Four Seasons is getting into the cruising business, with the launch of Four Seasons Yachts. The first ship is expected to set sail within the next year, and it looks like it’s going to take luxury cruising to the next level, especially in terms of the amount of space dedicated to each guest.
Continue reading: Cool: Kate McCue Will Be First Four Seasons Yachts Captain!
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Even tho I don't think you usually do cruises, I'm excited for you and look forward to your post(s)!
In spite of her accomplishments and passing all of the licensing requirements, there will be inadequate jerks who will not give her credit.
Celebrity party barge to a Four Seasons yacht? Nice upgrade, that's like going from a Greyhound bus to a Bentley.
On a separate note, are the Four Seasons yacht names finalized? Even I could have done better than "Four Seasons I"...
Dusty - perhaps you are mixing up Carnival and Celebrity. Much to the chagrin of some, a Celebrity cruise is far from a party barge.
It’s great (and sweet) that you’re supportive of your spouse’s Four Seasons booking business, but every time you do this, you stray away from the original purpose of this blog - points and miles. You have been doing more points hotel reviews and less non-point hotel reviews recently, so many of your readers appreciate it. Just a kind reminder here made in good spirit.
Captain Kate is the real deal. A rockstar.
She was a value add to Celebrity onboard and as an ambassador. We learned about Celebrity watching her pandemic videos and whether self initiated or with the backing of Royal Caribbean Group she knocked her social media out of the park. We sailed with her a year ago, and saw first hand her leadership and personal skills.
It's a loss for Celebrity and thousands more passengers a week that she departed. She probably accomplished all she could, but Royal should have done anything to try to keep her. (Btw, it's a pretty good suite experience for the price and with the amenities of a bigger ship on the newer ones).
Four Seasons is getting someone that is better known, and frankly more personable and skilled than probably any of their hotel managers. Hopefully she is utilized well, and the fit works. The other captains on Four Seasons will have a lot to do meet the bar set by Captain Kate presuming she's hired to do her thing (besides captaining the ship and crew). The passengers -- if -- they want to interact with an amazing person will have that opportunity.
Just wonder if Four Seasons customers want their ship and Captain to be a celebrity. And, for Captain Kate, she'll be on a ship with passengers that are arguably
(in their minds) more high flying and successful than she is.
Wow - talk about passive-aggressive! Not all the readers are points whores and many appreciate reviews of luxury non-points properties. Please keep writing about all travel products Ben! I'm sure the vast majority of readers understand that just because your husband is a travel advisor doesn't mean your interest in reporting on luxury hotels and resorts is unseemly.
Where is your evidence? Have you actually served aboard a ship? I was a Coast Guard officer when women were new as crew at sea. Not only is it not DEI, women have had so many EXTRA obstacles that they have had to be BETTER than most men at most aspects of their jobs merely to keep the job. Your comment, without evidence or explanation, just falls flat.
These ships are setting out to do something quite different at sea, they are proposing a Four Seasons on water. So that means you'll get breakfast, but otherwise NOTHING is included. So be prepared to walk off the ship with a bill in the thousands just for meals. Perhaps their clients won't care, but they are going to have to really deliver on the Four Seasons promise to make that work.
Just want to say people who immediately think this is a “DEI” hire is just ignorant. Look this woman up, she is no less capable than others in her field, she didn’t need to pull a woman card to get this job. Four seasons is about hospitality, and if you follow her ig you’ll see they’re a great match. She doesn’t just drive a ship, she enjoys interacting with passengers and she’s famous for hosting trivia of her cat.
That’s funny…I don’t remember titanic’s captain being a diversity hire. Or are cis white males incapable of making any mistakes in your myopic viewpoint?
Taking nothing away from Capt. McCue, but Windstar Cruises has Capt. Belinda Bennet who we have sailed with a number of times. Capt. Bennet has a compelling personal story being from St. Helena Island. She also is a hands on leader interacting with guests on a daily basis.
I just looked at their website and even a "basic" med cruise was $26k JUST for the suite.
Hard pass.
"Definitely DEI..." I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and presume this is sarcasm, and not that you're another idiot who doesn't look at actual qualifications before making such statements (or even read the blog post on which you're commenting).
I am not sexist, but I hope she is happy to go toe to toe on the foredecks with pirates, as any male Captain would leading his men.
I meant exactly what I said, apologies if that struck a nerve. Her prior command was a 3200+ pax 141k ton cruise ship. That's not a Royal Carribean Condo Block, but it's not much better in passenger count and size than Carnival's Dream or Vista ships either. Huge difference between a 130-140k ton cruise ship and a 34k ton cruise ship (I didn't realize Four Seasons ships were quite that big admittedly, that's well into WWII battleship size and displacement lmao).
1/ Good for her. 2/ This comment section is guaranteed to be a dumpster fire.
So far it’s been respectful (as of Thursday, August 6, afternoon, unless Ben had to remove the crazies). Hopefully it stays that way.
Not too bad, so far. Seems to be less hate in today's comments throughout. What happened? Love it!
She was always so nice and positive when I saw her on Celebrity. I'll always remember the time she got on the elevator with me and remembered talking to me on an earlier bridge tour. I had planned to try Four Seasons Yachts with her as captain. I hope she enjoys the time she can spend now with her family and other things in life!
Captain Kate is a genuine rockstar. Sailed on Beyond with her and there's no doubt her ability to connect with guests and crew, and project leadership and hospitality was off the charts. She made everyone feel seen. (Many of Celebrity's crew excel at this, too). Former Celebrity Cruises CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo and Captain Kate McCue deserve a lot of credit for advancing opportunities for women crewmembers and cruising generally. Seeing it first hand on their ships made clear the media accounts matched the reality. Plus learned a ton from the Captain's social media. She is authentic. And, anyone that can get down on the level of a young traveler and look them right in the eye and thank them for traveling with her is automatically in a different league.
you could never stop me from cruising har har har
" Girls shouldn't be captains, because they eat girl food . It's the law of the jungle . "
-Alert, soon
I've had the pleasure to sail with Capt Kate at the helm before she ever got big and let me tell you she is the real-deal. I was surprised to see her when she was uploading content and getting really big on social media. I think because of her, a lot of captains have started to interact more with their passengers and at Celebrity they specifically have done a great job making the captain very front facing giving guests opportunities to meet and interact with them on every sailing.
There was a rumor when she left Celebrity that she would become a captain on the Bravo show “Below Deck” because she is friends with Captain Sandy. It seems like that could be a possibility again.
I imagine the context of losing one parent and caring for another is a major part of her decision. Ultimately being there for family in their time of need is the right choice. Wishing her and hers all the best.