Four Seasons recently got into the cruising business, with the launch of Four Seasons Yachts. The first ship set sail in March 2026, with the goal of redefining cruising, especially in terms of the amount of space dedicated to each guest. I recently had the chance to take such a cruise, and walked away with mixed feelings — the ship was beautiful, but the experience just wasn’t ready for primetime.
Anyway, I digress. One of the things that got Four Seasons Yachts the most publicity ahead of launch was who the company appointed as the first captain, as she’s easily the most well-known cruise ship captain out there. So there’s a major update, as she has resigned from the company, though not to work on another ship (thanks to Stuart for flagging this). Let’s start with a bit of background…
In this post:
Captain Kate McCue is a cruise ship legend
Let me be 100% clear — I don’t usually follow the “characters” in the cruising world, and up until earlier this year, I hadn’t been on a cruise ship since I was a kid. That being said, I’ve long known about Kate McCue, who is probably the most famous cruise ship captain in the world.
She spent years as a captain at Celebrity Cruises, and was even an ambassador for the company. What makes her memorable is how how much of her job she shares on social media, and also how much she interacts with guests. Captain Kate just comes across as such a genuine and kind person, and that’s what makes her so likable. I know there are plenty of people who would book a specific cruise in hopes of having her as a captain, and meeting her.
I love anyone who is passionate about whatever they do, and Captain Kate’s enthusiasm is infectious. She’s also an inspiration for so many young women and girls, since the job of ship captain has historically been pretty male dominated. It’s nice to have a role model where you can say “hey, I can do that too.” She’s a bit of a trailblazer, as she also become the first female, American cruise ship captain in the world.
Before anyone yells “DEI” (c’mon, do better!), let me point out the immense experience she has, as she has been at sea for decades. For those not familiar with Captain Kate, below is a Peter Greenberg segment from several years back, featuring her.
Captain Kate “retires” from being a ship captain
In September 2025, Four Seasons announced that Kate McCue would be the first captain of Four Seasons I, Four Seasons Yachts’ first ship. On her Instagram account, she posted a video, plus the following message, at the time:
I’m thrilled to join an amazing team, introducing a new category of luxury and excellence to our guests at sea. A new build vessel is one thing. A start-up with an incredible prototype vessel is a whole new opportunity to grow with an iconic brand like Four Seasons! It’s yacht like anything you’ve seen before!
That brings us to the latest update, which is that less than a year after accepting the job, and roughly five months after the first sailing, Captain Kate will be leaving the company. She posted the announcement on her Instagram account, with the following message:
Sometimes life changes the course.
After 30 years at sea, I’m making more room for family, joy and new adventures, including experiencing cruising from the other side for a change.
The captain’s license is staying active. I’m not leaving the sea behind… I’m just changing the view.
In the video, she explains how she finished her first Four Seasons Yachts assignment in April, and was expecting to be the caregiver for her father after a major back surgery for the following months (captains generally work three months on, three months off, give or take).
She then unexpectedly lost her mom in June, and that’s when she realized that she has spent a majority of the last year away from home, because she was working. And after 30 years at sea, and 11 years as captain, she feels like she doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone anymore.
So she is now starting a new chapter that will give her more time with her family, and more freedom to pursue things that she genuinely loves, including taking her dad on bucket list trips. Captain Kate explains that she’s keeping her captain’s license active, so returning to the career in the future isn’t off the table.
Massive kudos to Captain Kate for making this difficult decision. She’s a force to be reckoned with, and will no doubt be missed in the cruising industry. Her passion and skill (both professionally and interpersonally) are obvious. But yeah, being away from home for half of your life isn’t easy, given the complete lack of flexibility the career affords when you’re “on duty.”
Kudos to her for now focusing on her family more, because I can imagine the extent to which her losing her mom caused her to put this all into perspective. Given how many social media followers she has and how respected she is, I’m sure she’ll have no issues continuing to make a good living without cruising. I wish her all the best, and who knows, maybe she’ll be back as captain of a ship at some point.
I have to imagine that this was in the works for some time, because when I cruised with Four Seasons Yachts in late July, there was talk of Captain Kate returning in a couple of weeks. However, everyone working there was sort of odd in how they talked about it, saying things like “oh, yeah, I think she’s supposed to return soon,” or something like that. Clearly this was decided some time back, but is only now being announced.
Bottom line
Four Seasons Yachts recently set sail, with Captain Kate McCue, probably the world’s most famous and likable cruise ship captain, being the ship’s first commander. Her career at Four Seasons Yachts didn’t last long, though — between taking care of her father following a back surgery, and then losing her mom only months later, she obviously decided to reflect a bit on life.
Despite her passion for cruising, she realized that she wants to focus more on family, and pursue other things she’s passionate about. Kudos to her on making this difficult decision.
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.
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'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...
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.
" Girls shouldn't be captains, because they eat girl food . It's the law of the jungle . "
-Alert, soon
you could never stop me from cruising har har har
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...
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.
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!
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!
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).
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.
"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 just looked at their website and even a "basic" med cruise was $26k JUST for the suite.
Hard pass.
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.
You're a moron. Captain McCue has over 20 years experience on the water.
Gotta love when the jerks call themselves out.
Everything is DEI if they don’t look you, isn’t it?
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?
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.
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.
I am not a jerk.
First port of call: The nearest iceberg.
... and some of them will post here.
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.
DEI
Definitely DEI...
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.
Never heard of her.
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...
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.
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.
Dusty - perhaps you are mixing up Carnival and Celebrity. Much to the chagrin of some, a Celebrity cruise is far from a party barge.
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"...
In spite of her accomplishments and passing all of the licensing requirements, there will be inadequate jerks who will not give her credit.
Her cat was just as famous.
Even tho I don't think you usually do cruises, I'm excited for you and look forward to your post(s)!