Morbid Question

[sheilb4]

I worked as a nurse on a cruise ship, so have first hand experience of many deaths sadly.....of course we would hold the bodies in the morgue.

There was an incident one time I recall that even tho we were at a port the next day, the widow wanted to continue her 7 day cruise as it was a lifelong trip that they had saved for, and she said her husband would want her to do this.... We had to keep her dead husband in the morgue until she ended the cruise. She would come down to the hospital every day and "visit" him..It was so sad, but she was content with that, tho I think she was also in shock, or in denial the entire trip because she didn't seem to be upset. Her husband died the first night 2 hours after leaving NY. We kept him onboard the 7 day cruise until we returned back to NY. but usually as a rule we would disembark the body at the next port of call.....

[robtx100]

We were on the Norwegian Sea when someone passed on the aft part of the ship early on. I went the entire cruise thinking they had taken the person off the ship, but when we returned to Houston, the hurse was there to take the body away, we watched from above.

[cruzincurt]

I've instructed my DW to plant some of my ashes on a cruise ship so I can continue to do B to B cruises for a long time.

[clgcrusier]

They won't "bury you at sea " if you die on the ship, but I will disagree with the person that says do the lowest aft balcony. The easiest thing to do is to call Carnival customer service. They will arrange a burial at sea of ashes of a loved one at no cost. We did this with my dad on the Glory in September of this year, they were absolutely awesome. The customer service rep was there, the environmental person, security head and a rep from the captain, they take you aft on the lowest level and there is a hole in the ship back there, it's in the open (I think it's a anchor hole?) anyway they were wonderful with the burial and allowed some roses in after the ashes as well as a shot of rum (my dad was a navy dude and liked his rum) It was awesome and my hat goes off to carnival for being so service oriented on this type of thing.

 

I think that's awesome! And something to consider. I used to dislike the idea of cremation-my thoughts of it have changed alot over the years.

[clgcrusier]

That's true, but on average people are probably doing much less dangerous things while on a cruise. I guess you do something like drink yourself to death or swim over a stingray during a cruise, but you'd be much less likely to be driving a car than you would at home, and that's a real killer.

 

Then again, perhaps is not uncommon for someone with a terminal illness to go on a cruise as sort of a last hurrah.

 

This is so true! On our last cruise, my friend and her mother came with us. This was a first cruise for both, and VERY exciting for them! She (the mom) had been battling cancer for several years, and had had surgery just a couple weeks before we went. Still had her surgical drains in, in fact, but the doctors sent her with their blessings and told her to have a great time. They did-she felt wonderful and was so happy that she went. Sadly, she died almost 2 months to the day after we got back. But my friend has so many pictures of this treasured mother-daughter time, and is in fact going with us again in February!

[cruznlobo]

I've instructed my DW to plant some of my ashes on a cruise ship so I can continue to do B to B cruises for a long time.

 

I'd be willing to bet that you could take a box of ashes and set them on a shelf in the library of any ship.

Everyone would think that it was some sort of decoration/prop and leave them alone.

[2Roses]

My husband died one week to the day after we returned from a cruise on the Norway. We made memories that can never be replaced. His sister and our son were with us and they had quality time together that they otherwise might not have had.

BTW, I am a funeral director/embalmer and yes, there is a morgue on every ship.