Latest news with #Sailor
Travel Weekly
2 days ago
- Business
- Travel Weekly
All paws on deck! Meet Royal Caribbean's 'chief dog officers'
Royal Caribbean International's next ship, Star of the Seas, is getting ever closer to its debut. And one of its most important crew members has sounded her first "woof." Sailor, a 3-month-old golden retriever, will be the ship's resident puppy and the cruise line's second "chief dog officer." The concept debuted with chief dog officer Rover on the Icon of the Seas, the first ship in the Icon class, as a way to bring a different element of joy and fun onboard for guests and crew members, said Kara Wallace, Royal Caribbean International's chief marketing officer. Rover has since become a cruise highlight for many young guests, and the two canines are social media celebrities, thanks in part to an Instagram page that has garnered more than 50,000 followers. Kara Wallace "We build big, iconic, bold ships with features that people can't really even dream up, but we don't let the small things go to waste," Wallace said. "There's always an opportunity to bring depth and richness to the experiences, and this is another way that we did it." Rover, and soon Sailor, don't have meet-and-greets or special schedules to interact with guests, making those interactions spontaneous and organic, Wallace said. She said the dogs are not mascots but crew members that might serve as a pet at sea for the human crew and similarly help young guests who might be missing their companions while on vacation. "That was the primary driver of it," Wallace said, "creating this home away from home." It's cruising cats and dogs Having animals on cruise ships isn't entirely novel but is certainly rare. Bug Naked, a hairless cat, could for years be found onboard Celebrity ships, Royal's sister line, thanks to Capt. Kate McCue, who brought Bug on as a companion in 2017. Like Rover, Bug became a ship celebrity and darling of the crew. Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2 allows transatlantic guests to bring pets on as passengers via 24 kennels that are in high demand. But Royal's decision to bring animals onboard for guest and crew enjoyment is likely a first. It's a small offering compared to other projects Royal is investing in simultaneously, like building the tallest waterslides in North America and new private destinations across the world. But that attention to offering small details is a point of pride for Royal, Wallace said. Though Wallace said she thinks it's unlikely that guests will book cruises with Royal just because of Rover or Sailor, they are a differentiator. "I have colleagues here who have young kids, and they came back and all they could talk about was, 'We met Rover,'" she said. "It was an amazing ship that went to all these places, but it was one of the highlights of their cruise. … I think that that's a testament to the power of bringing this warm, family-oriented addition to round out that whole experience." Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley was the one to posit the idea of having a dog onboard, Wallace said. From there, the team explored the possibility with the American Humane Society, which has been its partner in the program ever since. There was plenty of planning involved, from choosing a breed to designing the dogs' accommodations and selecting a designated onboard caretaker. What started as one more way to enhance the guest and crew experience expanded into an opportunity to keep the Icon experience in guests' social media feeds every week, as they watch Sailor grow and Rover travel the world. On their Instagram page (@chiefdogofficers), you'll find a video of Sailor being lovingly cuddled and cooed at during her first visit to Royal Caribbean's corporate office as well as videos comically captioned in typical TikTok and Instagram form (in a recent post, a video of Sailor dozing off is accompanied by the text "How I sleep knowing I have a full-time job secured"). "We were just going to see what happens and see how people responded," Wallace said of the social media account. "I don't know that there was really an expectation in terms of, 'Oh, we're going to grow this to be a million followers.' That's not why we did this, but it's more kind of, 'How can we share Sailor and Rover with the world and let people see what we see?'"
TimesLIVE
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- TimesLIVE
Reneé, Taylen, Heidi: best and worst dressed at the American Music Awards
Rapp turned heads in a sleek and sophisticated look for the purple carpet. Giving a sexy look for the AMA's relocation to Las Vegas, she captured a Sin City style look with a dress coat paired down with Louboutin pointed heels and diamond block earrings. The look not only accentuates her curves; the coat also creates length to make it elegant and chic rather than clunky and informal. TAYLEN BIGGS The social media sensation is famed for her interview looks and her red carpet get-up is no exception. Channeling the cowboys of Nevada, the boxy jacket doubles up as a dress with her cowboy boots being a cohesive match with every cowgirl's staple, a bandanna. The diamond ground ball evening bag is a perfect finish to the look to help them pair with the jacket's metallic tassels. TIFFANY HADDISH Rarely one to be seen on a best-dressed list, Haddish was a surprise on the carpet rocking a hooded Bronx and Banco gown. The hooded outfit brought a bit of streetwear with its design and some glam thanks to the plunging neckline and glittering sequins. REBECCA BLACK Las Vegas is loved for its last-minute weddings, and that is exactly what Black was looking to celebrate on the carpet. While the look would have been better off with her usual party girl style, the cinched 1950s Dior vibe she imbued in the ivory-and-pearl bridal gown with Sailor influences is a fun layered look that introduces a new aesthetic and red carpet approach for the DJ. WORST HEIDI MONTAG If there's always one thing to expect from a Heidi Montag red carpet moment, it will be a lot of boob. But for this recent appearance, it seems the reality star was looking to show off a new hairdo and it was certainly not a hit. While an hourglass silhouette dress or jacket would accompany the glittering look better, the sleeveless jumpsuit should be the very last option, especially when worn with platform heels rather than any other boot variety. DORA JAR While the American Music Awards are the perfect place to showcase theatrical or party-ready looks, Dora Jar seems ready to hit the mall and shop for the look she needs to wear for the award show. The look could have been saved with fun Y2K-inspired makeup, a mixture of bows, clips and crimped hair and much more striking accessories and permanent body art to zone in on her high-low aesthetic. BOMANIZER Of all the Louis Vuitton menswear looks Bomanizer could have pulled, this library secretary ensemble is by far the most unexpected. All the look needed was the right trousers to make the formal look nerdy with a twist. Perhaps a colour-blocked option with a contrasting belt would have done more justice to this look.
Eater
20-05-2025
- Business
- Eater
Celebrated Chef April Bloomfield Will Lead a Texas Restaurant Group
One of New York's most famous chefs, April Bloomfield has dazzled critics and diners alike in her soulful cooking at Fort Greene's Sailor from restaurateur Gabe Stulman since it opened in 2023. Now, the chef has announced she is headed to a restaurant group in Austin, Texas while she continues to steer the kitchen in Brooklyn. In Bloomfield's new role, she'll also oversee the McGuire Moorman Lambert Hospitality group, which is behind a collection of restaurants that include an oyster bar, a bakery, a hamburger joint, a sushi spot, a cafe, and a Tex-Mex diner in locations around Austin, Houston, Aspen, Colorado, and San Francisco. Her first focus will be revamping California-inspired Pecan Square Cafe and fifty-year-old fine-dining steakhouse Jeffrey's in Austin, as reported by Texas Monthly . The company also announced that it would be taking over historic Austin hotel the Driskill and its two dining rooms — currently the Driskill Bar and 1886 Cafe & Bakery — which is owned by Hyatt Hotels Corporation. 'April has a true sense of hospitality that's behind the cooking,' McGuire told Texas Monthly . 'It's not just cooking for ego or cooking for what looks good on the plate.' Eater has reached out to Bloomfield and Stulman to learn more about the position and what's next for Sailor. Stulman issued a statement on Tuesday morning. 'This June, Bloomfield joins MML Hospitality, one of the country's most successful and influential hospitality groups, as Executive Chef. In her role, Bloomfield brings exceptional expertise and experience to the group's nationwide operations. Bloomfield will play a pivotal role in upcoming MML projects, including the multi-dimensional development, Sixth & Blanco, designed by Pritzker award-winning firm Herzog & de Meuron, that encompasses luxury retail and hospitality in Austin's Clarksville neighborhood. Longtime admirers of Bloomfield's cooking, MML's partners demonstrate a similar intuition for knowing what diners want. Bloomfield brings her deep understanding of seasonal produce and tip-to-tail butchery to MML, while mentoring its roster of rising culinary talent, initially focusing on Pecan Square Cafe, Jeffrey's, Josephine House, Howard's and Rosie's. Her role as Chef Partner of Happy Cooking Hospitality's celebrated Brooklyn restaurant Sailor will continue and she will remain a presence there. Bloomfield's return to Sailor was a big deal for the New York restaurant world. Known for her memorable meat-centric fare, Bloomfield steered the opening of Sailor — part of Happy Cooking Hospitality, which includes West Village staples like Joseph Leonard, Jeffrey's Grocery, and Fairfax — a lower-key affair than her Manhattan restaurants from years earlier. In opening in Brooklyn, she reemerged on the scene to mostly celebration after being caught in the middle of one of the biggest restaurant scandals of the #MeToo era, leading her to shutter restaurants including the Spotted Pig and others she ran in partnership with Ken Friedman. When Sailor was deemed one of the year's best new restaurants in the country its debut year, Eater noted that 'despite being billed as a simple neighborhood bistro, Brooklyn's Sailor has been a destination since the day it opened: It represents the return of chef April Bloomfield to New York and the British-inflected cooking that made her name.' It's been celebrated for its 'unfussy elegance, coaxing complex flavors from humble ingredients.' In the announcement this week, Texas Monthly wrote 'New York City's April Bloomfield is one of the most talented chefs in the country. Period — no qualification.' Sign up for our newsletter.
Daily Mail
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Australia's most acid-tongued food critic shows a rare softer side as he shares a powerful message after the death of his beloved dog Sailor
Notorious food critic John Lethlean has taken to social media to announce the death of his beloved dog and long-time companion Sailor. The veteran restaurant and food writer has appeared in major Australian newspapers and magazines for more than two decades, having garnered a following for his honest, engaging and often brutal reviews. 'It's taken quite a few months to process this, but Sailor's love of the water and playing with sting-rays got the better of her late last year and life just isn't the same any more,' he share to Instagram on Tuesday. He explained as a word of caution for anyone 'with a dog that won't stop chasing fish' that stingrays will naturally defend themselves and their barbs can easily be lethal to dogs. 'Like all good dogs, Sailor was nothing if not curious,' he said. Lethlean wrote in a Amazon e-book about his writing career titled 'Post Script' that he and his wife had treated Sailor like a family member. 'A childless couple with love in our hearts and enormous affection for most dogs, let alone our own, Sailor didn't share our attention with anyone,' he wrote. 'The three of us lived at very close quarters for five years... We dragged her bed into our bedroom every night when it was time to hit the hay and, when she inevitably got tired of sleeping between us, she'd jump off the bed and slip into her own. 'Just knowing she was there was comforting. I'd like to think it was reciprocal.' Lethlean no-holds-barred reviews have caused controversy on several occasions. His one-star review of legendary chef Cheong Liew's The Grange in 2008 contributed to its closure the following year. One of the pioneers of Asian-Australian cuisine, Liew had operated the restaurant for 14 years before and had been awarded an Order of Australia. In 2016, Lethlean's review of Adelaide Oval's fine dining restaurant Hill of Grace prompted them to call in their lawyers after he roasted the food, the service, the décor and the staff. He referred to one dish as 'brown mucoid gloop' and summed up the venue's efforts as 'out for a duck'. Lethlean also didn't hold back when the famed King Island Dairy announced it's closure last year. 'The cheeses have always been rubbish and this so-called brie I have here… completely devoid of any character whatsoever unless all you're looking for in a soft, white mould cheese is industrial salt,' he wrote. But, rather than shooting from the hip, Lethlean insisted he was methodical about they way he conducted his reviews. 'If you get a feeling from the start that there are some hard words that need to be said, you spend the next whatever hours in the restaurant making sure that you have evidence to support the kind of comments you are going to make,' he told Crikey. 'If something contentious is going in, I got photographs of it... before blogs had even been heard of. 'If I want to say something is oily, I make sure I've got a photograph of oily. If I'm going to say the tablecloths were stained and tatty, I take photographs of stained and tatty tablecloths.'
Perth Now
08-05-2025
- Perth Now
NRL legend's lengthy witness list
Twenty-one witnesses are set to give evidence in a hearing for rugby league great Wendell Sailor over allegations he assaulted two men during an incident at a Sydney bar. The former Brisbane Broncos and Wallabies winger pleaded not guilty in January to a string of charges relating to the alleged assault. The 50-year-old has been charged with two counts of common assault, behaving in an offensive manner, excluded person remaining in vicinity of licensed premises and stalk/intimidate. Wendell Sailor (right) has been charged with a string of offences relating to an alleged assault at a Sydney CBD bar. NewsWire / Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia It's alleged Mr Sailor remained in the vicinity of a Sydney CBD bar on November 6 after being asked to leave. He was not required to appear in the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday when his matter was briefly mentioned. His solicitor Joseph Jiang told the court that 21 witnesses were set to give evidence in a hearing expected to span three days next February. Of those witnesses, six are civilians, 12 are police witnesses and three are defence witnesses, the court was told. CCTV footage and body-worn police footage from the night is also expected to be played to the court. Magistrate Hugh Donnelly commented on how long the matter had been dragged through the court. 'This matter's been before the court since November last year … it's well beyond the normal timeframe expected and it may be that it's a bigger case but we are now in May,' he said. Police were called to the Erskine St bar about 11pm on November 6, 2024, after reports of the alleged assault. Mr Sailor will return to court next year. NCA NewsWire / Christian Gilles Credit: News Corp Australia No injuries were reported. Mr Sailor represented the Broncos and Dragons during his 222-game NRL career. No stranger to controversy, he then crossed codes, playing 37 Tests for the Wallabies before a drug ban for testing positive to cocaine ended his time in rugby union. After a two-year ban, Mr Sailor returned to rugby league, ending his career with the Dragons. Having forged a career in the media, Mr Sailor announced his retirement from Triple M 'effective immediately' in July last year. He had been a popular commentator and broadcaster on the Sydney drive show The Rush Hour with Gus, Jude & Wendell, alongside Gus Worland and Swans legend Jude Bolton. Mr Sailor had been a key member of the network's commentary team since 2015. The matter will return to court in December for a readiness hearing, with Mr Sailor's bail set to continue.
