Cruising With A Service Dog....everything You Ever Wanted To Know!

[S.S. Cruisers]

OMD, CCI  boy looks like he is moving  right in!  Such a great picture of the 3 of them! 

[rangeley]

On 10/26/2020 at 1:42 PM, DUTRAVEL said:

What fun for Raylene! Henri had a play day with some CCI friends on Saturday - of course, there were costumes involved.

 

We were supposed to be in Spain right now on a Transatlantic cruise. We have two cruises still scheduled for 2021, but who knows if we will be able to g

What a great pic!

[S.S. Cruisers]

Mornin' all;

I saw where they may let Cruise ships start sailing again on 11/1.  Didn't have a chance to read the article.  Supposedly they all must have a strict guideline in place to help stop the spread of Covid.  I guess time will tell.  Hope everyone is having great weather.  This is the time of year that we say "This is why we endure 4 months of "on fire" summer months".  The weather has been fabulous.  It is suppose to heat back up next week.  Just hoping its tolereable.  Everyone have a wonderful weekend. You too Roz! ❤️ think of you daily.  Here come the tears.  😢 .

[rangeley]

On 10/31/2020 at 2:09 PM, S.S. Cruisers said:

Mornin' all;

I saw where they may let Cruise ships start sailing again on 11/1.  Didn't have a chance to read the article.  Supposedly they all must have a strict guideline in place to help stop the spread of Covid.  I guess time will tell.  Hope everyone is having great weather.  This is the time of year that we say "This is why we endure 4 months of "on fire" summer months".  The weather has been fabulous.  It is suppose to heat back up next week.  Just hoping its tolereable.  Everyone have a wonderful weekend. You too Roz! ❤️ think of you daily.  Here come the tears.  😢 .

We will not be cruising until they have a vaccine. Can't take a chance of us getting Covid. Besides, who wants to have to walk around all day on a cruise with a mask on. I can barely stand it to go outside to walk the dog. 

 

You can keep your "on fire" weather. Not for me!!!! It's going to be 70 this weekend, which is unusual for us. We had 3" of snow last week and 70 this week. 😲  

 

i think of her daily too. 💔

 

 

[S.S. Cruisers]

We are anguishly waiting for a vaccine too.  Travis is a Senior and his on-line class work is not going well.  We did let him go back to work about 3 weeks ago.  His cubicle is in a separate room from other workers so he isn't around them.  He wears his mask.  Unfortunately our Covid numbers have spiked so he had to take a leave of absence again.  They are really great working with him. 

 

As for cruising, I am not sure when or if that will happen.  I can hope and dream, though, they can't take that from me.  We may just end up moving onto a cruise ship and live there!  If this Nation gets any more crazy I'm sure what we will do.  

[rangeley]

On 11/6/2020 at 1:08 PM, S.S. Cruisers said:

We are anguishly waiting for a vaccine too.  Travis is a Senior and his on-line class work is not going well.  We did let him go back to work about 3 weeks ago.  His cubicle is in a separate room from other workers so he isn't around them.  He wears his mask.  Unfortunately our Covid numbers have spiked so he had to take a leave of absence again.  They are really great working with him. 

 

As for cruising, I am not sure when or if that will happen.  I can hope and dream, though, they can't take that from me.  We may just end up moving onto a cruise ship and live there!  If this Nation gets any more crazy I'm sure what we will do.  

 

Must be so hard for people with kids. The numbers are going up everywhere. We were doing so good here then they started to open things up. Then the college and high school kids decided to have all these parties. And the numbers went up. Now we are back to over 2,000 new cases a day. It's very frustrating. As for us, we haven't been anywhere but to Johns mom's and to see my new granddaughter. We are still getting everything delivered. 

 

We did however book our cruise again. They posted the 2022 cruises. Maybe by then there will be a vaccine and it will be safe to go. But just having it booked makes us feel better. Gives us something to look forward to. 

[cruise-a-holic]

WOW I didnt realize this subject has been around so long. 

 

My wife and I are  planning a cruise with our son and his new guide dog on Regent Splendor. My wife and I sailed on the Splendor on its Maiden Voyage and loved it and wanted to share the "Splendor" experience with our son. However I heard from our TA that Regent supplies a "litter box" with dog litter?? and a small piece of carpet for the dogs feet. The "litter box" would be kept on our balcony. We don't find this too desirable.

 

We have been on approximately eight cruises on various cruise lines with his prior guide dogs and have never had this type of relief area. In the past the cruise lines would set up a relief area on an obsolete deck (such as a rope deck) where passangers are not allowed. One time Holland America set up a relief area in a remote area of a public deck. They went all out. There were two potted palms and sod. They had those red velvet ropes with pictures of fire hydrents and a sign saying "Service Animal" relief area. Mary Jo felt like royalty. Typically the cruise line would ask what type of relief area we would like sod, Astro Turff, mulch etc. 

 

I would like to hear if other guide dog users have sailed on Regent and their experiences. Also has any one used litter boxes on their balconies, how their dogs fared with a litter box, how cean up and sanitation was handled. 

[DUTRAVEL]

6 minutes ago, cruise-a-holic said:

WOW I didnt realize this subject has been around so long. 

 

My wife and I are  planning a cruise with our son and his new guide dog on Regent Splendor. My wife and I sailed on the Splendor on its Maiden Voyage and loved it and wanted to share the "Splendor" experience with our son. However I heard from our TA that Regent supplies a "litter box" with dog litter?? and a small piece of carpet for the dogs feet. The "litter box" would be kept on our balcony. We don't find this too desirable.

 

We have been on approximately eight cruises on various cruise lines with his prior guide dogs and have never had this type of relief area. In the past the cruise lines would set up a relief area on an obsolete deck (such as a rope deck) where passangers are not allowed. One time Holland America set up a relief area in a remote area of a public deck. They went all out. There were two potted palms and sod. They had those red velvet ropes with pictures of fire hydrents and a sign saying "Service Animal" relief area. Mary Jo felt like royalty. Typically the cruise line would ask what type of relief area we would like sod, Astro Turff, mulch etc. 

 

I would like to hear if other guide dog users have sailed on Regent and their experiences. Also has any one used litter boxes on their balconies, how their dogs fared with a litter box, how cean up and sanitation was handled. 

I haven't sailed on Regent so I can't help with that. I have had my service dog's relief box on our balcony several times (with either mulch or sod). We didn't have any problem with a mess except the one time the light weight mulch was flying around in the wind. Our cabin steward wet it down slightly and that solved the problem. I could see how dog litter could be an issue, but your cabin steward should take care of keeping the balcony cleaned up for you and changing the litter when necessary. You will be in charge of keeping the solid waste picked up.

[cruise-a-holic]

I see your buddy is a Black Lab so is Daisie. So your box was big enough for the dog and there was also plenty of room on your balcony? We were on a cruise many years ago and they had two fairly small steel pans attached to each other. I would describe them as two large jelly roll pans. They were filled with pellets which may be dog litter?? The pans with the pellets were slippery and the first time Vicki got inthem she slipped and fell. She did not want to go back. 

[DUTRAVEL]

14 minutes ago, cruise-a-holic said:

I see your buddy is a Black Lab so is Daisie. So your box was big enough for the dog and there was also plenty of room on your balcony? We were on a cruise many years ago and they had two fairly small steel pans attached to each other. I would describe them as two large jelly roll pans. They were filled with pellets which may be dog litter?? The pans with the pellets were slippery and the first time Vicki got inthem she slipped and fell. She did not want to go back. 

Yes, my service dog Henrietta is a 65lb black lab. When the box has been on our balcony, it has been an 4x4 wooden box. Henrietta is used to going in a box; she has no problem with the size. We have had plenty of room for the box on the balcony; however, I am a wheelchair user and the accessible rooms that we book have a longer balcony than a standard balcony.

 

It is so annoying that the relief boxes vary from cruise line to cruise line and even from ship to ship within the same cruise line. We have had them put kitty litter in the box and my dog has absolutely refused to use it. I would try to get some specific answers from Regent regarding the relief box; however, I have found that talking to the special needs department prior to the cruise has not been very helpful. We have always had to deal with the box placement and filler once we are onboard.

[rangeley]

Each cruise line has their own choice for box filler. Our last service dog liked grass. We are trying to get our new one used to different fillers. Most of the time the cruise line will try to get what you prefer. 

 

As far as the box on the balcony, we are usually begging to have it placed there. 

 

Cindy

[S.S. Cruisers]

😗  🌻 Hope everyone is having a nice weekend. 🐾💕

[rpclmc]

I am getting incredible offers from Carnival.  But just can't bring myself to tie up money with something that is so unpredictable.   I just anticipate my travels will involve staying within the continental U.S.

 

I am starting to walk with a walker.  It is VERY slow progress, but it is progress none the less.  There is a lot of fear involved in retraining the body to walk, fear of falling again.  I am thinking of doing some walking in the Y pool.  To get the body used to the mechanics of walking without the fear of falling.

 

Sure hope everyone had a good weekend.  Our COVID numbers have spiked and Idaho was moved back to a modified stage 2, businesses are still opened, but no gatherings in numbers greater than 10 unless it is a protest outside.  This is Idaho, not only is it getting cold outside, we rarely have protests; so that didn't change much.  Except families won't be gathering for the holidays, we is ok with us, we like nice, quiet holidays.

 

Linda and Halo

[S.S. Cruisers]

Linda, 

I hope your physical therapy gets easier and easier.  Like you said it will take time and patience.  How is Halo taking the idol time?  I am sure he is enjoying just being with mom.  ❤️

 

[rpclmc]

On 11/20/2020 at 10:11 AM, S.S. Cruisers said:

Linda, 

I hope your physical therapy gets easier and easier.  Like you said it will take time and patience.  How is Halo taking the idol time?  I am sure he is enjoying just being with mom.  ❤️

 

It is almost like Halo has stepped up his game.  Before the fall, I would ask him to get something and he would be slow about getting it or bring me things I hadn't asked for.  Now he goes right for what I am asking for and seems to be attached to my hip.

 

I am sleeping in the guest room and he doesn't get to sleep with me.   I know he doesn't like that at all.  But he doesn't have a problem sleeping with my husband, but whenever I move to get to the bathroom or get up in the morning, he is right outside my door.

 

Linda and Halo

[cruise-a-holic]

On 11/10/2020 at 11:32 PM, rangeley said:

Each cruise line has their own choice for box filler. Our last service dog liked grass. We are trying to get our new one used to different fillers. Most of the time the cruise line will try to get what you prefer. 

 

As far as the box on the balcony, we are usually begging to have it placed there. 

 

Cindy

Yes in the past we have been asked what we would like sod, mulch Astro turf etc. We were originally told that they would provide a "litter " type of filler. We had a bad experience years ago with a different dog and "litter". It appears that we can request Astro turf or sod and are waiting for a confirmation. I don't mind placing a deposit on the cruise however if we cancel there would be a $300 penalty. I really want some assurance before I'm at risk for even the $300.

[S.S. Cruisers]

On 11/22/2020 at 2:10 PM, rpclmc said:

It is almost like Halo has stepped up his game.  Before the fall, I would ask him to get something and he would be slow about getting it or bring me things I hadn't asked for.  Now he goes right for what I am asking for and seems to be attached to my hip.

 

I am sleeping in the guest room and he doesn't get to sleep with me.   I know he doesn't like that at all.  But he doesn't have a problem sleeping with my husband, but whenever I move to get to the bathroom or get up in the morning, he is right outside my door.

 

Linda and Halo

What a good boy, Halo.  Taking care of mom. They definitely know when things  aren't "right".

[rangeley]

On 11/22/2020 at 4:10 PM, rpclmc said:

It is almost like Halo has stepped up his game.  Before the fall, I would ask him to get something and he would be slow about getting it or bring me things I hadn't asked for.  Now he goes right for what I am asking for and seems to be attached to my hip.

 

I am sleeping in the guest room and he doesn't get to sleep with me.   I know he doesn't like that at all.  But he doesn't have a problem sleeping with my husband, but whenever I move to get to the bathroom or get up in the morning, he is right outside my door.

 

Linda and Halo

 

So glad you are doing better. Just take it slow, there's not much else to do. Focus on yourself. 

 

Dogs are funny when they know you're hurting. Oak doesn't sleep with John but when he came home from the hospital in May, Oak didn't leave his side. 

[rangeley]

On 11/22/2020 at 5:24 PM, cruise-a-holic said:

Yes in the past we have been asked what we would like sod, mulch Astro turf etc. We were originally told that they would provide a "litter " type of filler. We had a bad experience years ago with a different dog and "litter". It appears that we can request Astro turf or sod and are waiting for a confirmation. I don't mind placing a deposit on the cruise however if we cancel there would be a $300 penalty. I really want some assurance before I'm at risk for even the $300.

 

 

We usually ask for turf. Our cruise out to California they had bark mulch, or should I say bark. It was the size of your hand. Really ridiculous. The dogs couldn't step on it without sliding off. The only cruise that was bad was a Holland America cruise that they claimed they didn't know we were coming. I assume the pages of paperwork we filled out must have gotten lost. But they put sawdust in the box. I assume it was all they had on hand. On HAL ships they usually put the box on the promenade deck. Unfortunately it can be windy and sawdust and wind don't mix. By the next stop they had fixed it. 

[S.S. Cruisers]

Happy Thanksgiving Eve to all.  We are not traveling any where (Well me to grocery store for grocery pick up) and no one is coming to visit.  Sad to say, quiet, the way we like it.  Can't deal with drama.  We will hopefully have our small turkey breast with stuffing, cranberry sauce (for hubby) olives and maybe some mash taters.  

 

The school had 2 make up days, Monday and Tuesday.  Travis went in both days and got most caught up.  I hope he realizes that he has to keep up now, because it is the pits to catch up.  He said, not many kids their, one class only had 2 others in it.  So that was good.  Didn't want to defeat the purpose of him staying home all this time.  Unfortunately, all the kids will have to go for 2 days to complete their finals.  Arrangements have already been made that he will take his tests in the learning center.  I am so over this schedule.  I look forward to him graduating and going out on his own as an adult.  You try and teach them everything you think they should know, and deep down, I think, oh, we haven't gone over that!  He had a part time job, so he is aware of bank accounts and such.  Just have to get him up to speed that the will have bills (living expenses) that he doesn't pay here.  His math class is awesome, it is teaching them real life situations with the math included.  Bank account, checking registers and such, loans and what interest will cost.  I am thankful for the extra help, since moms don't know anything.  

[rangeley]

On 11/25/2020 at 11:24 AM, S.S. Cruisers said:

Happy Thanksgiving Eve to all.  We are not traveling any where (Well me to grocery store for grocery pick up) and no one is coming to visit.  Sad to say, quiet, the way we like it.  Can't deal with drama.  We will hopefully have our small turkey breast with stuffing, cranberry sauce (for hubby) olives and maybe some mash taters.  

 

The school had 2 make up days, Monday and Tuesday.  Travis went in both days and got most caught up.  I hope he realizes that he has to keep up now, because it is the pits to catch up.  He said, not many kids their, one class only had 2 others in it.  So that was good.  Didn't want to defeat the purpose of him staying home all this time.  Unfortunately, all the kids will have to go for 2 days to complete their finals.  Arrangements have already been made that he will take his tests in the learning center.  I am so over this schedule.  I look forward to him graduating and going out on his own as an adult.  You try and teach them everything you think they should know, and deep down, I think, oh, we haven't gone over that!  He had a part time job, so he is aware of bank accounts and such.  Just have to get him up to speed that the will have bills (living expenses) that he doesn't pay here.  His math class is awesome, it is teaching them real life situations with the math included.  Bank account, checking registers and such, loans and what interest will cost.  I am thankful for the extra help, since moms don't know anything.  

 

We had a quiet Thanksgiving here too. We usually go to Johns sisters, his mom lives there too. We chose to stay home this year. Johns sister cooked the whole dinner and we drove over and picked it up. She is amazing! She had everything packed up and ready to go when we got there. She gave us enough food for an army. I don't know how many times I can eat it. 😳

 

Last week our neighbor found out he had Covid. I had been at his shop (oil company) to get my car inspected which was due last May. Luckily I just got out and stood to the side. It's been over 2 weeks so I guess we are in the clear. We could not get tested. Everywhere was booked up for testing. It's sad that people that really need to get tested can't because everyone is getting tested to go to some big gathering for Thanksgiving. ☹️

 

I'm sure Travis will do great. I always felt that you teach them everything you can and hope it sticks. I noticed this with my son. They do the right thing and you're like wow!

 

Don't know if I mentioned it but we have a new baby granddaughter! Being a grandma is the best thing ever!! I am so in love with this baby. She will be 3 months on the 3rd. Here is a pic of her. Her name is Isla Marie. 

 

[puppycanducruise]

@RangleyWhat a cutie!  Enjoy being a grandma.

[S.S. Cruisers]

Oh my goodness, Cindy, she is adorable.  I bet it kills you not being able to see her all the time and steal those baby kisses and hugs.  I keep reminding myself, if nothing else, we taught Travis right from wrong and he is pretty good able owning it when he has made a bad choice.  We get compliments on how polite he is when he is with others.  I hope him being home and not around anyone doesn't take its toll on him.  He can be shy about talking to others, especially adults.  His little job helped with that.  Only time will tell.  

[DUTRAVEL]

3 hours ago, rangeley said:

 

Don't know if I mentioned it but we have a new baby granddaughter! Being a grandma is the best thing ever!! I am so in love with this baby. She will be 3 months on the 3rd. Here is a pic of her. Her name is Isla Marie. 

 

Congratulations - she is adorable.

 

Dianne

[Caribbean Chris]

Cindy, you’ve made my day with this photo of your new granddaughter- what a happy little cutie!!

 

We had a small outdoor Thanksgiving by the pool with two close friends who have been our pandemic buddies. The weather was beautiful and we were thankful for so many blessings. Raylene was thankful to score a cracker my friend dropped - she never gets any table food at all, so it was a rare treat!

 

Bob left at 6 a.m. to drive to a Covid test site today, needed for foot surgery on Tuesday. I won’t be able to sit in a waiting room next week, so will have to either sit in my car or find a shady parking place or park near the hospital where I can read for a few hours. I guess they’ll text me when I need to pick him up. So many adaptations we all need to make now.

 

Happy weekend, everybody!