"George Leppla" wrote:

"R&M" wrote in message
Just was told that on Diamond Princess 10/16 cruise there will be 11
blind peolple with their seeing eye dogs...have been given the option
of cancelling...what does the group think???

Something doesn't sound right here. This cruise is after final payment
and Princess would rather eat their own intestines than refund a cruise fare.

On top of that, in 10+ years as a travel agent I have never seen a cruise
line offer a refund on a paid cruise because of any kind of "group" that
might be on the ship. It is against every cruise line's policy that I have
ever heard to divulge the makeup of any cruise group. I can't imagine
Princess calling anyone and telling them that there were 11 blind people
on a ship... or 511 children or 211 people traveling with scooters or 811
people who would get drunk or 1211 employees of a French Canadian Bank.

OTOH... Princess does sometimes overbook a cruise and will offer incentives
to move to another ship but again, I have never heard of them giving anyone
the option of canceling.

Beyond those issues I wonder why having 11 guide dogs for the blind would
matter to anyone other than the blind people?

We discussed this earlier this year, here on RTC. The Regal Princess May 26th
sailing had a large group of seeing-eye dogs onboard and anyone who checked on
that sailing date with Princess was notified (because of a flashing light on
the reservationist's monitor) that the cruise was "at capacity for seeing-eye
dogs" or service animals or whatever the wording then was. Princess also
informed passengers, through their TA's, of that large booking.

I think it is absolutely appropriate and commendable that Princess notifies
prospective passengers when a large group of animals is onboard the ship, no
matter how wonderful seeing-eye dogs are. All passengers have rights and that
includes the rights of those who choose to cancel based on this group. Some
people are very allergic to animal dander, or as some have pointed out, have an
intense fear of dogs, which would make them very uncomfortable, due to the
larger numbers onboard.

I applaud Princess for being upfront and giving ALL their passengers the right
to make informed decisions. What's right for one person is not right for
another.

It DOES sound right to me.