[nagdu] Traveling with a guide dog on a Cruise

[cheryl echevarria]

I am also a member of the Travel and tourism division and I thought I would post some information for traveling with a guide dog on a cruise, since for 1 we have a fundraiser taking place on November 6, 2010 on the Epic by Norwegian and if you don't know about this great fundraiser please ask, and second a number of people are cruising on the other list and have ask me these questions

What do I need to know when traveling with my dog on a cruise?

Well I want to start by saying you really need to do your home work and if you are going to cruise book at least 6 months in advance sometimes longer, especially if you don't have a passport, yes you need one, because any time you leave the land of the United States you are on International Waters.

Guide Dogs are allowed on all cruise lines and don't let anyone tell you different.  What you need to know if that depending on the place you are going depends on what you dog is going to need.  If you don't have a travel agent for your travel and this is when a good travel agent comes into play.  Get in touch with the Tourism Board of that country or the American Consulate of that country about the laws pertaining to guide dogs.

You are going to start by getting your guide dogs vaccinated at least 6 months prior if your dog has been vaccinated in the year you are traveling you need to bring proof of vaccination.  There are also called dog passports or similar and you get this from your vet.

In the case of the NAGDU Fundraiser, we are going to St. Maarten, St. Thomas and Nassau.  St. Maarten only asks for copy of vaccinations from vet if they ask, this is when leaving the boat to go on tours or excursions of the island.  St. Thomas follows ADA guide lines since St. Thomas is part of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Nassau on the other hand has a permit that must be applied for and it is on the bahamas website to which I have forwarded the information to NAGDU to hopefully post the link so that people wanting to travel to the Bahamas has this application, it must be filled out, normally there is a $10 fee but for a service animal the application processing fee is free.

I hope to post more about traveling with a guide dog to other countries or stories of myself and others that do travel with there guide dogs, it will help all of us in the future.


Cheryl Echevarria 
Independent Travel Consultant
http://Echevarriatravel.com<http://echevarriatravel.com/>
1-866-580-5574

http://blog.echevarriatravel.com<http://blog.echevarriatravel.com/>
Reservations at echevarriatravel.com<mailto:Reservations at echevarriatravel.com>
Affiliated as an Independent Contractor with Montrose Travel CST-1018299-10