Passenger dies on Royal Caribbean's 9-month world cruise

Royal Caribbean has confirmed reports of the passing of a passenger aboard a cruise ship sailing the cruise line’s first ever world cruise.

Serenade of the Seas is conducting a world cruise that began in December, and just wrapped up its first leg having sailed around South America and seen Antarctica.

Following rumors of a passenger’s death on social media, the cruise line issued a statement confirming the incident.

We reached out to Royal Caribbean for confirmation and the cruise line issued this statement, “A guest sailing on board Serenade of the Seas has sadly passed away. We are actively providing support and assistance to the guest’s loved ones at this time. Out of the privacy of the guest and their family, we have nothing further to share at this time.”

A spokesperson for the cruise line also noted that the passenger that passed away was not part of the full Ultimate World Cruise, and had just booked the individual sailing.

There are around 800 passengers who booked the entire world cruise transit, with many other passengers onboard for shorter legs. It appears the person that passed away was onboard for a shorter segment.

The Ultimate World Cruise will take 274 nights on Serenade of the Seas that will visit more than 150 destinations in 65 countries and 11 great wonders of the world.

It began on December 10, 2023 and will end on September 10, 2024.

You might be surprised to read that cruise ships have morgues onboard, just in case. Unfortunately, people die every day, even while on vacation. It’s unlikely to occur on a cruise, but it does happen once in a while.

The morgue is usually located on a lower deck, far away from where cruise ship passengers would ever visit. Royal Caribbean does not share specific information about the morgue on Serenade of the Seas, but other cruise ships typically have a stainless-steel refrigeration room with individual compartments.

Depending on where the ship is and when the death occurs will determine if the body should be repatriated at the next port the ship visits, or if it can remain onboard in the morgue until the cruise concludes. U.S. regulations require cruise ships to carry body bags onboard a ship.

The average cruise ship morgue can store a body for up to one week.

Given this happened on a world cruise, it’s more likely arrangements would be made to have the body taken off the ship at a port and sent home, but that information is not publicly disclosed.

World cruise social media obsession

Someone passing away on a cruise ship might make headlines to begin with, but Royal Caribbean’s world cruise has generated buzz for just about everything that has happened on it.

Ever since the world cruise began on December 10, 2023, TikTok has been obsessed with the sailing for some reason.

People on TikTok have been overly intrigued with the notion of going on a cruise ship for almost a year and sailing around the world.

There’s been tens of million of views so far on the platform just for the World Cruise hashtag, and wild speculation has fueled the content.

Royal Caribbean International President and CEO Michael Bayley said during a press conference last month on Icon of the Seas that the world cruise has been, “quite an interesting project.”

“We had no clue that it would become a [sensation]. I think there’s been 290 million views of some of the TikTok stuff that’s gone out in the ultimate cruise.”

A perfect example of the online sensation is the person that created a bingo card for things that could happen on the world cruise.

The video has over 350,000 views so far and the squares range cover just about every minor and major possibility.

• Getting sunburned
• Norovirus
• Brands sponsors for passengers
• Pirate takeover
• A wedding
• Someone goes home early
• Port errand runs
• Minor mystery to solve

Possible itinerary change in the Red Sea

Royal Caribbean hasn’t announced anything yet, but it might have to adjust the ship’s itinerary when it arrives to the Red Sea due to the unrest in the area.

During a call with Wall Street investors on February 1, Royal Caribbean Group executives said they are closely watching the situation there, “The safety of our guests and crew is of top priority and we are constantly monitoring the situation,” said Royal Caribbean Group Chief Financial Officer Naftali Holtz.

“We only have a handful of repositioning cruises scheduled in the region this year, and have already rerouted one of our Silversea ships, and have contingency plans for a couple of others in the spring.”