DUTRAVEL

44 minutes ago, yvet said:

 

Hello, 

I’m blind and have a service dog (guide dog for the blind).

We are cruising a 4 night cruise on MSC in May leaving and ending at  Port Canaveral.
At any other cruiseline they provide a relief area somewhere outside or in a passage for crew. Plus as far as i know every cruiseline is open about what they arrange for service dogs.

 

MSC works different they are secretive like crazy.
They won’t share anything even if you specifically ask what they arrange for relief areas.
The only answer we (that’s me and my TA) receive is we’ll take care of it.
As far as reviews go (very few to find) there is one that i can find that says they provide puppy pads for in the bathroom to pee.
Well that’s never going to work because a service dog is never ever going to pee or poop inside unless the dog is sick and it’s an accident… Or at least that’s how they are trained here in The Netherlands.

i understand that because they sail out of the USA they have to comply to the ADA eventho they are based in Europe.

if this is the case does the ADA have something about relief areas fro the service animal or is it only just that they have to let a SD onboard??

 

Thanks

I see that you are following Chris' great advice about contacting MSC's special needs department with your specific requirements. If you don't hear back from them, try these Executive contacts:

Primary Contact
Massimo Bergamaschi
Vice President, Contact Center Operations
6750 N. Andrews Avenue
Suite 100
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309
massimo.bergamaschi@msccruisesusa.com

Secondary Contact
Sarah Doyle
CMO Luxury Division
Avenue Eugène-Pittard 401206
Geneva, Switzerland
sarah.doyle@msccruises.com

Albino Di Lorenz
Vice President of Operations
6750 N. Andrews Avenue
Suite 100
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309
adilorenzo@msccruises.com

Chief Executive
Richard Sasso
Chairman, MSC Cruises USA
6750 N. Andrews Avenue
Suite 100
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33309
richard.sasso@msccruisesusa.com

As to your last question, there are US federal regulations that require cruise ships leaving from the United States to allow Service Dogs onboard. The Access Board was working on further regulations that would have covered relief box location etc., but our prior presidential administration halted those regulations via Executive Order 13771 (requiring that for each new federal regulation two current regulations be eliminated). For now, we all have to individually negotiate relief box issues.

2 hours ago, blueeyes57 said:

I am going in this cabin 7145 september in Alaskan 7 night cruise from Vancouver (eclipse) I will have a mobility scooter. Will I feel the motion much as it is concerning me and not sure if I should see off more mid ship accessible available.

The motion in that cabin isn't bad. To book a midship accessible cabin, you would have to book an inside cabin. All Verandas (regardless of class) are forward except the Sky Suites which are aft.

15 hours ago, farmgirlcruising said:

Hi everyone…I am trying to get some clarification and am going around in circles with Carnival. I am trying to travel with my service dog. If we do not plan on getting off the ship in port, what “documentation” do we need besides her vaccination records? Do we need to prepare documentation for each port even if we are not getting off. Thank you!

I haven't sailed Carnival so I don't know what their policy is on documentation.

As Chris mentioned, there are some places like the Bahamas that require a permit whether or not you are getting off the ship. For peace of mind, I also always get the paperwork needed for each country whether or not we are planning to get off the ship and try to comply with the requirements to the extent possible. Sometimes meeting a requirement is not feasibly possible. For example, for our Panama Canal cruise, Panama required that the health certificate be stamped and signed by a Panamanian diplomatic office (consulate or embassy) in the United States prior to travel. I still had my Vet prepare the Panamanian health certificate, but skipped the Panamanian signature because it was too difficult to obtain. Another country we were going to visit required a particular vaccination that is not required in the United States. In that case, I drafted a letter for my Vet to sign that stated the vaccination was not commonly given in the US and was difficult to obtain.

I don’t want to take the chance of being denied boarding, or as Chris said, having an issue with my Service Dog if we had to get off the ship in an emergency situation.

Thank you so much for your review! Excellent as always. I can't even imagine how much time you must take out of your vacation to post your pictures and review (I can barely even take the time anymore to post a picture on Insta).

We have just returned from our first cruise with my Service Dog on Princess (all of our other cruises with her have been on Celebrity). The relief box was located in an accessible inside crew area down the hall from our balcony cabin. Initially the box was too small (about 2 x 4), but they made a bigger box for her and all was well. I would have to say that this was the easiest cruise we have been on with regard to the box location and it was refreshing not to have to spend the entire first day of our cruise at Guest Services.

The cruise was round trip from San Francisco to Mexico which was wonderful because we didn't have to fly and the paperwork was so easy. We did have to be up and dressed before 7:00am to have her inspected by the local authorities in Manzanillo and Mazatlan. No inspection was required in Puerto Vallarta or Cabo San Lucas.

Overall, we felt very welcome on Princess with my Service Dog.

On 1/15/2023 at 5:19 AM, Caribbean Chris said:

Raylene has kept her cool through it all. I’m really proud of her. Of course many people want to touch her or talk to her but that’s another story. There are no pets allowed here and she is the first service dog ever (in almost 50 years!) according to staff members. So it’s somewhat like living on a cruise ship!

Glad to hear that Raylene is settling in to her new digs. Hope the other residents get used to having her there - the constant greeting must be exhausting!

On 1/14/2023 at 9:19 PM, rpclmc said:

 

On 1/14/2023 at 9:19 PM, rpclmc said:

I was wondering if anyone could provide me with a Celebrity vacation planner recommendation?  I don't know if that is allowed here.  I usually cruise Carnival, but we are going to give Celebrity a try and they have a great special good through tomorrow.  I book directly with the cruise line, but would like a direct contact with them if possible.

 

Also, I anticipate taking my new service dog on that one.  Has anyone cruised Celebrity with a service dog and recommendations for them?  I was looking at a veranda/balcony.  I was able to have Carnival put the relief box on the balcony.  Will Celebrity do that?  

 

Linda and Halo - for now (soon to retire)

I don't use a Celebrity Vacation Planner and so I don't have any recommendations.

I have cruised on Celebrity with my Service Dog a number of times. I have found that it is useless to talk to the Access Department ahead of time about box location or filler. They will tell you that it is up to the particular ship's officers. On the "S" class ships, the box is located outside on deck 5 in a crew area down what Chris and I refer to as the wind tunnel. On the Edge Class ships, the box is located in a similar outside location. On all of our cruises, I have been able to have the box moved (because the location is not wheelchair accessible) to either an inside crew area on our floor or on a few occassions to our balcony. You will have to go to Guest Services to get the box moved (and you have to be persistent) and as Chris says some ships are more accomodating than others.

3 hours ago, ev8876 said:

Thank you!

I don’t book my cruise deposit on my AMEX card. When I have had an AMEX bonus applied and then had to cancel, the entire amount has been refunded to the original card (and we don’t lose the AMEX bonus). 

I just upgraded one of us this week. Classic members get a 10% discount.

23 hours ago, CarolGS said:

We are hoping to sail in February. The sailing we are interested in is nearly sold out.  The only cabins left are several inside cabins (some standard and some accessible) and two accessible Sky Suites.  We are not interested in the inside cabins as I am somewhat claustrophobic. Due to old injuries I sometimes require a cane but otherwise do not require a wheelchair. Do I have a moral obligation to not book this sailing and leave the cabins to wheelchair bound cruisers?

 

People are not "wheelchair bound" - they are a wheelchair user or person that uses a wheelchair. Please try to avioid using ableist language.

Great pictures as usual Jim! Enjoying your trip along with you!

18 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

We had our B2B meeting this morning.   Real quick and not many questions. 

 

Mario handled it really well.    He had the head of each department come up and say a couple words and gave away gifts and offered many promotions.

 

Shore Excursions -  15% off all tours booked the first day

Spa -   20% treatments booked on first day

Specialty Dining 1st night 30% off and 20% for remainder of week

Free Specialty Dining for 2 Certificate

$100 OBC Certificate

Bag of Laundry

MDR -  Free bottle of wine and all invited to B2B lunch in MDR

Bottle of Champagne. 

 

Mario is the best. We have sailed with him and he is a big fan of Henrietta. 
 

Dianne

Walnut Creek would be a better choice than Concord for BART Parking (or Lafayette or Orinda). Vallejo ferry would not be a safe place to park.

6 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Diane & Henrietta -   Really didn't notice any in particular.   We did see dogs all over the place taking a siesta.   You know what a sucker I am for dogs.    I did share my taco with one at the Taquilla place.   Very strange dog -  markings of a Beagle but about 3 feet tall.  

 

I'll have to see if I can find Henrietta a Mexican Boyfriend.  

She would love it - lol! Congrats on the move up!

Hi Jim,

Have you happened to notice any stray dogs while you have been in port? I have heard there is a stray dog problem in Mexico and when we were on the Millenium last year in Ensenada there was a dog that was following us when we walked into town. I am a bit concerned about getting off the ship with Henrietta next month when we are on our Mexico cruise if its not going to be safe for her.

thanks,

Diane & Henrietta

42 minutes ago, davekathy said:

I'm sure you mean "not" going out of San Jose. 

No, if you are flying out of the Bay Area in bad weather you want to go San Jose or Oakland. The delays at SFO are terrible.

3 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

The rains are common no ashore as we board.  We are scheduled for an on time departure 

 

 

Have a great cruise. Good thing you were going out of San Jose; San Francisco is such a nightmare when it rains.

Dianne

So happy to be following another one of your live reviews Jim! Henrietta and I will be reading along with interest as we are taking a Mexican Riveria cruise in January. Don't tell anybody, but we are going to try a Princess cruise so that we can go round trip out of San Francisco and avoid flying. Have a great cruise!

Just booked yesterday with the 80 Francisco garage for a January cruise.

2 hours ago, Cruisefanatic71 said:

We were looking at a 2023 cruise on Royal Carribbean that takes us to both St. Croix USVI and Tortola BVI as well as their private island in the Bahamas. Any and all info is greatly appreciated on your experience. Thank you in advance. 

In addition to what Chris said, I believe you will need a permit for the Bahamas even if you are only going to Royal Carribbean's private island.

Thank you for taking the time out of your vacation to do your lovely review.

11 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Diane, I’m so glad your trip went well! For me, Alaska was such a great trip for service dogs since the tour operators are used to  US laws regarding disability accommodations. And the paperwork was less hassle than usual. Where to next?

Next up is a Mexican Riviera cruise in January to celebrate a big birthday. We are going to try Princess this time so that we can sail roundtrip out of San Francisco (only a 30 minute drive from where we live). We might start doing more Princess cruises so that we don't have to fly to the departure port. We also have a Transatlantic scheduled for October 2023 out of Barcelona. I will think long and hard about taking Henri with us though. She did well on the Alaska trip, but she is slowing down some and it will be a long day of travel to get to Barcelona. When we go to Europe we are usually on the go all day when in port. I just applied for a successor dog through Canine Companions; I expect the process to take about 18 months and Henri will be 11 by then. She is not ready to retire yet, but they encourage you to file the application ahead of time. 

That's great that HAL extended your credits. Good luck with the house sale and fingers crossed that you get your power back on ASAP.

Just returned from our Alaskan cruise roundtrip on Celebrity out of Vancouver. We experienced the usual issue with the relief box being in a location inaccessible to wheelchairs. We were able to get that issue resolved and all went smoothly from there. My Vet provided a Certificate of Veterinary Inspection for Alaska and no one questioned our paperwork. I was asked for service dog identification at Customs at YVR upon entering Canada. It wasn’t a problem since I do have a Guide Dog and Service Dog ID issued by the Provence of British Columbia (I assume they would have also accepted my ID from Canine Companions).

Neither Canadian Customs or US Customs asked about the dog food I was carrying with us (even though I had checked the box on both customs forms). I was asked to show Henri’s rabies certificate at US Customs to embark at Canada place, but was not asked to show it at US Customs at YVR. So basically, I was asked for different things each time at Customs (or nothing at all).

Just got off the Eclipse on Thursday. We were in a Veranda cabin. There is a plug in the wall (USA type plug) next to the nightstand (between the bed and the bathroom). We had a CPAP plugged in there. The other plugs are at the desk.

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Glad you had a wonderful cruise and hope Henrietta enjoyed it as well.  

Thanks Jim - Henrietta had a great time; she loves the cool rainy Alsaka weather.