Sailor, Royal Caribbean International’s new chief dog officer, has boarded the Star of the Seas in Puerto Rico.
According to an update shared by the company’s CEO, Michael Bayley, the Golden Retriever joined the new vessel this week at the port of Ponce.
Following Rover, who has been serving as chief dog officer onboard the Icon of the Seas since 2024, Sailor will now live onboard the Star of the Seas.
“Happy days! Joined the Star of the Seas today in Ponce (Puerto Rico) with Sailor, who was greeted by fellow crew as the official chief dog officer,” Bayley said in a social media post on Thursday.
Royal Caribbean previously said that, in their roles, the onboard dogs bring joy to guests and crew while enjoying playtime.
The program, developed in partnership with the American Humane Society, ensures top-tier care and training for all Chief Dog Officers.
“The chief dog officer was an idea that we created when we were developing and concepting the Ultimate Family Townhouse,” Bayley explained.
“We’re all sitting around saying, ‘when you think about the ultimate family townhouse, what does that mean?’ and all these ideas came around until somebody threw out the idea of having a family dog.”
The team then concluded that it would be “a little selfish” to have a dog onboard for just one suite, Bayley continued in one of the episodes of the Star Inside video series.
“So, we thought, why don’t we have a family dog for the family onboard the ship?” he added, noting that an onboard position was later created for the dogs.
“When guests go on vacation, one of the key things that they miss are their pets back home, and when our crew are onboard for their contracts, they also miss their pets,” said Jay Rosser, senior manager of product development at Royal Caribbean International.
“We really wanted to make sure we brought a fluffy addition to our crew family,” he added in the Star Insider video.
The new Star of the Seas is being prepared to enter service after being delivered by the Meyer Turku shipyard in early July.
As the second ship in Royal Caribbean’s Icon-class series, the LNG-powered ship is scheduled to welcome its first paying guests on August 15, 2025.
The Star of the Seas will initially offer a series of short preview cruises before kicking off a regular schedule of seven-night cruises to the Caribbean.
All itineraries feature visits to Royal Caribbean’s private island destination in the Bahamas, Perfect Day at CocoCay.
