dogs on board

[bdjam]

It seems many (most?) of the posters in this thread are convinced that any animal on a ship is there because the owner is selfish and scamming the system. So the answer is ban all dogs because all owners are frauds? That is the message I draw from this thread. In fact, it seems that some people believe all people everywhere are scamming all systems. There is no legitimate need for special services or privileges anywhere for anyone. That's how those posters come across in this thread.

 

Now for those poor folks with allergies, this thread makes it sound as if you can never cruise again because the ship is crawling with fraudulent service dogs and every inch of the ship is covered in dog hair. Again I ask: how widespread is the dog epidemic? In my years of cruising I have seen two (2) service dogs on ship. Is it just me?

 

Agree...in over 30 Princess cruises, I've seen a number of service dogs, but only one (a lap-sized dog in a stroller) that was questionable when it came to service.

 

I guess I'll rephrase this. Is this really a widespread problem on Princess ships or is the point of this argument to question the motives of people with service dogs? Really, how many dogs are there on board any given ship? Is this such a serious problem that it will keep (some) people from cruising? Is it possible that someone somewhere (here) has exaggerated the extent of the fraudulent dog problem?

Yes it's been exaggerated...the original poster asked about one little apparently vicious dog that apparently got it's head through the balcony divider...and it's turned into an army of marauding canines.

Edited March 11, 2014 by bdjam

[shredie]

I decided to answer my own question. From the specific instances of dog viewing in the thread (not breaking them into "service" and "fraud" categories) I counted 33 dogs. (In some cases it was difficult to determine the number, so I counted two dogs where the post cited plural "dogs.") There are currently 17 Princess ships, so I count this dog population at roughly two per ship. Of course, this is in no way a scientific study, and for all I know there are ships with 50 dogs on them right now and no one has reported that in this thread. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there is not an epidemic of dogs on Princess cruises. One might even go so far as to say the fraudulent owners of fraudulent dogs with fraudulent paperwork do not pose much of a threat to the cruising public.

[Colo Cruiser]

I decided to answer my own question. From the specific instances of dog viewing in the thread (not breaking them into "service" and "fraud" categories) I counted 33 dogs. (In some cases it was difficult to determine the number, so I counted two dogs where the post cited plural "dogs.") There are currently 17 Princess ships, so I count this dog population at roughly two per ship. Of course, this is in no way a scientific study, and for all I know there are ships with 50 dogs on them right now and no one has reported that in this thread. But I'm going to go out on a limb and say that there is not an epidemic of dogs on Princess cruises. One might even go so far as to say the fraudulent owners of fraudulent dogs with fraudulent paperwork do not pose much of a threat to the cruising public.

 

1 eating off the DR table/growling snapping on a balcony/dressed as a clown and being passed around to everyone/leaving a deposit on the stateroom floor, is 1 too many and probably not a legitimate service animal.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[bdjam]

1 eating off the DR table/growling snapping on a balcony/dressed as a clown and being passed around to everyone/leaving a deposit on the stateroom floor, is 1 too many and probably not a legitimate service animal.

Now THAT's an exaggeration.

Edited March 11, 2014 by bdjam

[beg3yrs]

There was a time when you didn't expect to see 500 scooters on a cruise ship and personally, I've been run over by a few in crowded areas on board. Even so I don't deny their need or their necessity on board. It is a matter of understanding and tolerance.

 

LOL, I didn't expect to post on this thread but have been reading it as education to get a better grip on this multi-faceted issue. What I didn't expect was a chuckle.

 

BTW, I've been run over by more times by scooters on the ships than I've even seen any kind of dog on board.

 

As bdjam said, it is a matter of understanding and tolerance.