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

[wizard-of-roz]

1 hour ago, rangeley said:

Oh boy, how lucky are you!  Lol  Remember what happens on Princess stays on Princess!

Hey, we're two families who go through life with  Service Dogs, how dangerous can we be?  Better than that, what the heck kind of trouble can a man in a wheel chair, a woman with a walker and a senior citizen get into?  Gonna be fun to find out!   

 

 

[rangeley]

24 minutes ago, wizard-of-roz said:

Hey, we're two families who go through life with  Service Dogs, how dangerous can we be?  Better than that, what the heck kind of trouble can a man in a wheel chair, a woman with a walker and a senior citizen get into?  Gonna be fun to find out!   

 

 

Senior citizen??? 😲 I'm a youngster compared to you two! 

[wizard-of-roz]

2 hours ago, rangeley said:

Senior citizen??? 😲 I'm a youngster compared to you two! 

Far be it for me to be rude......Seniors in our society are 55+.  Now that should infuriate the majority of most of our readers.

 

"Age is all about how you present yourself and I must tell you there are many days that I feel young and the majority presently old!!!!!!  I'll take it all, just as long as I can do it CRUISING"........by, Roz

[rangeley]

5 hours ago, wizard-of-roz said:

Far be it for me to be rude......Seniors in our society are 55+.  Now that should infuriate the majority of most of our readers.

 

"Age is all about how you present yourself and I must tell you there are many days that I feel young and the majority presently old!!!!!!  I'll take it all, just as long as I can do it CRUISING"........by, Roz

55? Damn 😭

[rangeley]

Roz, do you do some kind of worming for Mexico? John got an email saying Mexico changed their requirements and they have to be free from ecto and endo parasites. I know ecto is fleas and ticks but is endo heartworm or does it mean they want them wormed for other things? And you do option b? 

[lindaler]

What is option B? Does that mean you stay on board? We will be going through the canal in Feb. so will have to do what Mexico and several other countries want. Roz knows all so will wait and see what she advises. 

[rangeley]

44 minutes ago, lindaler said:

What is option B? Does that mean you stay on board? We will be going through the canal in Feb. so will have to do what Mexico and several other countries want. Roz knows all so will wait and see what she advises. 

Theres 2 options for Mexico. Ill post a pic from Aphis website. 

[allies_daphne]

Also wondering about any changes for Mexico.  Heading out in just under 70 days and was planning on Option B.  Was not planning on doing Prazequantil since we are not disembarking in Grand Cayman.  Any new info from anyone would be appreciated.

[wizard-of-roz]

8 minutes ago, rangeley said:

Theres 2 options for Mexico. Ill post a pic from Aphis website. 

The last time I entered Mexico was December, 2018.  I did NOT do any extra de-worming or medication for Horton prior to that trip.  Nor did I do any extra medication for Horton prior to my Panama Canal cruise the year before. 

 

Mexico required there be no abbreviations on the Aphis 7001 form and my Vet followed those instructions. 

 

When we arrived to Mexico the Immigration Officer examined all my paperwork prior to releasing anyone into the port, she found all paperwork adequate and after examining Horton, she found him fit to enter Mexico.  I made sure that ALL Horton's immunizations were current. 

 

The Vet mentioned on the form that Horton was on HeartGuard and NexGuard monthly.  Included in the paperwork was a Rabies Titer Test that had been done for our Hawaii cruise, less than a year before.  I even brought his Spay/Neuter Report that CCI provides us when we get our dogs.  The more paperwork that signifies your dog is maintained in superb condition the better! 

 

I always bring a complete set of paperwork to give to [keep original set]: 

1.  Registration

2. Immigration at the first port of entry 

3. Officials at the ship when re-entering ship, after a port visit

 

[rangeley]

4 minutes ago, wizard-of-roz said:

The last time I entered Mexico was December, 2018.  I did NOT do any extra de-worming or medication for Horton prior to that trip.  Nor did I do any extra medication for Horton prior to my Panama Canal cruise the year before. 

 

Mexico required there be no abbreviations on the Aphis 7001 form and my Vet followed those instructions. 

 

When we arrived to Mexico the Immigration Officer examined all my paperwork prior to releasing anyone into the port, she found all paperwork adequate and after examining Horton, she found him fit to enter Mexico.  I made sure that ALL Horton's immunizations were current. 

 

The Vet mentioned on the form that Horton was on HeartGuard and NexGuard monthly.  Included in the paperwork was a Rabies Titer Test that had been done for our Hawaii cruise, less than a year before.  I even brought his Spay/Neuter Report that CCI provides us when we get our dogs.  The more paperwork that signifies your dog is maintained in superb condition the better! 

 

I always bring a complete set of paperwork to give to [keep original set]: 

1.  Registration

2. Immigration at the first port of entry 

3. Officials at the ship when re-entering ship, after a port visit

 

So you're doing option b and not deworming?

 

Is Ensenada worth getting off at? I don't like to give the dog unnecessary meds if I don't t have to. 

Edited August 30, 2019 by rangeley

[wizard-of-roz]

16 minutes ago, rangeley said:

So you're doing option b and not deworming?

 

Is Ensenada worth getting off at? I don't like to give the dog unnecessary meds if I don't t have to. 

I'm not deworming Horton or me!!!!!  Horton is 10.5 years and doesn't need any extra meds.  If you and John want to go exploring I'm happy to keep Oakland onboard with Horty and me.  

 

At the dock in Ensenada are dozens of kiosks where you can find everything from jewelry to alcohol.  You can walk into the main street or take a shuttle.  It's very walking friendly [but is a distance] to restaurants and shops. 

 

The only dock I really want to get off at is Monterey and that's a tender port.   Horton doesn't like tender's and that's okay too.  I'm not getting off in San Francisco but I highly recommend it.  It's one of my most favorite ports in the world!  It's also where Morey and I spent our honeymoon and we would visit the restaurant where we ate every year [Tarantino's] for many, many years!  It's still there on the Embarcadero.

[rangeley]

50 minutes ago, wizard-of-roz said:

I'm not deworming Horton or me!!!!!  Horton is 10.5 years and doesn't need any extra meds.  If you and John want to go exploring I'm happy to keep Oakland onboard with Horty and me.  

 

At the dock in Ensenada are dozens of kiosks where you can find everything from jewelry to alcohol.  You can walk into the main street or take a shuttle.  It's very walking friendly [but is a distance] to restaurants and shops. 

 

The only dock I really want to get off at is Monterey and that's a tender port.   Horton doesn't like tender's and that's okay too.  I'm not getting off in San Francisco but I highly recommend it.  It's one of my most favorite ports in the world!  It's also where Morey and I spent our honeymoon and we would visit the restaurant where we ate every year [Tarantino's] for many, many years!  It's still there on the Embarcadero.

If you want to get off in Monterey, we will gladly take Horton. John can't get off there anyway. 

 

Even if we don't deworm them, will you still do the Mexico form?  

[wizard-of-roz]

6 minutes ago, rangeley said:

If you want to get off in Monterey, we will gladly take Horton. John can't get off there anyway. 

 

Even if we don't deworm them, will you still do the Mexico form?  

Cindy, I am going to present an Aphis 7001 form, along with proof of neuter,  and a copy of CCI Certificate of Training.  I have not received any other form to be filled out by me or my Vet from Princess.  Did Princess ask you to fill out any special Mexico form?  Usually Princess will send a "release" to be signed and sent back to them prior to the cruise.  I have not heard from them yet.

 

Make sure you have the Aphis form with all the good information about Oakland along with your CCI Cert. to show them.  Hopefully, we'll meet at the dock and enter together.  There should be no problems. 

 

I have to tell you there were folks who told me that I would need a special "Mexico" entry form to fill out before my cruise last December or I'd be refused entrance.  I never filled out any special Mexico paperwork and I was called by an officer of the ship to meet with an Immigration officer the morning we arrived in port who looked over the paperwork, looked over Horton and me and cleared us in 32 seconds, without asking for anything else.  She also told me she didn't care if the writing on the form had abbreviations or not but, that some officers did not like it. 

 

If I don't hear from Princess about any special paperwork for Mexico, I will bring the Aphis 7001 when Horton has his Vet visit in October and consider it DONE! 

[wizard-of-roz]

What a week......A dear, dear friend passed away last Thursday, suddenly and so unexpected.  Leah, you will so sorely missed.

 

We have a fire in our hills, a fire in Malibu and it's 100 degrees outside with threat of high humidity this weekend.  All we need is an earthquake and it's armaggeden [sp] all over again!

 

My cruise in November can't come soon enough!

 

Have a good week, a week of peace, may gladness reign and joy increase!

[rangeley]

13 minutes ago, wizard-of-roz said:

Cindy, I am going to present an Aphis 7001 form, along with proof of neuter,  and a copy of CCI Certificate of Training.  I have not received any other form to be filled out by me or my Vet from Princess.  Did Princess ask you to fill out any special Mexico form?  Usually Princess will send a "release" to be signed and sent back to them prior to the cruise.  I have not heard from them yet.

 

Make sure you have the Aphis form with all the good information about Oakland along with your CCI Cert. to show them.  Hopefully, we'll meet at the dock and enter together.  There should be no problems. 

 

I have to tell you there were folks who told me that I would need a special "Mexico" entry form to fill out before my cruise last December or I'd be refused entrance.  I never filled out any special Mexico paperwork and I was called by an officer of the ship to meet with an Immigration officer the morning we arrived in port who looked over the paperwork, looked over Horton and me and cleared us in 32 seconds, without asking for anything else.  She also told me she didn't care if the writing on the form had abbreviations or not but, that some officers did not like it. 

 

If I don't hear from Princess about any special paperwork for Mexico, I will bring the Aphis 7001 when Horton has his Vet visit in October and consider it DONE! 

No we did not get any form but they did tell us the Mexico regulations have changed. I already looked at the form. They mentioned #3 on the bottom of the form. Princess did not send us the form, I got it from the Aphis site. 

 

Edited August 31, 2019 by rangeley

[rangeley]

10 minutes ago, wizard-of-roz said:

What a week......A dear, dear friend passed away last Thursday, suddenly and so unexpected.  Leah, you will so sorely missed.

 

We have a fire in our hills, a fire in Malibu and it's 100 degrees outside with threat of high humidity this weekend.  All we need is an earthquake and it's armaggeden [sp] all over again!

 

My cruise in November can't come soon enough!

 

Have a good week, a week of peace, may gladness reign and joy increase!

 

 

So sorry to hear about your friend 😢  

 

If you want me to still come there don't tell me all these bad things!!! It better cool off by November. 🥵

 

Edited August 31, 2019 by rangeley

[wizard-of-roz]

36 minutes ago, rangeley said:

 

Cindy, thank you for your good wishes.  I can't wait to have this week with you, John and Oakland.  You MUST COME!!!!  It's one of the main reasons I don't plan too many trips in the summer.  Although, when the kids were younger and we wanted to take a family vacation we always did it in the summer.......Oh!  Yeh!  I was so much younger than.  In November our weather here in L.A. is perfect.....not too hot or too cold!

 

I called my Vets office and they told me to bring the Mexico form with me and they'll fill it out along with the Aphis form.  Can't hurt to have it.  The nurse said that they will specify that Horton is a senior dog and can not be over-treated to protect his immune system.  When your Vet is filling out the Aphis form ask what he thinks about these deworming meds and their necessity.  I can see doing this for pets.......but, our dogs are so regulated when it comes to their health, food and monthly meds, these extra medical treatments are totally unnecessary!  My Vet said he will sign and stipulate to this.   

[rangeley]

12 hours ago, wizard-of-roz said:

Cindy, thank you for your good wishes.  I can't wait to have this week with you, John and Oakland.  You MUST COME!!!!  It's one of the main reasons I don't plan too many trips in the summer.  Although, when the kids were younger and we wanted to take a family vacation we always did it in the summer.......Oh!  Yeh!  I was so much younger than.  In November our weather here in L.A. is perfect.....not too hot or too cold!

 

I called my Vets office and they told me to bring the Mexico form with me and they'll fill it out along with the Aphis form.  Can't hurt to have it.  The nurse said that they will specify that Horton is a senior dog and can not be over-treated to protect his immune system.  When your Vet is filling out the Aphis form ask what he thinks about these deworming meds and their necessity.  I can see doing this for pets.......but, our dogs are so regulated when it comes to their health, food and monthly meds, these extra medical treatments are totally unnecessary!  My Vet said he will sign and stipulate to this.   

We are going to ask our vet and have her fill out the form. She can just leave the deworming section blank. If they don't want to let Oakland off, we are not going to worry about it. Theres alot of places we don't get off. Just checking for our January cruise and a few places we arent getting off. Grand turk actually wants money. No way are we paying $50 just to walk around the dock area. Besides they have many stray dogs there. We love staying on when everyone gets off. Plop ourselves in a chair ot on our balcony and people watch. We are very boring. Lol

 

 

70 days! 😬

 

 

Edited August 31, 2019 by rangeley

[Caribbean Chris]

17 hours ago, rangeley said:

No we did not get any form but they did tell us the Mexico regulations have changed. I already looked at the form. They mentioned #3 on the bottom of the form. Princess did not send us the form, I got it from the Aphis site. 

 

 

On our past few cruises stopping in Mexican ports in the Caribbean (most recent was in April), I had my vet (must be Aphis accredited) use this “Option B”  template form(Cindy’s photo above) pasted on her letterhead because it does NOT have to be endorsed by an APHIS service center. I avoid that hassle and expense as much as possible https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/by-country/pettravel-mexico

 

The vet also issues the usual basic form 7001 which has a section 8 on the right “Pertinent vaccinations, treatment and testing history” for Rabies etc.. For every trip, we include on there the most recent date my dog had her ectoparasite (K9 Advantix) treatment including scientific name, and endoparasite treatment (Heartguard Plus) with same (see photo). No worming needed. The Mexican officials who came on board were fine with these two papers every time.

 

Edited August 31, 2019 by Caribbean Chris

[rangeley]

17 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

 

On our past few cruises stopping in Mexican ports in the Caribbean (most recent was in April), I had my vet (must be Aphis accredited) use this “Option B”  template form(Cindy’s photo above) pasted on her letterhead because it does NOT have to be endorsed by an APHIS service center. I avoid that hassle and expense as much as possible https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/by-country/pettravel-mexico

 

The vet also issues the usual basic form 7001 which has a section 8 on the right “Pertinent vaccinations, treatment and testing history” for Rabies etc.. For every trip, we include on there the most recent date my dog had her ectoparasite (K9 Advantix) treatment including scientific name, and endoparasite treatment (Heartguard Plus) with same (see photo). No worming needed. The Mexican officials who came on board were fine with these two papers every time.

 

Thanks so much for clarifying this. 

[wizard-of-roz]

13 hours ago, rangeley said:

We are going to ask our vet and have her fill out the form. She can just leave the deworming section blank. If they don't want to let Oakland off, we are not going to worry about it. Theres alot of places we don't get off. Just checking for our January cruise and a few places we arent getting off. Grand turk actually wants money. No way are we paying $50 just to walk around the dock area. Besides they have many stray dogs there. We love staying on when everyone gets off. Plop ourselves in a chair ot on our balcony and people watch. We are very boring. Lol

 

 

70 days! 😬

 

 

You have a great plan with your Vet.

 

I do exactly what you do.......we're going to love cruising together.  I love staying on the ship when everyone else gets off.  We can go sit in the Piazza or in a lounge and play some tridominoes.  

 

I hope that all our Florida friends and those in the path of Dorian stay safe.

[Caribbean Chris]

I completely agree with you both about not getting off in ports that make it an expensive hassle just for a few hours. (But I admit it’s easier for me to skip ports we visited on earlier cruises or during the years we lived in the Caribbean. It’s understandable that people want to see these islands.)

 

For Grand Cayman, often ships can’t tender due to high seas. On our last cruise, the Captain gave up, cancelled the port call, and sailed away at 10 a.m. Imagine how aggravating that would be if you had had blood tests and paid fees.

[rangeley]

11 hours ago, wizard-of-roz said:

You have a great plan with your Vet.

 

I do exactly what you do.......we're going to love cruising together.  I love staying on the ship when everyone else gets off.  We can go sit in the Piazza or in a lounge and play some tridominoes.  

 

I hope that all our Florida friends and those in the path of Dorian stay safe.

Geez I hope we don't hate eachother after this.  Lol

[rangeley]

4 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

I completely agree with you both about not getting off in ports that make it an expensive hassle just for a few hours. (But I admit it’s easier for me to skip ports we visited on earlier cruises or during the years we lived in the Caribbean. It’s understandable that people want to see these islands.)

 

For Grand Cayman, often ships can’t tender due to high seas. On our last cruise, the Captain gave up, cancelled the port call, and sailed away at 10 a.m. Imagine how aggravating that would be if you had had blood tests and paid fees.

We are not into the whole tourist thing. But like to get off to let the dog check things out. We will probably get off in San Francisco and San Diego. Just to wander alittle bit. We never stay off very long. We like to people watch from the ship. 

 

Been to Grand Cayman a few times. Never got off but the kids did once. 

 

We've seen a few runners. One couple had to get on the pilot boat to get back to the ship. 

[rangeley]

Roz did you know theres another Horton? ☹️ I heard the dog isnt suppose to be named until the other is retired. This dog isn't him but his name is there. Horton II

Edited September 1, 2019 by rangeley