs are well trained if ADA has this one under their Q&A:

 

Q: What if a service animal barks or growls at other people, or otherwise acts out of control?

A: You may exclude any animal, including a service animal, from your facility when that animal's behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others. For example, any service animal that displays vicious behavior towards other guests or customers may be excluded. You may not make assumptions, however, about how a particular animal is likely to behave based on your past experience with other animals. Each situation must be considered individually.

 

 

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Quampapetet]

The issue here is that there are real service dogs, and people who claim (and get a certificate for a dog for emotional support--here is a quote from a SF newspaper:

-----------------------------------

 

The ADA legislation, enacted in 1990, is so vague that it has created two classes of service animals. The first is for animals that perform a specific task - Guide Dogs for the Blind, wheelchair assistance, hearing dogs, and animals that can detect medical emergencies, like seizures, and summon help.

 

The problem is the second classification - emotional support animals. All animals - lizards, chickens and snakes - have been designated service animals because they lend emotional support to the owner. In most cases they have no task-specific training.

 

This is incorrect. The ADA says nothing about Emotional Support Animals. The only federal U.S. regulations that talk about ESAs are the Federal Housing Act and the Air Carrier Access Act. For the FHA, a landlord can require a doctor's letter. For the ACAA, an airline can require a doctor's letter that is no more than a year old and covers specific things, including the declaration that the person is disabled by a mental disability listed in the DSM (the manual doctors use for mental and some other types of impairments).

 

The Department of Transportation is currently seeking public comments on whether or not they should include ESAs on cruise ships in an upcoming regulation. They also have a new regulation going into place in November which concerns some service animal stuff and some other disability-related stuff. If you want more info. and the link on where to go to comment on the issue, check out the post I wrote the other week in the disabilities section of this message board. As a disabled person who uses a service dog, I firmly believe ESAs and pets have no place on a cruise ship and you can read my reasoning in that thread.

 

 

As to the OP's situation, it sure sounds like the friend is lying.

 

As to the barking dog situation, it sure sounds like a non-service dog and, even if it was a real service dog, it should have been kicked off the ship at the first possible moment (dogs cannot get off the ship at every port due to import regulations). Service dogs do sometimes bark, especially to alert their handler of something, but they do not continue barking after told to stop and they certainly do not bark 24/7.

 

 

As for the "ADA" part about misbehaving service dogs that somebody posted: that is not from the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), it is from a Q&A that the Department of Justice put out years later. Service dogs are dogs, first and foremost. They have bad days just like the rest of us. And, sadly, some dogs become untrained due to their owner's mistakes/laziness and some dogs aren't well-trained in the first place. Then there are the people who try to pass their pets off as service dogs. For these situations, businesses are protected from being forced to deal with misbehaving pooches. If a dog barks during a movie and ceases when told, that's not misbehaving or a reason to kick somebody out. But, if a dog continues to bark during a movie and either won't stop when told or the owner lets the dog bark, that is misbehaving and a valid reason to kick somebody out (because it is changing the purpose of the business).

 

 

My service dog enjoys cruising ... and those darn room stewards have spoiled her, as now she enjoys the beds being turned down and turns them down herself before resting on them! :p

 

 

Oh, and yes, there is a lot of paperwork to do for the different countries. Some of it is expensive, like the two rabies titer tests I just had to complete (one country this cruise requires two of them for some paranoid reason) for $115 each (which is a deep discount due to my dog being a service dog)! And that is just one thing - even the minimal requirement of a health certificate is about $135 I think (trying that from memory - don't have the papers with me; and that's with a 10% discount). And because one of the countries this cruise has a six-month wait after the rabies titer before the dog can enter their country, I had to get the rabies vaccine done early, so that's an additional $60 vet visit fee I wouldn't have otherwise had (since the shot would've been given at her annual exam next month instead). Fun stuffs. :rolleyes:

 

 

Feel free to ask me any questions. My service dog and I have been on Royal Caribbean and Carnival (and have another Carnival cruise booked) with my friends.

[viaggi_per_mare]

This is incorrect. The ADA says nothing about Emotional Support Animals. The only federal U.S. regulations that talk about ESAs are the Federal Housing Act and the Air Carrier Access Act. For the FHA, a landlord can require a doctor's letter. For the ACAA, an airline can require a doctor's letter that is no more than a year old and covers specific things, including the declaration that the person is disabled by a mental disability listed in the DSM (the manual doctors use for mental and some other types of impairments).

 

The Department of Transportation is currently seeking public comments on whether or not they should include ESAs on cruise ships in an upcoming regulation. They also have a new regulation going into place in November which concerns some service animal stuff and some other disability-related stuff. If you want more info. and the link on where to go to comment on the issue, check out the post I wrote the other week in the disabilities section of this message board. As a disabled person who uses a service dog, I firmly believe ESAs and pets have no place on a cruise ship and you can read my reasoning in that thread.

 

 

As to the OP's situation, it sure sounds like the friend is lying.

 

As to the barking dog situation, it sure sounds like a non-service dog and, even if it was a real service dog, it should have been kicked off the ship at the first possible moment (dogs cannot get off the ship at every port due to import regulations). Service dogs do sometimes bark, especially to alert their handler of something, but they do not continue barking after told to stop and they certainly do not bark 24/7.

 

 

As for the "ADA" part about misbehaving service dogs that somebody posted: that is not from the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), it is from a Q&A that the Department of Justice put out years later. Service dogs are dogs, first and foremost. They have bad days just like the rest of us. And, sadly, some dogs become untrained due to their owner's mistakes/laziness and some dogs aren't well-trained in the first place. Then there are the people who try to pass their pets off as service dogs. For these situations, businesses are protected from being forced to deal with misbehaving pooches. If a dog barks during a movie and ceases when told, that's not misbehaving or a reason to kick somebody out. But, if a dog continues to bark during a movie and either won't stop when told or the owner lets the dog bark, that is misbehaving and a valid reason to kick somebody out (because it is changing the purpose of the business).

 

 

My service dog enjoys cruising ... and those darn room stewards have spoiled her, as now she enjoys the beds being turned down and turns them down herself before resting on them! :p

 

 

Oh, and yes, there is a lot of paperwork to do for the different countries. Some of it is expensive, like the two rabies titer tests I just had to complete (one country this cruise requires two of them for some paranoid reason) for $115 each (which is a deep discount due to my dog being a service dog)! And that is just one thing - even the minimal requirement of a health certificate is about $135 I think (trying that from memory - don't have the papers with me; and that's with a 10% discount). And because one of the countries this cruise has a six-month wait after the rabies titer before the dog can enter their country, I had to get the rabies vaccine done early, so that's an additional $60 vet visit fee I wouldn't have otherwise had (since the shot would've been given at her annual exam next month instead). Fun stuffs. :rolleyes:

 

 

Feel free to ask me any questions. My service dog and I have been on Royal Caribbean and Carnival (and have another Carnival cruise booked) with my friends.

 

Thanks for taking the time for an informative post. So many posts on this board are mean and nasty and serve no function. :mad:

It takes time to type all this and you effort is appreciated.:D

[paulandfran]

As I posted before we were on the ship with a seeing eye dog and a blind man (there was no question that this was legit) The dog came to the diningroom and the buffet area and laid down quietly next to his master. I wish I could have filmed this because it was so cute.....a child passed with a cone and a big glob of ice cream fell off the cone onto the buffet floor. The mother glanced back, did nothing and kept walking with the child in tow. The dog did not move even though his nose was a mere 12 inches from that ice cream...then we watched the dog...he scooted a bit and laid down on his side...he stretched and wiggled a bit until he was in range...then, not ever getting onto his feet, he laid there and stretched his tongue until he could get to the ice cream. He knew he wasn't supposed to but he just couldn't help himself, he was a plain old dog first and a seeing eye dog second.

Wish we had caught it on film because it was the first time we even saw the dog breech anything that wasn't proper on the ship....it was funny how he did it.

 

Awwww.... that is so sweet. I wish you had caught it on video too. Would have loved to have seen that.

[basketsuze]

I believe I read somewhere that there is a limit to the number of service animals permitted on a sailing. Therefore, someone who is passing off their pet as a service animal could actually be taking a spot on the ship away from someone with a need for a legitimately trained service animal.

 

I am also a dog freak. I have two GS mixes, and in fact, am picking up our third rescue tonight. He's a GS/lab mix. I love my dogs, but no way do I want them coming on a cruise with us, even if it was allowed. We'd spend our entire vacation taking care of said dogs and not enjoying the ship.

 

Suze!

[5o'clocksomewhere]

This is incorrect. The ADA says nothing about Emotional Support Animals. The only federal U.S. regulations that talk about ESAs are the Federal Housing Act and the Air Carrier Access Act. For the FHA, a landlord can require a doctor's letter. For the ACAA, an airline can require a doctor's letter that is no more than a year old and covers specific things, including the declaration that the person is disabled by a mental disability listed in the DSM (the manual doctors use for mental and some other types of impairments).

 

The Department of Transportation is currently seeking public comments on whether or not they should include ESAs on cruise ships in an upcoming regulation. They also have a new regulation going into place in November which concerns some service animal stuff and some other disability-related stuff. If you want more info. and the link on where to go to comment on the issue, check out the post I wrote the other week in the disabilities section of this message board. As a disabled person who uses a service dog, I firmly believe ESAs and pets have no place on a cruise ship and you can read my reasoning in that thread.

 

 

As to the OP's situation, it sure sounds like the friend is lying.

 

As to the barking dog situation, it sure sounds like a non-service dog and, even if it was a real service dog, it should have been kicked off the ship at the first possible moment (dogs cannot get off the ship at every port due to import regulations). Service dogs do sometimes bark, especially to alert their handler of something, but they do not continue barking after told to stop and they certainly do not bark 24/7.

 

 

As for the "ADA" part about misbehaving service dogs that somebody posted: that is not from the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), it is from a Q&A that the Department of Justice put out years later. Service dogs are dogs, first and foremost. They have bad days just like the rest of us. And, sadly, some dogs become untrained due to their owner's mistakes/laziness and some dogs aren't well-trained in the first place. Then there are the people who try to pass their pets off as service dogs. For these situations, businesses are protected from being forced to deal with misbehaving pooches. If a dog barks during a movie and ceases when told, that's not misbehaving or a reason to kick somebody out. But, if a dog continues to bark during a movie and either won't stop when told or the owner lets the dog bark, that is misbehaving and a valid reason to kick somebody out (because it is changing the purpose of the business).

 

 

My service dog enjoys cruising ... and those darn room stewards have spoiled her, as now she enjoys the beds being turned down and turns them down herself before resting on them! :p

 

 

Oh, and yes, there is a lot of paperwork to do for the different countries. Some of it is expensive, like the two rabies titer tests I just had to complete (one country this cruise requires two of them for some paranoid reason) for $115 each (which is a deep discount due to my dog being a service dog)! And that is just one thing - even the minimal requirement of a health certificate is about $135 I think (trying that from memory - don't have the papers with me; and that's with a 10% discount). And because one of the countries this cruise has a six-month wait after the rabies titer before the dog can enter their country, I had to get the rabies vaccine done early, so that's an additional $60 vet visit fee I wouldn't have otherwise had (since the shot would've been given at her annual exam next month instead). Fun stuffs. :rolleyes:

 

 

Feel free to ask me any questions. My service dog and I have been on Royal Caribbean and Carnival (and have another Carnival cruise booked) with my friends.

 

Thanks for the info! A dog is only as good as their owners.....including service dogs...

Also I have a hard time believing this dog barked non stop.....if it did it would be more then one person hearing it and it would have been reported.......if it was on the balcony it would have been heard all over....

Man they sure don't make it easy to bring the little fellow in port with you do they?

[MrsBlair]

On the Freedom last October there was a woman with a small dog. I'm not sure what breed, but could be considered a "purse dog". She took him everywhere - the MDR at dinner, the buffet, to the pool (not in it though LOL), to the lounges, and would always sit with him on deck just petting him. She wheeled him around everywhere in a small wheeled backpack. I obviously don't know for sure if it was a service dog, but based on what I observed, I'm guessing it wasn't...

[Quampapetet]

Thanks for taking the time for an informative post. So many posts on this board are mean and nasty and serve no function. :mad:

It takes time to type all this and you effort is appreciated.:D

 

Any time! :)

[Quampapetet]

I believe I read somewhere that there is a limit to the number of service animals permitted on a sailing. Therefore, someone who is passing off their pet as a service animal could actually be taking a spot on the ship away from someone with a need for a legitimately trained service animal.

 

Some cruiselines put a cap at 20-25 service dogs per cruise. Generally, this would only affect a service dog handler group cruise (which do exist), not most cruises.

 

However, the new DOT regulation going into effect November 2nd bars cruiselines from putting such a limit, as doing so is putting a limit on the number of disabled cruisers allowed onboard, which is discriminatory.

[Quampapetet]

Thanks for the info! A dog is only as good as their owners.....including service dogs...

 

Very true. I know a guy who got a mobility dog for himself from a service dog program. He was originally going to get a mobility harness' date=' but the ones the program had were too short for him. He never did get a harness and so the dog's tasks became just a few things like retrieving his cane when it fell and pushing handicapped door buttons when he used his wheelchair. He pretty much stopped using the dog for tasks and just taking it along as a companion (which technically isn't allowed, but his program told him it was fine to do...). He let ppl pet his dog and his dog became untrained. When one of my friends first saw the dog, she thought it was an in-training dog because of its behavior.

 

Service dog handlers need to keep up the dog's training no matter who the dog was trained by or the dog will stop behaving correctly. It does happen.

 

Man they sure don't make it easy to bring the little fellow in port with you do they?

 

Some countries do, some countries (and Hawaii) don't. Some countries just won't allow them off the ship period (such as Jamaica and Barbados). My friend jokes with me, "Just dress her up in clothes and tell them she's your child, she has that disease where you grow hair everywhere - and her father was just a real dog!" :p

[Quampapetet]

On the Freedom last October there was a woman with a small dog. I'm not sure what breed, but could be considered a "purse dog". She took him everywhere - the MDR at dinner, the buffet, to the pool (not in it though LOL), to the lounges, and would always sit with him on deck just petting him. She wheeled him around everywhere in a small wheeled backpack. I obviously don't know for sure if it was a service dog, but based on what I observed, I'm guessing it wasn't...

 

There is/was a lady on these boards with a small service dog she transports in a rolling suitcase/backpack thing. I don't know if that was her or not that you saw, but it could've been.

 

Some small dog owners don't want their dog to be stepped on, but in most cases, a small service dog should walk on the ground like all other sizes of service dogs. They should never be in a grocery shopping cart where babies are put, but not all service dog owners are well-behaved.

 

Small service dogs are often hearing dogs, seizure alert dogs, or psychiatric service dogs - or they could be people passing their pet or emotional support dog off as a service dog. Sometimes it is easy to tell, but sometimes it can be hard to tell, as some of the people with emotional support animals have trained their dogs to behave as well as service animals in public places - their dogs just aren't service dogs either because the dog hasn't been trained to do tasks that help the person or because the person isn't disabled by their mental impairment (not all physical or mental impairments reach the level of disabling, of course).

[blindrid]

As for the "ADA" part about misbehaving service dogs that somebody posted: that is not from the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), it is from a Q&A that the Department of Justice put out years later.

 

Technically, the Q&A information pasted is from a link from the ADA website that opens the Q&A from the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section. Dated July, 1996. Last updated January 14, 2008.

The shortcut is http://www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm .

 

Obviously I shortened for brevity as I didn't know we had to be totally and technically correct in quoting the source. Moral of the story is the same.

[5o'clocksomewhere]

Very true. I know a guy who got a mobility dog for himself from a service dog program. He was originally going to get a mobility harness, but the ones the program had were too short for him. He never did get a harness and so the dog's tasks became just a few things like retrieving his cane when it fell and pushing handicapped door buttons when he used his wheelchair. He pretty much stopped using the dog for tasks and just taking it along as a companion (which technically isn't allowed, but his program told him it was fine to do...). He let ppl pet his dog and his dog became untrained. When one of my friends first saw the dog, she thought it was an in-training dog because of its behavior.

 

Service dog handlers need to keep up the dog's training no matter who the dog was trained by or the dog will stop behaving correctly. It does happen.

 

 

 

We have been involved in dog training with our dogs for many years and also have close friends who are trainers. I have seen some pretty amazing transformations with some of these dogs.......only to be wasted once turned back to their owners:( We just lost our 11 year old golden this past May and he was still being trained up until he passed away;) People would comment on how well behaved he was and attributed it to his breed:rolleyes: Some people think some dogs just come that way:p They don't understand the work and the time that goes into it......

What breed do you have? Would love to see a picture.......

[paulandfran]

 

I'm not ratting the dog out. :D

[Sargent_Schultz]

Apparently there are such things as service monkeys and guide horses :confused:

 

Somehow, I don't think Carnival is required to take monkeys and horses on board, yet some have flown in planes.

 

 

 

[viaggi_per_mare]

Apparently there are such things as service monkeys and guide horses :confused:

 

Somehow, I don't think Carnival is required to take monkeys and horses on board, yet some have flown in planes.

 

 

 

 

HOW CUTE!!! Looks like someone shrunk him in the dryer. Actually I bet they do a good job and probably live longer than a dog would....

[paulandfran]

Thanks for the info! A dog is only as good as their owners.....

 

I totally agree!

[chasm4u]

we saw a dog on board a carnival cruise once, and it was a seeing eye dog. They had a cabin close to ours and when ever they headed back to their cabin, my husband followed them. My husband never did learn to navigate the ship but the dog did, and lead my husband back to our cabin every time;)

 

thats awsome!!!

[chasm4u]

After reading this thread I HAVE TO SAY.... I LOVE my two dogs adn my cat like they were my kids! HOWEVER when I go on vacation it is to get away from things and half of what i am getting away from are them! They do their own vacation at CANINE COUNTRY CLUB. I lovingly call it prison and when I tell my dogs their going to prison they get all excited so never ever ever would I take my dogs on vacation! My cat is an obvious no no also because he cannot even leave the apartment to go outside even where we live due to illness. How could anyone enjoy a vacation if there having to care for their pets?