Cruise line to ban emotional support animals
Royal Caribbean has banned emotional support animals onboard its ships with immediate effect.
The cruise line said ‘comfort pets’ are not recognised under the Americans with Disabilities Act and therefore will not be allowed on its cruises.
Passengers with confirmed reservations made before July 30 will still be allowed to travel with their emotional support animals, it said.
It will also continue to allow trained dogs for the blind or deaf onboard.
"It is important to us that all our guests enjoy their vacation, which is why we put into practice this new policy," Royal Caribbean said in a statement.
The rule change came the same day US carrier Southwest Airlines also updated its emotional support animal policy.
The Dallas-based airline will restrict it to dogs and cats only and requires all animals to travel in a pet carrier or on a lead.
American Airlines, Delta, United and JetBlue have all tightened rules for the carriage of emotion support pets in recent months.
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