Iconic captain leaves Celebrity Cruises

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Captain Kate McCue, the first American woman to take the helm of a cruise ship, has left Celebrity Cruises.

The famed captain — who is known as much for her seafaring skills as she is for her love of Louboutin shoes and taking internet trolls to task — made the announcement in an Instagram post on Monday.

"You might be wondering why am I leaving," McCue said in the post's caption. "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."

The news comes less than two months after the death of McCue's beloved hairless elf sphynx cat, Bug Naked, whose oceangoing exploits with McCue made the feline Instagram-famous.

With her unflappable confidence, McCue — who has her own Instagram following to the tune of 1 million people — has been a natural advocate for women in the cruise industry.

In 2020, just before the industry shuttered for 18 months due to COVID-19, she hosted an International Women's Day cruise on Celebrity Edge. During that sailing, every single member of the bridge crew — all of the ship's officers — was a woman. And, fittingly, McCue had some valuable insight about why it's an honor that ships are referred to as "she."

Also in 2020, during the shutdown, she was kind enough to chat with Summer Hull, TPG's senior director of content, about all things cruise.

"Captain Kate inspires so many with the passion she puts into everything she touches," Laura Hodges Bethge, president of Celebrity Cruises, said in a statement. "I know her love for the sea and those who share in its magic will never change. And, so it is with gratitude and admiration that, on behalf of all of us at Celebrity Cruises, we wish her fair winds, following seas, and the very best always."

Although McCue hasn't yet revealed what's next, she has alluded to new seasons of "The Captain's Log," a series of social media reels in which she shared what life is like at sea.

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But McCue — who has sailed on 11 ships across Royal Caribbean Group's brands over the past 22 years — assures her followers that her sailing days aren't over.

"I've got too much salt in my veins to leave the sea behind," she said.

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