Our cabin was an inner ship cabin without windows. The room was a
comfortable size for all of us: Nancy my wife, Telly my dog guide and
me. We had a nice sleep, wakening on this second day of our journey
with 3,700 others.
First thing, Telly went
from one side of the bed to the other; he wanted to eat. He followed
me around the cabin as I got his food ready for him. The room was
carpeted, so his bowl wouldn’t
slide around as he buried his nose in the bowl to get the last tiny
morsel of food. He licked it clean.
We took Telly out to
relieve himself. All of the dog guides on board were relieved in
three sand/wood chip boxes in an enclosed area. Telly wasn’t too sure about how to
use the boxes. He planted his front feet in the box but repeatedly
missed the box. It seemed like the box was too small for him. The boxes
were initially placed under a stairway on the seventh deck, on a cement
floor. One of our group cracked his head open on the stairway. After
that, the boxes were moved to an unobstructed area. We would often
stand in line as each person gave the dogs the time they needed to
do their jobs. It seemed to me the dogs took this opportunity as a
social time since they’d wait in line with other
dog guide travelers. Overall, all the dogs got along and had a fine
vacation with one another.
As Nancy and I traveled around the huge ship,
we often got turned around. Our cabin steward, Sadre, would likewise
be a huge help while we were on board the Star Princess. People we
met along the way were likewise confused. We spent part of the first
day touring around the ship. The narrow hall ways were often partially
blocked with cleaning carts. Since the halls on either the port or
starboard were what seemed to me as less than three feet across, it
was interesting for me to navigate my dog among these obstacles.
We
used the elevators a lot. The conversation of elevator passengers often
focused on our dogs. We were often stopped in hallways or on our way
to the theater by people who had what seemed like a million questions.
Since we were among approximately 10 people who had a dog guide on
board, we were sort of celebrities. It was all fun. Most of the people
who talked with us said how badly they missed their dogs.
I wondered
how we would handle the rolling of the ship at sea. Should we take
a Dram-amine? Should Telly take one? How does a dog handle sea sickness
anyway? Neither of us humans got sick the first full day at sea,
thanks to medications. If Telly didn’t feel good, he
surely didn’t show it.
After breakfast, we went at the Wheel House
Bar and Grill where we were photographed and met others in our group
and got to know each other. Nancy, Telly and I, were the only travelers
from Minnesota.
Lynn and Alice, and
Alice’s dog guide Kato; Kristina
and Andy, and Andy’s dog guide Loren; Carol and Joe, and Joe’s
dog guide Mogan, and Joyce and her dog guide Vivian were all from California.
Jim and Paco were also from California. Jim’s dog guide Bonko
was put down last year. Chris and Richard, and Richard’s dog
guide Smithers, were from Canada. Tim flew directly to San Francisco
from Ireland, with his dog guide Granger. Californians Irene and
Andi were our Dimensions in Travel tour guides. Greg, from Tennessee,
volunteered his services as a veterinarian. A larger group met later
to plan the shore tours, with four tours in four days. Our first
port-of-call was Acapulco, with a private van tour.
Our next trip was a bus tour of the area around Xiwant-anayo. This
would be our first ride on a tender, a boat that ferried passengers
to and from shore to ship. It would be a long boat ride, about a
half hour from ship to shore. A café stop with light lunch
was included. We would have a chance to buy jewelry, bracelets and
trinkets at a Mexican flea market. On that tour we met fellow passengers
from outside of our little group.
The next tour was of Puerto Vallarta. We caught
a motor coach to the marine park where guests would swim with the dolphins
including Nancy and me. Other members of our group went off shopping.
Our last shore excursion was to Cabo San Lucas, with a couple of
places of interest for us. We had about four hours to swim in the
ocean, dine at an outdoor café and shopped in more flea markets.
We signed up for an hour tour on a boat around the sea of Cortez.
Our dining options onboard
were the Capri and the Porto Fina, both with excellent food and
service. The waiters and waitresses treated all of us like royalty.
They would hold our chairs as we sat down, push our chairs in to
move each person closer to the table, And unfold the cloth napkins
and place each on the lap of the person at the table. On a dress-up
day all guests had to wear formal attire. Nancy wore one of her
finest outfits. A photographer took pictures of passengers as he
went from table to table. ![end of story]()
