Celebrity Cruises has announced the first-ever sailing with an entirely female bridge and officer team – including three British female crew members.

The sailing will take place on International Women’s Day on 8 March 2020 on board the brand’s newest ship, Celebrity Edge, as part of its initiative to #BRIDGEthegap.

Captain McCue, who is the first American cruise ship captain, will be at the helm and will be accompanied by 26 other women to create an all-female bridge and officer leadership team.

This includes British first officer Rachel Arnold, British cruise director Sue Denning and British guest relations director Jule Sherrington – as well as Celebrity’s president and CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo.

“We are all passionate about closing the gender gap,” said Lutoff-Perlo. “Over the last few years, we have worked hard to diversify the crew on board and bring more women than ever into our industry.

“We are fortunate to have many incredible, experienced and beyond-qualified women who have worked tirelessly to achieve these positions. And we also celebrate the many men who continue to support them and help champion having more women crew onboard.”

Senior vice president of global marine operations for Royal Caribbean Cruises, Patrik Dahlgren, who has spearheaded Celebrity Cruises’ bridge diversification efforts under the leadership of Lutoff-Perlo, added:

“Since 2015, we have raised the percentage of qualified women on our navigational bridges from 3 per cent to 22 per cent. Now, we hope this all-time industry-high will continue to grow; we just need more women to raise their hands for careers at sea, especially in engineering.”

“Excitement does not even begin to describe how I’m feeling about working alongside these incredible, barrier-breaking women on Celebrity Edge for this truly historic sailing,” added Captain McCue.

“I am inspired every day by the amazing women we have working throughout this organisation – both on land and at sea. They’re proof that there’s power in diversity.”

Currently, only two per cent of the world’s 1.2 million mariners are women, highlighting a huge gender imbalance in the industry.

The all-women bridge and leadership team for the special Celebrity Edge sailing represents 17 different countries.

As part of this sailing, Celebrity Cruises is curating unique specialty programming, including evening gallery exhibitions and art auctions featuring female artists; collaborating on an exclusive design with luxury jewellery designer Reout Kallati; hosting special events, and other dedicated onboard programming, including Women of the World-themed trivia challenges, to name a few.

Guests can experience the all-female bridge onboard the 7-night Eastern Caribbean sailing, departing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on 8 March 2020. Prices are now £974 per person based on two people sharing an Oceanview stateroom.

To learn more about the special International Women’s Day 2020 sailing, visit celebritycruises.com/gb/about-us/celebrity-cares/international-womens-day.