Finally, reporting on our first cruise with my small medic alert service dog. We did the April 27/24 Princess Cruises Pacific Coast Wine Tour, which left from Los Angeles and ended in Vancouver, Canada, which is our home port.
Flying into Los Angeles on Westjet was no problem except for the border control at YVR. They put us into secondary inspection because I had some tiny pieces of dried fish in my pocket for my service dog for going through security. The second border marshal waved us through after looking at the package of dog treats, which I had in my carry on.
We went through the special services check-in desk at embarkation and handed over copies of all of my service dog papers (rabies certificate, copy of our BC service dog certification, vaccination records, health certificate). Several different people came over and wanted to see the papers themselves, which was quite nerve wracking. Finally, a supervisor came over and asked if we had pre registered! EEEEEK! I said yes and then we were allowed to board. Anxiety level pretty high at this point!
Once on board, we checked in at the customer service desk about the location of the potty box, but nobody there knew where it was! EEEEK! I did my best to maintain calm and also checked in at the excursion desk, where, finally, somebody knew to expect us. Then we went to our cabin, where fortunately, our cabin steward knew where the potty box was. The level of disorganization was disheartening and I was just about ready to get off the ship again!
Everywhere I walked on the ship we could hear people commenting on the dog; not always in a kind way. Many smiles and people telling me about their dogs, but also pretty regular unpleasant comments. Plus, so many people asking completely inappropriate questions about what the dog did for me... especially in elevators, oddly enough. I expected that people would want to touch him, but not the frequency with which people jumped out and tried to pick him up. I didn't mind too much as so many people, especially crew, had such huge smiles on their faces when they saw him. I heard a lot of stories about a lot of dogs from a lot of different people I'd never met before.
Despite having exposed my dog to a replica potty box with a similar material, he was completely uninterested in using the one on the boat. It was really stressful for about a day and a half, until he would finally use it without having to be walked around it for quite some time. I actually moved the box into another part of the crew area than where they placed it as the original area was very loud. My dog seemed more comfortable with it tucked into a quiet corner. If this is the first cruise with your service dog, expect to spend a good amount of time walking around the potty box area on the first day
The most stressful part of the trip was that people just didn't notice the dog, despite his very obvious harness and labeled red leash. He was kicked numerous times in the first few days and I finally started picking him up anywhere that was crowded, including entering the dining rooms sometimes.
The first day on the ship, the dining room staff were really good about moving us around until we found a place that was comfortable for me and safe for the dog. We got to stay at that table every meal for the rest of the cruise and never even had to wait in line.
The staff were fabulous. Some of the passengers: not so much.
I did bring all the cruise service dog authorization documents, fortunately! I included them in the bundle I handed over but no one ever looked at the papers. I followed as many of the recommendations as possible from what I have read on this group.
