To call Kate McCue, captain of the Celebrity Beyond megaship, a fan favorite would be an understatement.
McCue is not only a cruise ship captain but a social media star, with more than 1 million followers on Instagram and more than 84,000 YouTube subscribers.
Her popular Captain’s Log short-video series can be found on several social-media platforms and each video routinely gets hundreds of thousands of views.
She started her cruise-industry career in the early 2000s, when Disney Cruise Line hired her as a third mate. In 2003 she joined Royal Caribbean, and over the years McCue worked her way up the ranks, obtaining her chief mate and master’s license, which cleared the way for her to take the helm of a ship.
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McCue made history a decade ago when she was named captain of Celebrity Summit, becoming the first American woman to ascend to the rank of captain of a large cruise ship. She then did short stints as captain of Celebrity Equinox and Celebrity Edge.
The 47-year-old captain then took the helm of Celebrity Beyond, the cruise line’s newest megaship, when it launched in spring 2022.
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Image source: Celebrity Cruises
Captain Kate unexpectedly announces her departure
McCue unexpectedly announced on social media that her time with Celebrity has come to an end. In an Instagram post that included a video of McCue’s favorite moments from her time with the cruise line, the beloved captain shared:
“Today, I say farewell to Celebrity. I’ve spent the last 22 years on 11 ships in the Royal Caribbean Group, from 2nd officer to Captain. I have seen some of the most beautiful places, met inspiring and wonderful people, and had opportunities to live my 12 year-old dream out loud."
McCue’s departure was certainly a surprise to Celebrity cruisers, as well as to the more than 1 million people who follow her on Instagram.
She continued: “You might be wondering why am I leaving. Simply put, life has an incredible way of reminding us what's important and changing up priorities. I've recently had some big life changes, and this just happens to be one of those.”
While it’s unclear exactly what changed in McCue’s life to prompt such a change, one recent event was the loss of McCue’s beloved hairless cat Bug Naked, who received special permission to live aboard Beyond.
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Bug passed away in late December during a routine dental procedure. Bug Naked had sailed with Captain Kate since the cat was three months old and had become almost as much of a social media star as the captain herself.
To be sure, we don’t know that the unexpected loss of her feline companion had anything to do with her decision, but this would certainly qualify as one of the “big life changes” McCue referenced in her post.
What is next for Captain Kate?
Many cruisers were clearly disappointed. Within an hour of her post of the news of her departure on Instagram, the message had received nearly 1,200 comments. Most of them wished Captain Kate well but expressed sadness they wouldn’t see her on their next Beyond sailing.
McCue didn’t reveal her plans, other than to say that her sailing days aren’t over and that this is the “start of the Captain’s Log: New Season.”
Fans will have to stay tuned and follow McCue’s social-media (Instagram @capitainkatemccue) to find out.
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