The XX factor – the new logo is projected on to Celebrity Beyond (Picture: Celebrity Cruises)
Celebrity Cruises is marking International Women’s Day today by changing its normal ‘X’ logo to ‘XX’ on its social media channels and new ship Celebrity Beyond for 24 hours in honour of the female chromosome.
But proving its equality policies are more than mere window-dressing, the line has announced that just under a third – 32 per cent – of its bridge officers are female, in an industry where fewer than two per cent of mariners are women.
Celebrity Beyond, which is making its debut in Southampton next month, will be under the command of Captain Kate McCue, who became the first American female cruise ship captain in 2015. The ‘XX’ logo will be projected on to the ship’s hull at the yard in Saint-Nazaire, France, from where Captain Kate will sail the inaugural voyage.
Celebrity Cruises is also taking part in an International Women’s Day broadcast on ITN today featuring Captain Kate and the line’s vice president and MD for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Jo Rzymowska, talking about the #BreakTheBias global theme.
The line celebrated International Women’s Day 2020 with Captain Kate leading an all-female bridge and officer team on Celebrity Edge, made up of 26 women from 16 countries. Then, on June 26 last year, she was at the helm when the ship became the first from a major line to sail from a US port in more than a year after the Covid shutdown.
When Captain Kate takes the helm of Celebrity Beyond this spring she will have four female officers in her nine-strong bridge team: Chief Officer Rachel Arnold (UK), Second Officer Dionysia Giapappa (Greece), Third Officer Gifty Add Gyamfi (Ghana) and Third Officer Antonina Kolodziejczyk (Poland).
She said: ‘Being a part of this movement, and standing beside my fellow officers both male and female, is definitely an accomplishment I’m extremely proud of. One of my greatest joys is to be able to pay it forward both by example and with opportunities for well-deserving individuals who previously may not have had chances to get their foot in the door. I truly believe that if you can sea it, you can be it.’
Celebrity Cruises president Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said: ‘We are so proud to pioneer this path and keep at this work so everyone who dreams of a career on board a cruise ship – whether they identify as male or female – encounters a new standard across the seven seas.’
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Beyond exciting – Captain Kate to take the helm of Celebrity’s new ship