Captain Kate

I’ve seen many posts about how awesome Captain Kate is and others wondering why she gets so much attention.

We have sailed 10+ times and disembarked the Equinox this morning and I thought I’d give my thoughts.

I know all Captains are very qualified but never have I had a Captain that I could remember their name.

I had a few times to observe her. She attended the Cruise Critic party and was very open and brought senior officers — obviously loved her job and crew (and reads Cruise Critic). One night we saw her having a quiet dinner with guests in the Tuscan Grill; and we attended the Captains Corner with her and other officers. Again, she was delightful and has a wonderful story of following her dreams.

My final observation, and know most lasting, was this morning when she was thanking every single passenger, with a handshake or smile, thanking them for cruising with her and hoped to see them again soon. I have never had that happen before and I thought it was so gracious and wonderful

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It's always great to hear such positive attributes! I hope that one day we will be able to cruise with her.

We sailed with her recently and had the opportunity to talk with her twice. She is very engaging, down to earth and has a great sense of humor. We did self debarkation and she was there at the gangway shaking hands as we left.

43 cruises on multiple lines and the 1st time we experienced a captain on the gangway. Little things can ha e a big impact.

Captain Leo also stands at the gangway and thanks passengers for sailing with him. He is another of those very engaging Captains that Celebrity has. We have sailed with them over many years and always have had crew who were personable and welcoming. Loved when we only had set seatings in the MDR and at the last formal night we were treated as family. Staff who knew you sailed with Celebrity before always said "welcome home". Sailing on Edge in January and have sailed with this Captain before also so hoping the comraderie of the staff doesn't change because of the new ships.

We felt well cared for the entire trip and always felt the crew wanted us to enjoy our trip — the entire staff was awesome.

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Captain Leo also stands at the gangway and thanks passengers for sailing with him. He is another of those very engaging Captains that Celebrity has. We have sailed with them over many years and always have had crew who were personable and welcoming. Loved when we only had set seatings in the MDR and at the last formal night we were treated as family. Staff who knew you sailed with Celebrity before always said "welcome home". Sailing on Edge in January and have sailed with this Captain before also so hoping the comraderie of the staff doesn't change because of the new ships.

Capt Kate was trained by Capt Leo hence the gangway thanks and handshake!

This is so nice to hear (read). We will be on the Equinox 10/26 and cruising Celebrity for the first time. I'm hopeful that she will still be on - they say yes, but sometimes you never know.

There are some Captains (mostly Princess but 2 NCL) that standout - mostly because they are out and about with the passengers. Last year on the Regal Princess Captain Stringer actually had tea with us!

Soooooo looking forward to our Celebrity cruise. Thanks for sharing!

I am not sure who started the Captain on the gangway upon exiting but it is a great way to end a cruise. Captain Alex also did it last month on the Millennium.

We've not had the pleasure of sailing with Captain Kate, but loved Captain Leo! He's the only ship master that stood out and made themselves memorable to us. Very personable, accessible and most importantly capable!

We have seen the gangway greeting while departing a few times in the past few years on the Millennium, the Constellation, the Summit and the Silhouette. It is indeed a nice touch. There have been times that many of the senior officers have been out there saying "thanks for coming with us and please.come back soon". By and large Celebrity pushes the officers and staff to be out and about and to take time to say hello to the passengers. It is indeed a nice touch.

We were on one of Captain Kate’s first sailing on the Summit. She is delightful and engaging. She played poker in the crew tournament with my husband. Never had a captain that was so involved with the passengers.

I am not sure who started the Captain on the gangway upon exiting but it is a great way to end a cruise. Captain Alex also did it last month on the Millennium.

That's an easy one. Captain Merrill Stubing started it back in the 1970s. I wish Captain McCue had come clean and told us why the Equinox was dead in the water for at least twenty minutes on this cruise. A senior officer told a fellow passenger it was an equipment failure, but if so, why the secrecy? It left me to thing it was human failure. Thankfully, the sea was calm and no further problem occurred.

Incidentally, the food is great on the Equinox. We frequenty ate in specialty restaurants but had I known how good the MDR is, we could have saved a bundle. The Summit's chef could use a lesson from the executive chef on the Equinox

Great staff, great cruise.

I had a few times to observe her. She attended the Cruise Critic party and was very open and brought senior officers — obviously loved her job and crew (and reads Cruise Critic).

Are you Captain Kate? :confused: ;p

Are you Captain Kate? :confused: ;p

We sailed with Capt Kate in April, on the Equinox, she was extremely friendly and outgoing.

Spoke with her multiple times as she was highly visable through out the ship.

Even got to meet Bug Naked.

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We were on summit with her in January and equinox in August

She is a fantastic example of leading

No question to me that her personality brings out the best in her crew

Way to go celebrity with your picking her

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I never could understand the excitement about her until we sailed with her. She just made everyone, including her crew feel like they were all one family. She was friendly to everyone as she roamed the ship and even hung out at the shows with her husband.

We sail with her next week, can’t wait to meet her!

Bonnie

Captain Leo also stands at the gangway and thanks passengers for sailing with him. He is another of those very engaging Captains that Celebrity has. We have sailed with them over many years and always have had crew who were personable and welcoming. Loved when we only had set seatings in the MDR and at the last formal night we were treated as family. Staff who knew you sailed with Celebrity before always said "welcome home". Sailing on Edge in January and have sailed with this Captain before also so hoping the comraderie of the staff doesn't change because of the new ships.

Had the same experience with Captain Leo way before Capt Kate. I think she learned it from him as we were on her first assignment when she took over for Capt Leo. It was on the Summit New England cruise a few years ago.

Capt Alex is also very good as well as many other Celebrity Capts. Can’t remember many of their names because they are all Greek to us.

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

It is so interesting that our top 3 favorite captains are Captain Leo, Captain Alex and Captain Kate, all originally from the Summit. I think Captains Alex and Kate took lessons from Captain Leo. Until we sailed the Summit with Captain Leo I couldn’t have told you the names of any captains we sailed with. Come to think of it, I still can’t remember any except those 3!

Gee, I’m so disappointed that all the whining ‘she’s just seen as a good Capt because she’s a woman....’ posts we had to go through on another thread. Come on guys, here’s you chance to show how you feel about women in senior positions.

I have cruised under Capt Leo and Capt Kate and Capt Alex. All very personable, and apparently excellent Capt’s along with so many of the other Celebrity Capt’s who, because of their more introverted personality or limited English, aren’t considered in our list.

But that’s how it works. We’ll probably never understand how many good merchant officers work their way up the chain and never get a chance of being the Capt in charge of a ship with large numbers of passengers. It necks down quickly and is very limited. A very different world then a Capt of a standard merchant ship.

So yes, she’s more personable, excellent commications capability, and makes herself and her staff more accessible, but she’s here, not because of those, but because she’s an excellent deck officer who worked her way up and displayed excellent at-sea command.

It’s a rarefied world being in command of a ship. I realize I’m using some of the words used for a military command at sea, but in reality, there’s not a great deal of difference.

Den

We have sailed with Capt. Kate three times.

Yes, she is a charmer. Yes, her crews are happier because of her mastery of the sea and ship. Yes, most passengers think she is one of the most personable captains of the fleet.

But we come from a slightly different persepective. She was at the helm of a Summit sailing when two passengers were killed and 4 or 5 more injured in a jitney accident on Tortola. This was not a ship's tour but she was at the hospital before all of the injured even arrived. She dealt with the families in a most compassionate way. She sent the Loyalty Ambassador on shore to assist the families until they were able to make arrangements and travel. She kept the passengers up to date until the affected families left Tortola.

On another sailing her parents were onboard and while we respected their privacy it wasn't hard to tell who they were. They walked around the ship glowing and were as kind to the passengers as Capt. Kate herself.

She is an accomplished captain. She worked hard to achieve her stripes and endear herself to so many. Just ask any officer who has served under her.

So yes, she’s more personable, excellent commications capability, and makes herself and her staff more accessible, but she’s here, not because of those, but because she’s an excellent deck officer who worked her way up and displayed excellent at-sea command.

Are you sure? We are not on navy/army. And also on army, leadership (on higher ranks) requires good communication and social skills.

Being good is not enough, on some roles, if there are many good people. As far I know, there always were some social skill requirements for cruise captains (other would choose freight, which, it seems, it also better paid, more free time). Remember the Captain Table, and the importance it had on older time? I'm sure the better cruise lines have more of such requirements for Captains.

Adding value to cruise (for passenger, for crew) is a strong plus on selection for captains, for the cruise lines. No doubts they will not choose a bad/incompetent captain [ok there were few bad, history tell us]. But a single ship has a lot of licensed captains, so a cruise line has a lot of choices, when replacing a captain. For sure character (and it seems Captain Kate is beloved also by crew) will help to make difference.

Are you sure? We are not on navy/army. And also on army, leadership (on higher ranks) requires good communication and social skills.

 

Being good is not enough, on some roles, if there are many good people. As far I know, there always were some social skill requirements for cruise captains (other would choose freight, which, it seems, it also better paid, more free time). Remember the Captain Table, and the importance it had on older time? I'm sure the better cruise lines have more of such requirements for Captains.

 

Adding value to cruise (for passenger, for crew) is a strong plus on selection for captains, for the cruise lines. No doubts they will not choose a bad/incompetent captain [ok there were few bad, history tell us]. But a single ship has a lot of licensed captains, so a cruise line has a lot of choices, when replacing a captain. For sure character (and it seems Captain Kate is beloved also by crew) will help to make difference.

Agree with your assessment.

Den

There is more to a Captain than how one dresses, smiles and shakes hands. On our cruise a few weeks ago, there was a serious medical emergency at sea and it was just amazing how the Captain and crew handled the situation with high winds and seas. Working closely with a medical helicopter which could not land on the ship. That meant a lot to us in that we knew we were in excellent hands if something had happened to us.