This is the latest installment of our bimonthly column Crews on Cruise, spotlighting the people who work behind the scenes of the world’s most memorable voyages—from bartenders and entertainers to ship captains and expedition leaders.
Oliver Cruz has one of the more unusual jobs at sea: He is the kennel master aboard Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, a 2,759-guest ocean liner that has been making transatlantic crossings between Southampton and New York since 2004. It is also the only cruise ship in the world to offer dedicated kennels at sea during its transatlantic voyages, with 24 spaces for dogs and cats traveling with their owners.
Cruz joined the ship in 2011, initially as a spa attendant. But when the housekeeping department learned that he had spent eight years back home in the Philippines working as a zoo guide and animal handler, with everything from snakes to crocodiles, he was moved to the kennels. He has been there ever since. “Dogs are angels,” Cruz says. “Not all angels have wings. Some of them have fur.” No surprise then that Cruz has 15 dogs of his own at home and is a member of the Philippine Animal Welfare Society.
His charges aboard Queen Mary 2 have ranged from teacup Yorkies to a Bernese mountain dog whose three daily meals each included roughly three pounds of minced meat and more than 10 ingredients. Some are regulars: Cruz has cared for one dog on 32 crossings. By now, he can rattle off their names, personalities, dietary quirks, and preferred sleeping arrangements, and even remembers which “house,” as he calls the kennels, his repeat guests slept in on previous voyages.
One occupational hazard: Cruz estimates he has more than 50 dog bites on his body, nearly all sustained while diving in to break up fights. “Nobody bites me intentionally,” he says. Experience has taught him that “the way you treat a husky is not the same way you treat a Shih Tzu.”
We caught up with Cruz earlier this year to talk about life in the kennels, his unusually demanding clientele, and why managing their human parents can sometimes be the hardest part of the job. As Cruz puts it, “You need the knowledge, but you also need the heart.”
What does a typical day on the job look like?
“On embarkation day, we go down to the terminal and first cross-check all the paperwork. There are very complicated requirements, especially coming into the UK, so we check things like the stamps and the timing of vaccinations.
