Picture this: You’re halfway through a nine-month cruise, exploring 160 destinations aboard Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas. As you walk back to your cabin after a long day, you see crew members discreetly wheeling a body down the hallway. The shock hits—you realize someone has died in the midst of your voyage.

Adita Larson, a fellow passenger, reflected on this moment on TikTok: “Some sad news. We had our first death on the Ultimate World Cruise. A lady passed away last night. She was an elderly lady, and the reason why I know is because I was coming to my room when they were taking the body out” (People Magazine). This wasn’t entirely unexpected; deaths, while rare, do happen on long cruises, especially ones that last months. Royal Caribbean confirmed the incident: “A guest sailing onboard Serenade of the Seas has sadly passed away. We are actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones at this time.”

What happens when a passenger dies on a cruise ship?

Cruise lines are prepared for such situations, and every ship is required to have a morgue onboard. However, on longer cruises, like the Ultimate World Cruise, they often have to get creative in figuring out how to “repatriate” the body home, depending on the ship’s location and upcoming ports.

1- Immediate medical response

As soon as a passenger is found unresponsive, the ship’s medical team acts quickly. All cruise ships carry automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and employ trained medical professionals to perform CPR or other life-saving measures. Unfortunately, not every medical effort succeeds, and in those cases, the ship’s doctor officially declares the passenger dead. In this instance, Larson shared, “I’m thinking it was probably a heart attack. But I don’t have much news other than it was a female elderly patient, or guest, that passed away” (People Magazine).

2- Handling and storing the body

Once a death is confirmed, the body is discreetly moved to the ship’s morgue. Cruise ships are legally required to carry body bags and have a morgue that can store bodies temporarily. Cruise Critic revealed, “Each oceangoing cruise ship is required to carry body bags and maintain a morgue.” For many journeys, this solves any logistical issues: “On standard Caribbean sailings, remains are often kept in the cruise ship morgue until the vessel returns to the United States, where a death certificate can be issued by the local medical examiner’s office.”

However, bodies can only be kept in the morgue for a limited time. “Bodies can be stored in shipboard morgues as needed, though not for much longer than a week.” Even on these longer cruises, like the nine-month world cruise, there’s an increased chance that the body must remain onboard until the ship reaches a major port, as immediate offloading isn’t always possible.

3- Notification and family support

Once the body has been stored, the ship’s Care Team contacts the family or travel companions of the deceased. Carnival Cruise Line explains: “Care Team members are trained to deal with grieving people, but they are not grief counselors. They are trained to help deal with the details of repatriating a body and contact[ing] a funeral home” (Cruise Critic). This support is crucial in helping family members navigate the legal and logistical challenges of dealing with a death abroad. The Care Team also ensures family members have transportation and accommodations, stating, “They’ll drive the deceased person’s travel companions to a hotel if they choose to disembark the ship and even stay with them until they can return home.”

4- Repatriation of the body

Once the ship reaches an appropriate port, the process of repatriation begins. “Whether the body must be immediately repatriated from a foreign port or can stay onboard depends on a number of factors, including where the ship is at the time, which ports it’s visiting and what the Flag State of the ship is” (Cruise Critic). On Pacific sailings, for example, the process can become quite complicated. “When someone dies on a South Pacific sailing, his body will most likely remain in the ship’s morgue until the ship returns to a more major port, as few, if any, of the islands on such an itinerary are equipped to handle repatriation.” Repatriation is not always straightforward, especially when smaller countries or those with limited medical infrastructure are involved. The local port authorities must first approve the removal of the body, adding to the logistical challenges.

5- Emotional and legal aftermath

A death at sea affects more than just the deceased’s family. Fellow passengers and crew are also impacted. The crew, especially, may need emotional support after such an incident, and many cruise lines offer counseling services to help them process the event. Passengers can also be shaken by witnessing such a situation, as evidenced by Adita Larson. After the tragedy, Larson continued her journey, but as she returned home, she reflected on the event, a reminder of the unpredictable nature of life at sea. “It’s very, very sad to have witnessed” (People Magazine).

Deaths at sea, though rare, are a reality of long cruises. Cruise lines have well-established protocols to handle such tragic events, ensuring the deceased’s family receives support and the proper steps are taken to repatriate the body. Note that many cruise lines don’t pay for repatriation, so experts recommend cruise ship passengers make certain that their trip insurance will cover these costs if the worst should happen.