Dogs on board ships?

[waytoodeep03]

We recently went out of California on the radiance and there was an off leash dog roaming around the ship. This is the first time Ive ever seen a dog aboard a cruise line. This was NOT a service animal but a guy's pet. This was also a full grown dog and not a puppy roaming on the deck off leash. 

 

Does carnival allow pets on ships? 

[KyloRen]

I’ve never once in my 25 cruises seen an animal on ship. I wish you had a photo cause that’s really interesting! 
 

There’sa lot of laws concerning it and that’s partially why they don’t, each port has their own laws. 
 

from Carnival

 

 “

BRINGING PETS ONBOARD

We are sorry but pets are not permitted onboard.

Carnival Cruise Line only permits service/working dogs on board our ships. Therapy/companion or service dogs in training are not permitted onboard.

For information about bringing your service/working dog with you, click here.

Edited August 30, 2022 by KyloRen

[Ferry_Watcher]

Just "service dogs", but I saw a Shih Tzu 'service dog' this season on a Carnival ship.   (eye roll)

[BallFour4]

We've seen one dog in forty plus years of cruising. On the Breeze last week we saw a box on the area by the lifeboats for dogs to relieve themselves. A large pan filled with absorbent and a small roped off area were visible through the windows.

.

[Drew B 58]

Whether it was a pet or a service dog, the fact that it was off leash and “roaming” the decks is shocking!

[grest]

9 minutes ago, Drew B 58 said:

Whether it was a pet or a service dog, the fact that it was off leash and “roaming” the decks is shocking!

Indeed!   I have seen several dogs on cruises, most clearly not working dogs, once a pet sitting in a chair in a bar....but on the last cruise we met a very nice gentleman and his wife in a bar shortly after embarkation....he was making a call to his dogsitter/dog, and was crying from missing her already.   It was kind of sweet.

 

[Drew B 58]

6 minutes ago, grest said:

Indeed!   I have seen several dogs on cruises, most clearly not working dogs, once a pet sitting in a chair in a bar....but on the last cruise we met a very nice gentleman and his wife in a bar shortly after embarkation....he was making a call to his dogsitter/dog, and was crying from missing her already.   It was kind of sweet.

 

I don’t know if it’s always clear whether a dog is a working dog or not.  I once spoke with a woman on a ship with her little dog whose job was to detect seizures.

 

Regardless of the role the dog plays (pet or service), it should ALWAYS be leashed in public.  That goes for cruise ships OR ANYWHERE ELSE!

[asalligo]

Only service dogs are allowed. That has just become a very loose term these days. They are not allowed to be off leash. I seriously would have taken his dog on a tour of the ship though and taken pictures everywhere with it. Me and the dog putt putt, me and the dog near the pool, running from the chefs at the steakhouse. 

[grest]

13 minutes ago, Drew B 58 said:

I don’t know if it’s always clear whether a dog is a working dog or not.  I once spoke with a woman on a ship with her little dog whose job was to detect seizures.

 

Regardless of the role the dog plays (pet or service), it should ALWAYS be leashed in public.  That goes for cruise ships OR ANYWHERE ELSE!

Working dogs are  well disciplined and you barely know they are there.   The training is amazing and thorough.   They will never approach you and should not be petted.   They will sit quietly by the owner, never bark at the folks walking by or beg for food.   They will not sit on furniture....for starters.

 

[I Luv Crusin]

7 minutes ago, grest said:

Working dogs are  well disciplined and you barely know they are there.   The training is amazing and thorough.   They will never approach you and should not be petted.   They will sit quietly by the owner, never bark at the folks walking by or beg for food.   They will not sit on furniture....for starters.

 

Agreed. So many people take their pets on as "emotional" support animals. 

 

We did sit with an adult woman who had a baby doll/carriage she brought to dinner.  After we got to know her she left the baby in her cabin.

Edited August 30, 2022 by I Luv Crusin

[Elaine5715]

13 minutes ago, Drew B 58 said:

I don’t know if it’s always clear whether a dog is a working dog or not.  I once spoke with a woman on a ship with her little dog whose job was to detect seizures.

 

Regardless of the role the dog plays (pet or service), it should ALWAYS be leashed in public.  That goes for cruise ships OR ANYWHERE ELSE!

It is always clear if you watch the behavior of both dog and owner.  Easy way is that service dogs are never fed  while working and they can "potty" on command.  

The most fraudulent service dogs are claimed to be either diabetic or seizure detection.   Most actual diabetic or seizure detection dogs have a very low success rate and need retraining every two years.  The reason those disabilities are used it that you can't require medical proof even though it would be easy to do and if you don't have either condition, then you don't need to worry if the dog fails to alert.  From a simple common sense view, it you do have seizures and you are "chest wearing" your dog, you are endangering them should you collapse.  They would also not be able to get out of the harness to complete their tasks.  

[Enryon]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Just "service dogs", but I saw a Shih Tzu 'service dog' this season on a Carnival ship.   (eye roll)

Shih Tzu is a breed commonly used for as a response animal. Seizure response and diabetic response is a common use for a service shih tzu. Depending on the training they may even be able to dial 911 using a special phone. 
 

 

[Angua]

2 minutes ago, Enryon said:

Shih Tzu is a breed commonly used for as a response animal. Seizure response and diabetic response is a common use for a service shih tzu. Depending on the training they may even be able to dial 911 using a special phone. 
 

 

On one of the first Journeys cruises on the Dream there was a couple with a shih tzu they claimed was a diabetic service dog for the husband. We first met them in the boarding line and trying to be friendly, i asked how the dog recognized and alerted to that condition.  They were very vague and tried to get the staff to boost them up the line to get away from us.

The dog was in a stroller and had a different outfit every day and was ALWAYS with the wife.  We rarely saw the husband.  One day I asked where her husband was and she said he was sleeping.  I asked if it wasn't important for him to have his service dog while sleeping to make sure he didn't go into a diabetic coma.  

 

She actively avoided me for the rest of the cruise.  

[kctwinmommy]

On one cruise about 5-6 years ago, a guy had his dog with that he said was a service dog. Now, the dog seemed well behaved when we saw it. However, he was somewhat flamboyant about it (that's about the best word I can think of right now). He had no problem with people buying him drinks, taking pictures with the dog, just a little too much IMO. My husband started talking with him one night, turned out he said he was a veteran. My husband at the time was still in the Air Force Reserves (having served a total of 34 years between active, Guard & Reserves). My husband didn't initially say he was in the reserves, but the man started telling him about the issues he had, how he had been in 1 branch, but was recruited to another branch, talking about specialty units he'd been in, and basically none of it made sense if you know the military. My husband then started talking about the places he'd served and his AF job, and then commented about in 30 years, he'd never heard of someone making the changes this guy was claiming. And my husband's job in the Air Force had to do with backgrounds, security clearances, etc... so he had a better understanding of certain security things.

 

Anyway, once my husband started asking a few questions, this guy got up suddenly and left. He would avoid my husband any time we saw him in the bar after that. He also was telling people that his dog was "famous" and had been on various talk shows. I looked him up when we got home and there was nothing about this guy, or his dog, anywhere. In other words, it was all BS! But you can spin those stories on a 7 day cruise because you'll never see these people again and most won't question it!

[kctwinmommy]

3 minutes ago, Angua said:

The dog was in a stroller and had a different outfit every day and was ALWAYS with the wife.  We rarely saw the husband.  One day I asked where her husband was and she said he was sleeping.  I asked if it wasn't important for him to have his service dog while sleeping to make sure he didn't go into a diabetic coma.  

 

She actively avoided me for the rest of the cruise.  

Haha! Read my story I just posted too! Same kind of thing! I would think that someone with a real service dog most likely will not be put off by questions, people are curious. They may not answer all your personal, invasive questions, but they have to realize people may want to know more, because it is interesting (IMO). And the dog will be with THAT person!

[Elaine5715]

34 minutes ago, Angua said:

On one of the first Journeys cruises on the Dream there was a couple with a shih tzu they claimed was a diabetic service dog for the husband. We first met them in the boarding line and trying to be friendly, i asked how the dog recognized and alerted to that condition.  They were very vague and tried to get the staff to boost them up the line to get away from us.

The dog was in a stroller and had a different outfit every day and was ALWAYS with the wife.  We rarely saw the husband.  One day I asked where her husband was and she said he was sleeping.  I asked if it wasn't important for him to have his service dog while sleeping to make sure he didn't go into a diabetic coma.  

 

She actively avoided me for the rest of the cruise.  

That was a well known fake, known to crew, actually known to everyone who ever sailed with them.  

[Elaine5715]

45 minutes ago, Enryon said:

Shih Tzu is a breed commonly used for as a response animal. Seizure response and diabetic response is a common use for a service shih tzu. Depending on the training they may even be able to dial 911 using a special phone. 
 

 

Not a phone, but it could be a touchscreen or button mounted that a dog could be trained to press with their nose and it is programmed to call someone or a service that can respond or call 911.  That system is useless onboard  and in port.

[kctwinmommy]

54 minutes ago, lucky16cruiser said:

Sorry to go off topic - but I was on a cruise once and a man had a robotic cat that he took everywhere with him.  At first glance, it looked real, but after a few minutes it was apparent it was not - but it moved and purred, and meowed.  He carried it in his arms and put it next to him on a bar stool, or on the chair next to his in the dining room.  He got quite a bit of attention with his "pet".

That's kind of funny! My daughter was given one of those, it was curled up, in a sleeping position. You put batteries in it, and it would "breath" up and down. It sort of freaked people out. LOL!

[Enryon]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

Not a phone, but it could be a touchscreen or button mounted that a dog could be trained to press with their nose and it is programmed to call someone or a service that can respond or call 911.  That system is useless onboard  and in port.

It’s actually a programmable wrist mounted device that with the touch of a button calls for help over a cellular network. So a phone. Not a fully functional phone but still a phone. Even without the functionality of the alert device the dog itself still serves a function for diabetics and those suffering seizures. That function is not companionship.

 

The animals will use their bodies to protect the patient during a seizure. An example is to place their shoulders under the head of the patient. Smaller dogs are typically trained to recognize the signs of an imminent seizure and alert the patient to get to a safe position. For diabetic patients the animal can detect high and low blood sugar and alert the patient. Some of our patients have a cardiac service dog to alert for an imminent syncope (passing out due to low blood pressure). 
 

Not all of our patients use markings with their service animal. They would prefer the general public not to know that the animal is a service animal. Though I have not asked any of them why they don’t use the vest, I can make an educated guess that it has to do with privacy. 
 

I am sure everybody has a story of somebody who abuses the system to get their pet into whatever they want, but you should never assume that it is not legitimate. 

[Elaine5715]

36 minutes ago, Enryon said:

It’s actually a programmable wrist mounted device that with the touch of a button calls for help over a cellular network. So a phone. Not a fully functional phone but still a phone. Even without the functionality of the alert device the dog itself still serves a function for diabetics and those suffering seizures. That function is not companionship.

 

The animals will use their bodies to protect the patient during a seizure. An example is to place their shoulders under the head of the patient. Smaller dogs are typically trained to recognize the signs of an imminent seizure and alert the patient to get to a safe position. For diabetic patients the animal can detect high and low blood sugar and alert the patient. Some of our patients have a cardiac service dog to alert for an imminent syncope (passing out due to low blood pressure). 
 

Not all of our patients use markings with their service animal. They would prefer the general public not to know that the animal is a service animal. Though I have not asked any of them why they don’t use the vest, I can make an educated guess that it has to do with privacy. 
 

I am sure everybody has a story of somebody who abuses the system to get their pet into whatever they want, but you should never assume that it is not legitimate. 

Vests are more of an indication of fraud. Even these types of devices, risky when worn on the body since a fall can cover access to the device, are worthless onboard and in port.  

[Essiesmom]

I was on a cruise with a large group of piano bar fans.  One woman had a service dog, a large dog.  Vest and leash, etc.  He lay under her chair.  If she left her chair and went to the bar, maybe ten feet away, to get a drink or chat, he would get antsy after a few minutes, and bark.  Don’t know what service he performed.  
 On another cruise line, I saw two women walking through a lounge, each carrying small, white fuzzy dogs.  The only other time I saw them they were sitting in a forward corner of the promenade deck with the dogs in their laps.  I thought they might be wives of senior officers.  EM

Edited August 30, 2022 by Essiesmom

[csm5986142]

5 hours ago, waytoodeep03 said:

This is the first time Ive ever seen a dog aboard a cruise line.

 

In the last 9 months, we have seen 3 dogs (on different ships) which is more than we'd seen total in the previous 11 years.  I think it's definitely more common to see them now.  

According to Carnival's website:

The only dogs Carnival permits aboard our ships are working service dogs, which are legally defined and individually trained to meet disability-related needs by performing tasks like guiding a blind person, alerting a deaf person, pulling wheelchairs, alerting and protecting a person who is having a seizure, or performing other special tasks. Working service dogs are not pets.

Pets, or service dogs in training, are not allowed aboard. Emotional support dogs, which are not recognized by the US Department of Justice, are also not permitted on Carnival ships.

[mz-s]

An unleashed dog is one thing obviously. That should never be a thing anywhere outside of your fenced in back yard, let alone on a cruise.

 

Outside of that though unless someone has received training to detect what is or isn't a service dog and is in charge of approving or denying guests requests, I don't see why it's any of your business.

[Island Dog]

I would rather have well behaved dogs onboard over a lot of the unruly children (and adults for that matter) that I have witnessed!

[MJSailors]

@waytoodeep03 I be a few questions from reading your post.

Did you notice the dog’s owner anywhere nearby ?

Did you speak to someone at Guest Services or an officer to notify them about the dog being off leash?

If you didn’t mention the dog to someone in authority,why not?

I am very uncomfortable about any dog being off leash whether it is by itself or walking with its’ owner. 

If I saw such a situation on a ship, I would notify someone in authority and,most likely,I would take a photo with my phone of the dog.

MJ🙋🏻