Kate McCue, the social media-famous cruise ship captain currently at the helm of the Four Seasons I, is taking a break from life at sea.
McCue is resigning from her role at Four Seasons Yachts and intends to spend more time with her family and pursuing her passions, she shared in an Instagram video. The decision follows the unexpected death of her mother in June, she said.
"That's honestly when I realized that I'd spent the majority of last year away from home because I was working," she said in the video.
McCue added that she plans to keep her captains license active and that sailing again is "absolutely not off the table."
McCue became the first American woman to captain a large cruise ship in 2015 when she was named commanding officer of the Celebrity Summit. She stayed with Celebrity through 2025, documenting her journey on Instagram along the way for a following that grew to more than 1 million accounts.
She then joined Four Seasons Yachts to captain its first ship, which entered service in March.
"After 30 years at sea delivering two new vessels, launching a new brand with a prototype vessel and sailing as captain for the last 11 years, I don't feel like I have to prove anything to anyone," she said. "I've made my parents proud. I've made myself proud."