HenryKisor

Thanks, Roz, I'll try the cruise director or hotel manager or whatever HAL calls it. By the way, you are right about the crew. Some of them were a little too friendly toward Trooper on those two HAL cruises. (Except for my cabin attendants on the last one—they were TERRIFIED of the little 17-pound schnoodle!) There was one episode in the dining room when the wine steward leaned over and spoke to Trooper, who was sleeping, and he was startled into a defensive bark. We explained to the dining room boss what had happened and he informed the dining room staff of proper service dog etiquette. No more problems there. One maitre 'd found the perfect place for us in the dining room—a two-person table right next to a waiter station, which had a large overhang under which Trooper could shelter from the madding crowd. We had no complaints.

Thanks, Roz and Dianne. I had not considered the psychological effects of such a PA announcement on "civilian" dog lovers.

All the same, the problem remains, and it is, I think, especially acute for handlers of small service dogs, especially those who (like Trooper) are extraordinarily cute. There's something authoritative about big dogs like Labs that ameliorate the situation. They LOOK like the classic stereotype of a service dog..

Roz, your idea of the ship's daily newspaper may be the best answer. HAL publishes a daily reader with details about activities on the ship that day. Possibly a hotel manager would have to get the OK from corporate superiors before straying from policy. I think I'll explore this with HAL management and see what they have to say.

I am not sure how to start a new subject so will just tack this on to the most recent message.

On our HAL cruises a number of passengers attempted to pet Trooper without our permission or made kissing noises and the like when we walked by. This was annoying. I wondered if it might be a good idea to come up with a little message to ask the hotel manager to broadcast on the ship's PA system at the beginning of the cruise and again later on if such a problem continued. Such as:

"There are service dogs aboard ship. They are working dogs and should be left alone to do their jobs. Even talking to the dogs might distract them from their work. If you would like to meet them, please ask their handlers first."

What think, everyone?

Thanks! Will do that. I'm a newbie and easily confused.

I am not sure how to start a new subject so will just tack this on to the most recent message.

On our HAL cruises a number of passengers attempted to pet Trooper without our permission or made kissing noises and the like when we walked by. This was annoying. I wondered if it might be a good idea to come up with a little message to ask the hotel manager to broadcast on the ship's PA system at the beginning of the cruise and again later on if such a problem continued. Such as:

"There are service dogs aboard ship. They are working dogs and should be left alone to do their jobs. Even talking to the dogs might distract them from their work. If you would like to meet them, please ask their handlers first."

What think, everyone?

I should have introduced myself first. Trooper, my little black schnoodle from Dogs for the Deaf, and I live in a Chicago suburb. We have traveled hither and yon by airplane, train, cruise ship and automobile. We've taken two HAL cruises, one a one-weaker to the Caribbean and the other a two-weeker to Alaska. Both went well, and we are eagerly looking forward to a two-week Panama Canal cruise on HAL next April. Our trips have not been without incident but nothing terrible has happened. We found the HAL people friendly and understanding.

My experience has been much the same on my two cruises with HAL with Trooper, but the reason for asking for policies is that a first-time cruiser on a particular line would want to know as much as possible what to expect. While most policies are much the same, there are subtle differences in emphasis of certain requirements. The willingness and thoroughness of the cruise lines' responses to such queries may be important.

I asked partly because I'm compiling the official service dog policies for all the cruise lines that stop in the U.S. Some of the policies (Cunard's, for example) go on and on for pages and pages. Some don't. Here's Regent Seven Seas': "We do not have an official written policy as we comply with all applicable state and/or Federal laws." Well, yeah, but . . .

Thanks. I know what the law is, but I'm wondering if some cruise lines try to evade it.

I've been meaning to reply, Roz. Yes, there definitely are times you "do what you gotta do!" We were on a tour in Homer, Alaska where there are no tour buses, so they use school buses made for small people. Raylene and I got on, and there was no way she had a space to fit on the floor beneath the little vinyl-covered bench seat. So she jumped up on curled up next to me. Not ideal, but no real alternative that day.

 

Same when we were in Homer last month. I asked the driver if Trooper could sit on a bench seat beside me and she said sure, that small children were far messier and not to worry about mud on his paws.

Hello. Are there any cruise lines that call at U.S. ports that DO NOT allow service dogs?