Disney Cruises have explained an important 60 day rule that applies to thousands of passengers each year following one customer's experience with its ships.
Various cruise lines issue warnings and explainers for a variety different reasons, whether it be health warnings like one recently issued by Royal Caribbean cruises, or general guidance being issued of a rare disorder that travelling on a cruise ship can trigger.
But now, Disney have issued guidance in response to a video published by a travel YouTuber who recently boarded one of their Disney cruise ships.
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Shane Hryhorec, who goes by Wheel Around the World on social media, is a campaigner who started ‘Push Mobility’, a disability equipment provider, and covers himself travelling the world in a wheelchair.
Hryhorec, a C5 quadriplegic, posted about his experience on the Disney Wonder cruise ship on TikTok and YouTube.
The disability campaigner has a service dog named Whitney, with the title of his video being ‘This is the moment… will Whitney be coming on the ship?’.
After arriving at the cruise terminal, he is told that a manager has to come out and ‘verify’ his documentation.
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Hryhorec has claimed that Disney Cruises required him to provide various documentation for his service animal, saying he had called government officials who insisted he didn’t have to.
The Disney official insisted it came from ‘Sydney Protocol Authorities’, with Hyrhorec insisting he had gone along with everything asked of him, including taking Whitney to the vets for ‘every treatment under the sun’.
His dog was eventually allowed on the boat, but he went on to say he hopes that 'the processes gets better for people with disabilities booking in the future'.
Disney Cruises issued a statement in response to this, urging anyone with a service dog to contact them well in advance - 60 days ahead, to be precise. The advice isn't brand new, but was reiterated when LADbible approached the cruise line over Hyrhorec's experience.
The statement said: “Disney Cruise Line strives to ensure all guests have a positive experience, and we have a dedicated team to support guests with disabilities or special needs.
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“Guests traveling with a trained service dog must obtain necessary import permits per each country’s regulations.
“We strongly encourage guests to contact our Special Services team at least 60 days, or as soon as possible, prior to their cruise to discuss required documentation to avoid a delayed or denied boarding."
Online guidance on the Disney’s website reiterates that, while trained service animals are allowed on all their ships, it is suggested that people contact them in advance.
In addition to this it states that: "Service animals are not permitted in the pools or wet play areas on board our ships and may not be left unattended inside a stateroom.
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"Disney Cruise Line Crew Members are not permitted to take control of a service animal."
Posting about his experience, Hryhorec went on to also solve a mystery regarding service animals on cruise ships: where they go for a p*ss or sh*t.
He showed that Disney set up a ‘relief area’ for Whitney below deck.
Topics: Animals, Cruise Ship, Disney, Travel
Michael Slavin