- Rover, a golden retriever, serves as the Chief Dog Officer on Royal Caribbean International’s Icon of the Seas cruise ship.
- Rover participates in meet-and-greets with passengers, attends training sessions, and enjoys playtime on the ship’s helipad and beaches.
- Guests have responded enthusiastically to Rover’s presence, with some waiting days for a chance to interact with her.
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 2-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.
Maya Marques Trindade serves as her 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.”
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.
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Trindade spoke with USA TODAY about the duo’s daily routine, Rover’s favorite activities and how guests respond when they spot the pup. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Question: How long have you worked as Rover’s Chief of Staff?
Answer: Since the beginning of last year, 2024. Rover came (to Icon) a little bit before the inaugural, and so then I started working with her.
What is a typical day on the job like?
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, so she loves sniffing them and spending time with them, and showing off her tricks – giving high-fives, giving handshakes. She’s really sweet. 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. So that’s why, in between every interaction, she takes naps.
Is there a set number of appearances she makes?
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.
I just don’t take her to big crowds because, like I say, her well-being is more important. But we like to surprise people in every single neighborhood on the ship, just avoiding crowds and avoiding food areas.
What kind of training did she undergo to prepare for the role?
The training is ongoing. (It) never stops because dogs are always learning new things, but she is doing really well. Right now, I just have to maintain her good behavior because her training is mostly focused on good behavior 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 behavior is most important. We want everybody to have a good time around Rover.
What has the guest’s reaction been like?
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.
Guests who stay in the Ultimate Family Townhouse can also meet Rover, is that right?
Yes. We have a special Genie for the townhouse, like a concierge (and) he can reach out to me if they are interested in meeting Rover, and I bring her to the patio.
The townhouse has a patio where I can bring Rover for the families with children, and then they can spend some time with her under my supervision.
Do you take her off with you at every stop?
She can go to some ports. Her favorite is Perfect Day at CocoCay because it’s the day of the week that she can run on the beach … It’s her happy place. She truly has a perfect day there. She runs a lot, and she swims. She’s a really good swimmer. She digs on the sand, she rolls up – she becomes a ball of sand after that. And then I give her a full bath after that, and then she has a long nap because it’s a lot of playing.
Are there any other favorite activities Rover has on the ship?
I think she loves playing with a ball. It’s her favorite activity of all, for sure. Retrievers love chasing a ball.
When I am hanging out in crew areas playing with her, I also can give the other crew members a chance to throw the ball and have a moment with her. She’s not only for me. I’m the person who probably spends the most time with her because we share the cabin, but I want to make sure that I’m sharing Rover with everybody on this ship.
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Are there any challenges to having a dog on a cruise ship?
Many people love Rover, and that’s amazing, but she’s one dog, and we have a lot of passengers. Everybody wants to have a chance to meet her.
Although we try to make time for everybody, it’s really hard because she needs to take her naps and needs playtime. She’s not always out and about interacting because she needs to rest eventually. So, just finding time to see everybody is the hardest part.
Everybody wants to spend a little bit of time with Rover, so we try our best.
Is there anything else you wanted to mention?
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.
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
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