Captain Kate McCue – Brains and Beauty on the Edge

Captain kate mccue of celebrity edge

Captain Kate McCue of the Celebrity Edge is the first American woman named captain of a “mega” cruise ship. She is so glamorous and popular that her Facebook Fan Club has 4,600 members. Kate displays beauty, flair, style and humor in her very visible position. Most importantly, she has worked her way up the ranks to commander of this giant cruise ship.

The Captain is a Woman!

Captain Kate McCue is not the first female captain of a cruise ship but she is the first American woman to hold that position. My first contact with her was last year on the Celebrity Equinox. After gathering at our muster stations inside the ship, her voice came over the speaker. “This is Captain Kate but you can call me Captain because it took me 19 years to earn this title. Just as soon as I find my purse, I’ll grab my keys and get the ship moving.”

After my initial shock at hearing a woman’s voice, I chuckled at her sense of humor and immediately wanted to know more about her. I wondered if I would get to see her in person but that turned out not to be a problem as Captain Kate was everywhere.

Captain Kate McCue

Captain Kate McCue is Everywhere!

I saw her walking the ship and talking to passengers so often that I wondered who was steering the ship. On the night of the Captain’s Cocktail Party, she stood in the Grand Foyer for hours as passenger after passenger posed with her for a photo.

Captain Kate did away with the Captain’s Table, a tradition in which a small group of passengers are invited to join the captain for dinner one evening. She feels she can meet more passengers by walking around the ship than by sitting for 3 hours with 8 people at a table.

How It Started

Kate fell in love with cruise ships at age 12 when her family took its first cruise vacation. She asked her Dad if he thought she could be a cruise director someday. He replied that she could drive the ship, if she wanted to. Five years later, she enrolled at the California Maritime Academy.

As a cadet she worked on banana boats, taking boats between California and Ecuador. Because she really wanted to work on a cruise ship, she applied to cruise lines for nine months. One of her applications was to the Disney Cruise Line as a bartender. Instead they passed her C.V. along and hired her as a third mate on one of their ships. She worked her way up, from the entry level position of second officer to staff captain.

In 2003, she became a second officer for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line. After a year, they promoted her to first officer. She attended the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies in Baltimore in 2009 where she earned her Chief Mate and Master’s Licence to enable her to take command of a vessel. When she returned to Royal Caribbean, they promoted her to chief officer and then to the second in command in 2011.[5]

captain kate mccue

Captain Kate McCue

The first woman president of Celebrity CruisesLisa Lutoff-Perlo, contacted McCue in 2015 and asked her to apply for the role of captain with them. McCue duly applied and was appointed as the commanding officer of Celebrity Summit on September 13, 2015, making her the first American woman to command a modern “mega ship”. In 2018, she left the Summit to become the commanding officer on Celebrity Equinox (where I first saw her) and subsequently moved to the Celebrity Edge in 2019.

The Captain and the Cat

Kate likens the job of a cruise ship captain to being the CEO of a company, with most of her time spent sitting in meetings, managing people, and doing paperwork.

But she also gets time to explore the destinations where the cruise stops, documenting her adventures for her 104,000 Instagram followers. Here she demonstrates her love of photography with beautiful shots of the ocean and the places she visits.

Her elf sphynx cat, Bug Naked travels with her and has his own Instagram account of 40,9000 followers. Photos of Bug Naked give us an insiders view of the captain’s cabin.

captain kate mccue and bug naked on celebrity edge

Personal Life of Captain Kate McCue

Kate met her husband, Nicola Petrovic while working onboard a Royal Caribbean ship. He is a Chief Engineer working on Virgin Voyages. With her 3-month-on and 3-month-off work schedule, when they see each other it is like another “honeymoon”.

An All Female Bridge and Officer Team

Captain Kate headed the first-ever sailing with an entirely female bridge and officer team. This historic sailing took place on International Women’s Day – March 8, 2020 – aboard the Celebrity Edge. Captain McCue commanded the ship and the 26 other women to create an all-female bridge and officer leadership team.

All women officers at helm of celebrity edge

In Summary

Watching Kate in action on Equinox was fascinating. She has changed the role of staid ship captain to a captain who constantly engages the passengers. Hence, she is inspiring young girls to strive to be whatever they dream.

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2 Comments

  1. Debbie Gruberg

    EXCELLENT ARTICLE!!!! The Captain is brilliant. Wonderful idea to let people know about her. I would like to be on one of her voyages.

  2. Cruisin' Lady

    I agree! I was really impressed by her. She has a totally different outlook on the role of the captain. I hope you get to cruise with her one day.

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