A mom, two sons and a service dog tackle the Conquest

[momof3cruisers]

They are polarized so there’s that. 😎

[Itchy&Scratchy]

22 hours ago, momof3cruisers said:

Boys on formal night and Max and C on the balcony

 

 

oh, I didn't realize Max was so tiny. He is so handsome!

 

Poor baby had to hold it for so long. I feel for him.

Edited December 30, 2023 by Itchy&Scratchy

[georgiacat]

Where were we?  Want to hear about the dog.

[jimbo5544]

4 hours ago, georgiacat said:

Where were we?  Want to hear about the dog.

Love to hear about the dog as well.  How does that work?

[Kudos2Fly]

Interesting post. Having my two dogs on a cruise would be interesting. They are NOT service dogs. One we just got and she freaks out when every she see a "new" dog. The other one wants to "prove" her self as Alpha which has it own issues. 

 

I think the whole service dog thing is probably not something crew members see a lot. I have sailed on 20+ cruises and have not seen one service dog on the ships I have been on. I can't say I have a lot of experience at this. I do notice dogs in when we are not in the normal areas. But I do see service dogs or service dogs in training. The dogs have a vest that says "I'm working don't pet me." Although most crew members on ships probably don't read English. And views on "pets" probably are different from country to country. So your service dog was a very rare thing for these people. 

 

Maybe giving some people a card that you can give to them that goes to a website and explain more about service dogs and how to act around them. But in a more polite way then "non of your business". Also I would have reported to the guest services on the lady that couldn't take a hit on your commination on not bothering your dog while he was working. 

 

Hope you had a good vacation....

 

 

[Haljo1935]

I have need following along since you started your post- it's interesting, informative and entertaining. 

I am currently on a 16 day cruise on another line experiencing cruising with 2 non-service 🐕 - it's not good.

I appreciate you sharing your experiences with us and look forward to the rest of the story.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

18 hours ago, Kudos2Fly said:

Although most crew members on ships probably don't read English.

what? of course, they do.

 

18 hours ago, Kudos2Fly said:

I have sailed on 20+ cruises and have not seen one service dog on the ships I have been on.

we've been on around 20 cruises total (maybe, even fewer) and we've seen service dogs on quite a few of them.

[Kudos2Fly]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

what? of course, they do.

 

we've been on around 20 cruises total (maybe, even fewer) and we've seen service dogs on quite a few of them.

 

You know for sure every crew member is fluent in reading English? Maybe the staff that work with the guest have to be. That doesn't mean every one is. On my last cruise we spoke with one of the cleaning staff about something and she only new a few words of English, barely enough to answer our question. So you think she would be fluent in reading English? By the way this is not a put down of the staff. Can you give me a break down of the crew on each cruise line that they speak and read English? I know I can't and from the 30 plus different nationalities which many of them have different levels of training and education. I know one person that can speak Spanish but can't read it.  

 

I told you my experience. No reason to jump on me for just saying I haven't seen service dogs on the  cruises I have been on. I have seen them on airlines, shopping centers, beaches, private airports and a host of other places. Cruises isn't one of them at least not as of now. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

2 hours ago, Kudos2Fly said:

No reason to jump on me for just saying I haven't seen service dogs on the  cruises I have been on.

good grief, I didn't jump on you at all. I just said we've seen a few on less than 20 cruises.

[Kudos2Fly]

45 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

good grief, I didn't jump on you at all. I just said we've seen a few on less than 20 cruises.

That's the problem with doing text or any written communication. Things get missed interpreted. I just dealt with this with my sister... I love our dogs but my new one would be booted from service dog training pretty quickly. She freaks out at meeting new dogs... 

 

Sorry for miss communication. I personally haven't seen any service dogs on cruises. Not that I wont see it in the future. 

[Pellaz]

We've been waiting so long for the conclusion of this fascinating tale that in the meantime, half of the U.S. froze over.  😄  

 

(Seriously, we want to know about the dog.  Or "dawg" if you're from UGA territory. 🙂) 

Edited January 21 by Pellaz

[Haljo1935]

@momof3cruisers hoping you can come back and answer a couple questions. What, if any, instructions were you given regarding Max in dining rooms?? You mentioned once he was under the table - is that his/Cs choice or did the ship tell you he had to be there? What about Lido buffet and other "open" eating venues (such as pizza) - was he allowed there?

[Momma1980]

I feel it was cruel to take the dog on a cruise with no access to land without preparing it to potty on something familiar that they could have brought along. 28 HOURS without relieving itself?!?!

[Davechipp74]

Well did Max enjoy his cruise? Does he earn past cruise credits like the rest of us? Can you imagine what reviews would be like if were all aloud to bring our dogs? 😂

I have a Belgian Malinois (Casino) who works very hard and can use a vacation, he is very highly trained in protection so he'd be a good boi.

Edited February 16 by Davechipp74

[Pyxie]

6 hours ago, Momma1980 said:

I feel it was cruel to take the dog on a cruise with no access to land without preparing it to potty on something familiar that they could have brought along. 28 HOURS without relieving itself?!?!

 

Obviously they never intended for the dog to have to wait 28 hours between pottying. They knew the ship provided a potty area for the dogs and weren't aware that their dog would refuse to use it. They now know for next time and can be better prepared. They certainly weren't being negligent or purposefully cruel in any way.

[Momma1980]

22 hours ago, Pyxie said:

 

Obviously they never intended for the dog to have to wait 28 hours between pottying. They knew the ship provided a potty area for the dogs and weren't aware that their dog would refuse to use it. They now know for next time and can be better prepared. They certainly weren't being negligent or purposefully cruel in any way.

While I agree they were not being intentionally cruel, I still think it was cruel to neglect preparing this animal to be on a cruise ship for multiple nights away from land. Much could have been done. 

[TrinaLC]

1 hour ago, Momma1980 said:

While I agree they were not being intentionally cruel, I still think it was cruel to neglect preparing this animal to be on a cruise ship for multiple nights away from land. Much could have been done. 

Wow. Just wow. 

[broberts]

3 hours ago, Momma1980 said:

While I agree they were not being intentionally cruel, I still think it was cruel to neglect preparing this animal to be on a cruise ship for multiple nights away from land. Much could have been done. 

 

Perhaps you could provide details for future reference.

[Momma1980]

12 hours ago, broberts said:

 

Perhaps you could provide details for future reference.

Are you asking what could have been done to prepare the pup?  If so, I could think of multitudes of things. Too many to list. 
 

The owner of the dog would know best how to prepare him for a trip away from home for multiple nights in strange circumstances.  

[broberts]

4 hours ago, Momma1980 said:

Are you asking what could have been done to prepare the pup?  If so, I could think of multitudes of things. Too many to list. 
 

The owner of the dog would know best how to prepare him for a trip away from home for multiple nights in strange circumstances.  

 

Was my question not clear? You have accused the owner of not properly preparing the animal for the voyage. In fact you have accused the owner of cruelty. Yet you refuse to enlighten us on what could have been done differently. 

[georgiacat]

I am worried that something happened to the family or the dog since we have not heard about their trip is a long time.  Does anyone know if they are all safe?  Prayers.

[Pellaz]

22 hours ago, Momma1980 said:

Are you asking what could have been done to prepare the pup?  If so, I could think of multitudes of things. Too many to list. 

 

Well, then it shouldn't be too hard at ALL for you to list, say, five things the owners could have done to prepare their canine for the terrifying rigors of cruise-ship travel.  Please enlighten us. 

 

22 hours ago, Momma1980 said:

The owner of the dog would know best how to prepare him for a trip away from home for multiple nights in strange circumstances.  

So, perhaps the owners of the dog "knew best" that little or no preparation was needed for their well-trained dog?  

 

Edited February 19 by Pellaz
Clarification

[Susan in Maine]

On 2/16/2024 at 5:52 AM, Momma1980 said:

I feel it was cruel to take the dog on a cruise with no access to land without preparing it to potty on something familiar that they could have brought along. 28 HOURS without relieving itself?!?!

The whole point of having a service dog is because the human needs the dog ALL THE TIME. So you are actually saying the family shouldn't take a cruise because of the dog. Not your dog (hahahaha!), not your race.

[momof3cruisers]

On 2/18/2024 at 7:54 AM, georgiacat said:

I am worried that something happened to the family or the dog since we have not heard about their trip is a long time.  Does anyone know if they are all safe?  Prayers.

We are good. I was actually doing two sort of back to back cruises since the 16th of Feb and this is my first time on CC since I got back. Breeze out of Galveston, then two days on the island and onto Voyager of the Seas. It was very fun and interesting to compare the two right after one another. It’s kind of you to be concerned. Thanks for checking. 

On 2/21/2024 at 1:54 PM, Susan in Maine said:

The whole point of having a service dog is because the human needs the dog ALL THE TIME. So you are actually saying the family shouldn't take a cruise because of the dog. Not your dog (hahahaha!), not your race.

Thank you. For that matter, my son wouldn’t go anywhere just in case some bizarre thing arose.

On 2/18/2024 at 2:39 AM, Momma1980 said:

Are you asking what could have been done to prepare the pup?  If so, I could think of multitudes of things. Too many to list. 
 

The owner of the dog would know best how to prepare him for a trip away from home for multiple nights in strange circumstances.  

Indeed, the owner of the dog DOES know best how to prepare his dog. This dog and my son have spent hours upon hours in the multitudes in training for so very many situations. In addition to traveling all over the country via car, train, and airplane. He’s also been in boats both on lakes and the ocean. He has never before ignored a command of any kind.

 

As far as cruelty, Max is thrilled and delighted to simply be with “his boy” which is what he knows C as. Keep in mind, we did not prevent him from going potty. He didn’t want to. Also, he was very happy and well behaved regardless of having not gone potty. His tail was wagging, he did his tasks just as normal and out of his vest was very playful and affectionate. 
 

I’d love to hear your multitudes of things you would have done. 

On 2/16/2024 at 8:01 AM, Davechipp74 said:

Well did Max enjoy his cruise? Does he earn past cruise credits like the rest of us? Can you imagine what reviews would be like if were all aloud to bring our dogs? 😂

I have a Belgian Malinois (Casino) who works very hard and can use a vacation, he is very highly trained in protection so he'd be a good boi.

Max did enjoy his cruise! He LOVED being on the balcony and laying in the sun. He’s originally from Missouri and isn’t impressed with our cold MN winters.

On 2/16/2024 at 2:13 AM, Haljo1935 said:

@momof3cruisers hoping you can come back and answer a couple questions. What, if any, instructions were you given regarding Max in dining rooms?? You mentioned once he was under the table - is that his/Cs choice or did the ship tell you he had to be there? What about Lido buffet and other "open" eating venues (such as pizza) - was he allowed there?

In any restaurant Max is always under the table unless it’s not possible for some reason. C says, “Under” and Max knows what to do. Service dogs are allowed anywhere a passenger is allowed although, I am sure if they had signed up for Behind the Fun that he would not have been allowed into the kitchen or any food prep areas. Oh, also not in pools or hot tubs.
 

He never EVER gets on furniture, even the deck chairs. When outside on the deck, C lays his blanket down for him and Max knows that is his spot. If C was in the sun, he had Max go under his lounger as well to keep him in the shade if it was hot.

 

The dog carries his own bowl on his vest so if he needed water, C just fills a clean glass and then pours it into his bowl for him. 

[momof3cruisers]

On 1/21/2024 at 3:50 PM, Pellaz said:

We've been waiting so long for the conclusion of this fascinating tale that in the meantime, half of the U.S. froze over.  😄  

 

(Seriously, we want to know about the dog.  Or "dawg" if you're from UGA territory. 🙂) 

I did not realize I hadn’t concluded my review! I wrote it up but I’m not sure where. 🥴 I’ll find it and do my best to get it posted by Friday. Hopefully Thursday.