Royal Caribbean recently celebrated one year of service for Rover, Chief Dog Officer of Icon of the Seas. The golden retriever provides everyone onboard with moments of joy, surprise and even a tear or two.
Above: Maya with Rover
Rover, a crew member on Royal Caribbean International’s Icon of the Seas, spends a typical day making rounds on the ship, shaking hands with guests and chasing a ball during playtime.
She is a dog, after all.
The nearly two-year-old golden retriever serves as Icon’s Chief Dog Officer. The role was created in consultation with animal welfare experts at the American Humane Society to surprise and delight passengers sailing on the world’s biggest cruise ship.
Royal Caribbean will soon expand its canine talent pool. The company plans to introduce a resident dog named Sailor on Icon’s sister ship, Star of the Seas, when it launches later this year.
Maya Marques Trindade serves as Rover’s caretaker. Originally from Brazil, she has been working with Royal Caribbean since 2019, previously in its Adventure Ocean kids club.
“I applied (to be) Rover’s Chief of Staff, which is a new position for Icon Class, and I was very excited when I had a chance to try and start working with Rover because I learned a lot and am still learning,” she said. “It’s such a fun job.”
Q: What is a typical day on the job like?
Maya: It’s almost like taking care of a baby. Rover is still considered a puppy, even though she’s almost fully grown.
I wake up more or less at about the same time because I need to take her for a potty break and then we have training time.
We have playing time, training time. I need to make sure that her training is up to date and that she always keeps being a good girl – and sometimes teaching new tricks. Also, some physical exercise because golden retrievers have a lot of energy.
There are some areas on the ship (like a helipad or venues that aren’t in use) where I can play with her, throw the ball and she runs. And that running counts as physical exercise, but also playing time.
Then, I can take her to spend some time with our guests and also the crew. I try to make time for both guests and crew because she makes such a difference in people’s day.
She’s very social and friendly. She loves sniffing them and spending time with them and showing off her tricks. And between the interactions, I need to make sure that she rests. She needs to take more naps than human beings … I need to make sure that she’s well-rested before I take her out again.
Q: Is there a set number of appearances she makes?
A: It depends on her mood.
I need to make sure she’s well-rested and she’s playful. So, if she has the energy to play with people and be friendly, then I take her – mostly for short interactions and then take her for breaks. So, it could be any area on the ship. We like to surprise people.
Q: What kind of training did she undergo to prepare for the role?
A: Right now, I just have to maintain her good behaviour because her training is mostly focused on good behaviour and obedience and being very calm.
We expect a lot of children on this ship, so being very calm around the children and following my commands and following my instructions. She’s always looking up to me and waiting for the next instruction. … She wouldn’t do anything without being instructed by me.
The tricks are a plus because it’s cute. She does roll over, high-fives and handshakes. … I recently taught her to clean up her toys so she can pick each one of them (up) and put them in the box. But that’s just to be cute; her behaviour is most important. We want everybody to have a good time around Rover.
Q: What has the guest’s reaction been like?
A: Their reactions are always very awesome and even surprising for me sometimes because I spend all day with Rover and sometimes I forget how special she is – I know she’s so special, but people wait for days to meet her and that’s really nice and sweet of them. Some of them bring gifts.
Even the crew – once, one housekeeping lady told me, “I don’t really need to pet Rover or even get close. If I see Rover passing down the corridor, it already makes my whole day.” So, it’s really nice to hear that from people.
Q: Is there anything else you wanted to mention?
A: Sometimes, I have guests who just lost their dogs at home and when they see her, they get emotional or start crying. And it always makes me feel like I’m doing something important, you know, an important job to bring Rover to these people.
One day, we were walking around in (the ship’s) Central Park and Rover was interacting with some people. Then, I saw this little girl crying, really, like, sobbing. And I asked the mom if she was OK because I thought maybe she was scared of dogs.
“Do you want me to take her away, remove her? She’s too close?” And then the mom said, “No, it’s OK. Our dog passed away this morning and she looked exactly like Rover.” It broke my heart to see that.
Then, I brought Rover closer to them and asked Rover to give her a handshake. So when Rover gave the paw, the girl started laughing instead of crying.
I will never forget that moment. … Because she’s just a dog, she’s just being herself. She’s not trying anything. She’s just being herself, her personality: bubbly and silly, goofy. But it touches people’s hearts.
This story first appeared in USA Today, written by Nathan Diller
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