Traveling with the Jones

About a month ago, we were waiting in the Fort Lauderdale, Florida airport to board a Southwest flight.  There was a woman sitting near us who was quite distraught.

She had lost her cell phone, and had just received some bad news from the Southwest gate agent. We helped her locate her missing phone by calling it for her.  Once the phone was located, we found out what was really causing her distress:

She was traveling with her therapy dog, and the Southwest gate agent told her that she had to pay the $95 fee for her dog to fly. She could not take the dog on her flight as an “Emotional Support Animal” because she did not have the proper documentation from a medical health professional or doctor who was treating her  mental health-related disability.

The Southwest gate agent was compassionate, but firm, and the woman paid the $95 fee.

The reason she was so upset is that she thought she had done what she needed to do because she had paid several hundred dollars to some kind of online Dog Registry service like this one (I don’t know for a fact that it was this organization). In addition to registering her dog as an “Emotional Support Animal“, the woman had purchased a special carrier, tags, certificate, and dog vest and leash.

The gate agent told her that none of this was meaningful to airlines in accepting an Emotional Support Animal on board with a passenger.  The only thing that was required was something she did not have with her: a letter from the medical health professional who was treating her.

Curious, I looked up the details on Southwest’s website. They are clearly spelled out:

Emotional Support Animals

Animals used for a Customer’s emotional support are accepted in the cabin. Emotional support animals will be allowed to travel on flights to/from all domestic and international destinations with the exception of Jamaica. No animals will be allowed to travel to/from Jamaica on Southwest Airlines under any circumstances due to country-specific regulations. In order for a Customer to travel with an emotional support animal, the Customer must provide to a Southwest Airlines Employee current documentation (not more than one year old) on letterhead from a mental health professional or medical doctor who is treating the Customer’s mental health-related disability stating:

1. The Passenger has a mental or emotional disability recognized in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition (DSM IV)
2. The Passenger needs the emotional support of psychiatric service animal as an accommodation for air travel and/or for activity at the passenger’s destination
3. The individual providing the assessment is a licensed mental health professional or medical doctor, and the Passenger is under his or her professional care AND
4. The date and type of mental health professional’s or medical doctor’s license and the state or other jurisdiction in which it was issued

Assistance and emotional support animals must be trained to behave in a public setting. Customers traveling with an assistance animal or an emotional support animal cannot sit in an emergency exit seat.

Anyone who wants  to travel with their cat or small dog in the cabin on a Southwest flight,  may do so under certain circumstances when you meet the procedures and pay the $95 fee.

Our cat, Princess Gracie, hates to travel and will not be joining us in flight anytime soon.

But if you want to travel with your pet on Southwest, here is the place to find out all of the details.

The bottom line: if you are traveling with a service animal of any kind, or want to travel with your pet, it is crucial to check the details and requirements of the airline that you plan to fly, well in advance of your flight.

Have you flown with your pet or service animal? What tips do you have to share? 

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The Green Giant sparkles at the entrance of Swarovski Crystal Worlds in Wattens, Austria

Just outside of Innsbruck, Austria, in the city of Wattens, Tyrol, there is a green giant with sparkling eyes, built right into the hillside. Inside the entrances on either side of the “monster’s” water-spouting mouth are the entrances to the Swarovksi Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds) underground grotto created by the company in 1995 to celebrate it’s 100th anniversary.

Upon entering under the water-spouting Giant with sparkling eyes visitors are treated to glittering displays created by globally-recognized artists showcasing Swarovski’s ultra-brilliant crystal in the Chambers of Wonder.

Wattens, where the company was founded, remains the global headquarters for Swarovski.

Read more about our visit to Kristallwelten in this post: Destination Discovery: The Swarovski Crystal Worlds, Wattens, Austria

Have you visited the Swarovksi Kristallwelte? f so, please let us know in comments below.

See all of this photos for this week’s Photo Friday Challenge: “˜Green” here. 

Check out these other Photo Friday pictorial posts:

• Photo Friday: The Hockey Hall of Fame
• Photo Friday: Scenic Wonder Viewed From Amtrak’s California Zephyr
• Photo Friday: Make the Monkeys Fly in San Francisco
• Photo Friday: Mumbai’s New Terminal T2 at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport
• Photo Friday: The Manila American Cemetery and Memorial
• Photo Friday: Stromness, Orkney Islands, Scotland
• Photo Friday: Swamp Shade
• Photo Friday: Space Needle Sunset
• Photo Friday: The Andes From My Window

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When people think of famous ships they may think of the Titanic, the Queen Elizabeth, Carnival’s Mardi Gras, the Queen Mary 2, or the Sovereign of the Seas. Or they may think of Royal Carribean’s Oasis of the Seas or Allure of the Seas or Harmony of the Seas, currently the largest cruise ships afloat at sea.

We rarely think of the way cruise ships came into being or how they have gradually gotten very popular over the years.

Here is a timeline of the evolution of the cruise ship:

1815: Before it was P&O Cruises (which is still running today), it was Wilcox and Anderson – a ship brokering firm originally founded by Brodie McGhie Wilcox and Arthur Anderson for trading between England and the Iberian Peninsular countries of Spain and Portugal.

Wilcox and Anderson eventually became The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) in 1822.

1833: Some sources recognize the Francesco I, flying under that flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (a predecessor of Italy), as one of the first cruise ship sailings. Nobles, authorities, and royals boarded the Francesco I, and cruised  to 11 countries within three months. Since the sailing was limited to European aristocrats, it was not considered to be a commercial cruise.

1840: Wilcox and Anderson (P&O) were awarded new mail contracts to extend their services to the Egyptian Port of Alexandra. Their new contract required that the voyage from England to Alexandria should be accomplished within 15 days. This is when the two men realized that they could do much more with their trade than merely travel, export, and mail.

1844: P&O introduced “leisure excursions” that allowed passengers to travel to the Iberian Peninsula and the Mediterranean from Southhampton.   As the forerunner of modern cruises with  these voyages, has led P&O Cruises to be recognized as the world’s oldest cruise line.

1867: The ship, Quaker City, was the first cruise from New York to Europe.

1880: The P&O ship the Ravena was the first ship to be constructed as a 100 per cent steel superstructure.

1889: The SS Valetta was the first ship to use electric lights

1891: Augusta Victoria was a German ship which carried 241 passengers and expanded the cruise ship to a wider market.

1900: The first ship that was built exclusively for luxury cruising was the Prinzessin Victoria Luise of Germany.

1912: The Titanic sank which stimulated the improvement of safety on cruise ships.

In 1914: otherwise the beginning of WWI, all production of cruising came to a halt.

1922: The first world cruise was made by Laconia, a British Conard Line which lasted six months.

1927: Ile de France, made by the French, was a passenger ship that was completely decorated in a modern, contemporary style and introduced the now-famous art-deco style and ended the era of the classic, severe interior of the cruise ships.

1939 to 1945: During World War II,  many cruise ships were used to transport troops including the Queen Mary, Aquitania, Cap Arcona, Laconia, Queen Elizabeth, and the Orontes. Many ocean liners were destroyed during the war.

And from then on cruises have then been built larger, grander,–providing the best experiences for those who seek them.

2009: Royal Caribbean International launched the Oasis of the Seas, the first in it’s Oasis-class of ships. With a gross tonnage of 224,282 and a displacement of approximately 100,000 metric tons, the Oasis-class ships are the world’s largest passenger ships, carrying a maximum of 6,296 guests and approximately 2,200 crew members. Oasis-class ships feature a split structure, with the 5-deck high “Central Park” and “Boardwalk” outdoor areas running down the middle of the ship. These ships feature a  lush tropical garden, a zip line, two Flow Riders, two rock climbing walls, an AquaTheater with divers performing off of a 60ft platform, and  a working carousel.

Learn more about the cruise ship industry with these resources:

A Cruise Ship Primer: History & Operations

Devils on the Deep Blue Sea: The Dreams, Schemes, and Showdowns That Built America’s Cruise-Ship Empires

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania

This post is written by Megan Bryde, a forever student of the world while also finishing up her bachelors in English at Truman State University this semester.

Involved in too many activities, she sings as loud as she can, writes, cooks, bakes, and drinks a lot of coffee.

Megan is currently completing an internship with VentureTime Travel and aspires to be teaching English someday.

For more history of cruising information, check out these posts:

• Celebrating 20 Years of Cruising: What Has Changed Versus What Has Stayed the Same

• Comparing Cruising 100 Years Ago: The Titanic Exhibit at Kansas City’s Union Station

• Destination Discovery: The Cruise Room in Denver, Colorado

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