Rebecca Tobin
It seems unusual to devote a column about cruising to a cat. But Bug Naked was no ordinary feline.
As the oceangoing companion of Capt. Kate McCue, master of the Celebrity Beyond, the hairless cat Bug Naked -- nickname Bug -- was known and loved among officers, crew and cruisers. And there was an outpouring of grief on social media when McCue posted on Instagram Dec. 28 that Bug had died at 8 years and six months, following complications after a routine dental cleaning and tooth extraction.
"Our hearts are shattered," McCue wrote of her and her husband (Nikola Petrovic, fleet chief engineer at Royal Caribbean Group). "The greatest of sidekicks, the sweetest of angels, the saltiest of seafaring cats, Bug was one in a billion."
The post, and several subsequent Instagram posts, triggered around 20,000 messages of condolences; among them, Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, the former CEO of Celebrity, who wrote that Bug was "so loved and so special and shared the world with you."
A small cat had captured the hearts of a legion of seafarers.
McCue had years ago petitioned the brass at Royal Caribbean Group to have the company of a pet onboard. "The captain's life can be lonely," McCue told me in an interview in 2020. Petrovic, with his own cruise responsibilities, can't sail with McCue for a contract the way some captains can cruise with their spouses or children.
McCue said she was scrolling through Instagram, "and came across hairless cats. And I thought that was the most unusually wonderful thing I'd ever seen." According to a recent Instagram post, she said that a photo of one cat in particular instantly captured her attention.
Enter Bug in 2017.
Among officers and crew, Bug was a known figure on the bridge: She was McCue's MSM, or "marine support mammal." McCue claimed Bug had the gift of calming and reassuring officers when they were making a maneuver (of a $1 billion ship with nearly 5,000 souls onboard). "She comes up and stands right next to them," McCue said. "Officers said they can physically feel the anxiety leaving them."
Bug was a literal celebrity around the ship, and McCue would take her for a stroll in a pet stroller on the Celebrity Edge or Beyond. Meeting Bug was a special event. On a Celebrity Beyond cruise in 2022, the entertainment staff hosted a popular "Bug Trivia" hour for passengers, who boned up on Bug knowledge and competed for the grand prize: The privilege of holding Bug and having their photo taken with her.
During the pandemic, when cruise ships were idled with a small number of crew onboard, McCue's social media's posts from the Celebrity Edge showed some of the small moments that were sometimes routine, sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant: Crew receiving packages via a mail boat; engineers running maintenance; rainbows and lightning viewed from the bridge. And every few posts, there was Bug, out for a walk on the bridge, or sitting in the sun in the captain's quarters, or dressed in sailor garb, or just looking serene in a sea of uncertainty.
McCue posted videos and photos of Bug often, and Bug had her own Instagram account (84,000 followers as of Dec. 30). She had a wardrobe that any fashionista would envy, from sweaters to tulle skirts to formal officer dress. Unlike some cats that keep to themselves, Bug appeared to be a natural extrovert, communicating through her big blue eyes and adorable, timely meows. McCue said that passengers would bring the "most incredible swag" for their favorite onboard personality.
It seems funny that an animal can humanize the work that happens to operate a ship. But that was part of Bug's charm. The relatability of a pet on the ship seemed to draw people to McCue and Celebrity. People onboard bonded over Bug, and the team of McCue and Bug -- a female captain and a cat on a cruise ship -- made them memorable in the business.
I mean, who doesn't love their fur-baby (even in this case when Bug was distinctly not furry)?
Count me -- and my family -- among those who fell under Bug's spell. On that Beyond cruise in 2022, my children were fascinated by the thought that they might meet Bug. They never did; the closest they got were little pins that McCue gave them that were half-mermaid, half hairless cat. The pins were treasured, but not as much as people treasured Bug herself.