Scattering of Ashes at Sea...

[SKYPAP]

A bit of an unusual one this... My father passed away last month and one of his final requests was to have his ashes scattered at sea. He very much loved the sea and clocked up 17 cruises with P&O / Princess over the last 15 years.

 

My parents were booked to sail on Sea Princess in September - sadly a voyage they shall not be making. However, my mother would like to take the family on a short cruise with a view to scattering his ashes at sea. It's a bit more my dad's style than from the Isle of Wight ferry!

 

I am well aware of the strict policy of not throwing anything over the side of a ship, but was wondering if anyone has had any experience of such an issue.

 

I have not contacted the cruise line directly yet, as I thought I would test the water on cruise critic first.

 

Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated...

 

Olly

[susieh]

I don't know if P&O offer this service but I do know that one of the ferry lines in Portsmouth does.

 

Apparently there is a special platform at the back of the boat and people step on to this so they are nearer the water line and then able to scatter the ashes easier. I would think that the height of the P&O ships might make it an impractical thing to do unless they have a similar facility.

 

When my husband's uncle died his last wish was to have his ashes scattered at sea in Portsmouth Harbour. At that time we owned our own boat so we were able to take my husband's cousins out with us and they could fulfil their father's last wish. You may find someone in Yellow Pages who offers a service where they do this.

[dforeigner]

I know it has been done from a Princess ship.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=9250670#post9250670

[susieh]

I know it has been done from a Princess ship.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=9250670#post9250670

 

This may sound an 'odd' question but did you have to throw the urn into the sea or did you open it and scatter his ashes onto the water? We did the latter - I had not heard about biodegradable urns but maybe that is an option which would be good for the OP

[dforeigner]

This may sound an 'odd' question but did you have to throw the urn into the sea or did you open it and scatter his ashes onto the water? We did the latter - I had not heard about biodegradable urns but maybe that is an option which would be good for the OP

 

I was not involved in that ceremony. I remember reading about it though. I also remember that the Captain was involved in the ceremony.

[dforeigner]

I found a WEB site that sells biodegradable urns.

 

http://inthelighturns.com/biodegradable.html