Thanks RCI - Mariner - Burial At Sea

Many thanks to our TA and the Folks at Royal Caribbean for accommodating our request for Burial At Sea of my parents cremains while on our Mariner cruise last week.

It was only after posting on CC that I learned such was possible and with our TA's help we were quickly able to accomplish this request. Only contacted our TA by email late afternoon of March 3 before our scheduled March 7 sailing.

Our TA received the following email from RCI:

Attn:

Per company policy which permits scattering of deceased "loved ones" ashes at sea, please find the following request.

The following individual(s) would like to spread his/her/their loved ones ashes at sea during the voyage. They will contact the purser's office upon boarding to set up a time and place for this request.

Passenger First and Last Names: .............

Vessel Name: ................................................... MARINER OF THE SEAS

Voyage Date: .................................................... 03/07/10

Reservation Number: .............................................

Stateroom Number (if available)...........................

Thank you,

Guests Flight Operations

AirSea GFO@rccl.com

Phone: 1-800-256-6649

We immediately contacted

http://www.inthelighturns.com/biodegradable.html to arrange purchase of their Peaceful Pillow Fern Water Burial - Scattering Burial Urn. They are in CA and they shipped to Crowne Plaza and it was there when we arrived on Saturday.

Once onboard before we had time to contact the purser's office, Eric from Guest Relations called us re our Request and said that Friday March 12 would be the day.

On March 12 we went with Eric to Deck 2, through Crew area to stern and he allowed up as much private time as we wanted and then I tossed the Urn overboard. At the moment of my tossing the Urn my wife looked at Eric and he was radioing the Bridge so that they would have exact coordinates. The next day we received a formal Mariner of the Seas Burial At Sea certificate with the Latitude & Longitude coordinates that signed by Capt Johnny, the Chief Officer, the Hotel Director & the Guest Services Manager.

Many thanks to RCI and the staff of Mariner for allowing us to accommodate my parents wishes.

First off Sorry for your loss...

Second I'm really glad that RCCL offers this service. I have several family members who wish to be remember the same way.

I was deeply moved by your post and am sat at my desk with tears in my eyes.

What a beautiful farewell you gave your parents and what wonderful accommodation by RCCL and the crew of Mariner who supported you so well.

I was deeply moved by your post and am sat at my desk with tears in my eyes.

 

What a beautiful farewell you gave your parents and what wonderful accommodation by RCCL and the crew of Mariner who supported you so well.

Ditto.

I also want to give my condolences to you and your family and thank you for posting this. When it is my time, hopefully not for a long time, this is how I want to go! Quite interesting what is possible.

My condolences to your lost family member.

What a wonderful way, especially if one loved to cruise, to let them be where they loved to be.........at sea!

I was unaware that RCCL would allow this, and my had is off to them for making it possible.

Rick

Heartfelt sympathies to the OP and thanks for posting this.

I have just sent the urn link to my son with a request to take his father and me on one last cruise when our time here is up.

Our condolences on your loss.It made me happy to know that it is possible to do this. both DH and myself wanted this for ourselves, and now to know it can happen has made our requests complete. Thanks you so much for posting this. God bless

My condolences to you and your family.

Thank you so much for posting this information. My husband has MS and we have spoke about what will happen when he leaves us and this is also something we talked about and I know he would want.

I am so glad that RCCL and crew offer this farewell and help with the accommodations to do so.

What an awesome and uplifting post! I understand your pain, having lost my mother only 3 years ago. My mother was buried per her wishes with the rest of her family, but she loved to cruise and we wanted to do something for her.

On the first anniversary of her death, I went on a cruise on one of her favorite ships with my sister and my aunt. We contacted the purser's desk as we had some dried flowers from her funeral that we wanted to toss overboard. We were not even sure it was allowed, but they approved our request as we each had only a single rose that had been dried and preserved.

As with the OP, they brought us to the back of the ship as we were leaving Cococay. They allowed us time to hold hands, and say a prayer. When we looked up, several crew members joined us in singing Amazing Grace. It was a powerful moment when we tossed the roses and said goodbye to momma.

I was grateful to RCCL for their understanding and their allowing us to do this for my mom.

Many thanks to our TA and the Folks at Royal Caribbean for accommodating our request for Burial At Sea of my parents cremains while on our Mariner cruise last week.

 

It was only after posting on CC that I learned such was possible and with our TA's help we were quickly able to accomplish this request. Only contacted our TA by email late afternoon of March 3 before our scheduled March 7 sailing.

 

Our TA received the following email from RCI:

 

 

Attn:

 

Per company policy which permits scattering of deceased "loved ones" ashes at sea, please find the following request.

 

The following individual(s) would like to spread his/her/their loved ones ashes at sea during the voyage. They will contact the purser's office upon boarding to set up a time and place for this request.

 

 

Passenger First and Last Names: .............

Vessel Name: ................................................... MARINER OF THE SEAS

Voyage Date: .................................................... 03/07/10

Reservation Number: .............................................

Stateroom Number (if available)...........................

 

 

Thank you,

 

Guests Flight Operations

AirSea GFO@rccl.com

Phone: 1-800-256-6649

 

We immediately contacted

http://www.inthelighturns.com/biodegradable.html to arrange purchase of their Peaceful Pillow Fern Water Burial - Scattering Burial Urn. They are in CA and they shipped to Crowne Plaza and it was there when we arrived on Saturday.

 

Once onboard before we had time to contact the purser's office, Eric from Guest Relations called us re our Request and said that Friday March 12 would be the day.

 

On March 12 we went with Eric to Deck 2, through Crew area to stern and he allowed up as much private time as we wanted and then I tossed the Urn overboard. At the moment of my tossing the Urn my wife looked at Eric and he was radioing the Bridge so that they would have exact coordinates. The next day we received a formal Mariner of the Seas Burial At Sea certificate with the Latitude & Longitude coordinates that signed by Capt Johnny, the Chief Officer, the Hotel Director & the Guest Services Manager.

 

Many thanks to RCI and the staff of Mariner for allowing us to accommodate my parents wishes.

 

Glad to read that you were able to spread your parents remains. My Mom wanted her remains to be on her childhood farm home. I called current owners and they allowed me to honor my Mom's request.

My condolences to you and your family. What a beautiful way to honor someone and say their final good byes.

I am sitting here with blurry eyes filled with tears.

God Bless.

***

I was deeply moved by your post and am sat at my desk with tears in my eyes.

 

What a beautiful farewell you gave your parents and what wonderful accommodation by RCCL and the crew of Mariner who supported you so well.

Same here. I'm sitting here with chills and tears in my eyes. What a great way to say good-bye.

I like all the others express my sadness at your loss. Your post was not only beautiful but powerful. RCCI is so kind to allow this. Thank you so much for sharing.

I am also sorry to hear of your loss...but have a question for you..I have emailed RCL requesting the same service for my Serenade cruise...my husband passed away several years ago, just 2 weeks before we were to cruise this same ship.. I want to take his ashes on this final cruise and then scatter them at sea..I received a reply asking for my name & sailing information but have not heard anything more...will I receive an email confirming the arrangements or just check in with Guest Relations when we board?

I am also sorry to hear of your loss...but have a question for you..I have emailed RCL requesting the same service for my Serenade cruise...my husband passed away several years ago, just 2 weeks before we were to cruise this same ship.. I want to take his ashes on this final cruise and then scatter them at sea..I received a reply asking for my name & sailing information but have not heard anything more...will I receive an email confirming the arrangements or just check in with Guest Relations when we board?

Our TA called and was sent the email from RCI which I copied n pasted in my original post. I would suggest calling the phone number in that email in my original post.

My Mother died, 3/5/03 and Father 7/8/09 .. they were avid cruisers. Before Mom's death they had completed at least 12 World Cruises on Cunard and Seabourn. They'd leave early Jan and return late March or April. They loved being at sea.

I must have inherited it ... Nothing is more tranquil to me than looking out over a body of water.

I feel confident that your request will be accommodated if you speak to the right person. Our TA told us that we were to take death certificate and certificate of cremation with us ... BUT no one ever asked for same nor when I inquired no one wanted to see them. At airport security and at the Port Terminal check-in I simply told them I was transporting cremains for Burial At Sea.

Our TA called and was sent the email from RCI which I copied n pasted in my original post. I would suggest calling the phone number in that email in my original post.

 

My Mother died, 3/5/03 and Father 7/8/09 .. they were avid cruisers. Before Mom's death they had completed at least 12 World Cruises on Cunard and Seabourn. They'd leave early Jan and return late March or April. They loved being at sea.

I must have inherited it ... Nothing is more tranquil to me than looking out over a body of water.

 

I feel confident that your request will be accommodated if you speak to the right person. Our TA told us that we were to take death certificate and certificate of cremation with us ... BUT no one ever asked for same nor when I inquired no one wanted to see them. At airport security and at the Port Terminal check-in I simply told them I was transporting cremains for Burial At Sea.

thank you...I will call RCL...I had read on the airline page that I needed the 2 documents you mentioned..my biggest fear is what if TSA does not allow me to board with the ashes...

I'm sorry for your loss. It must give you great comfort to be allowed to honor their memory in this way. I am deeply touched by your story. Thank you for sharing this moment.

I can't imagine a better place to have as your final resting place. I have told my DD that after I pass, she is to take her brother and sister on one last cruise with my ashes to the Caribbean ... and leave me behind. I've set aside one life insurance policy to fund their cruise.

What a beautiful memory. When I first saw the heading, I wasn't sure how I felt...After reading about your experience, I realize how amazing this option is. I am so happy for you and your parents that you could honor them in this way and they can rest in the place they loved the most. Thank you for sharing. I needed to hear this today. {{{HUGS}}}

OP - I'm so glad this worked out for you. There is such peace in knowing that their wishes were carried out.

thank you...I will call RCL...I had read on the airline page that I needed the 2 documents you mentioned..my biggest fear is what if TSA does not allow me to board with the ashes...

I carried the cremains in carry on baggage and informed TSA prior to putting through their scanner that the box I had removed from my carry on contained my parents cremains that I was transporting for eventual burial at sea and asked if they needed to either either death certificate or cremation certificate and they said no ... I informed the scanner at the Port Terminal the same thing and they said no.

Best to advise everyone along the way of what you are doing.

I am sure you will not encounter any difficulties with your request and in carrying it out once approved.

Thanks for posting, I'd consider this as an option, but would have never dreamed it possible.

Thanks OP for posting the update. What a wonderful way to honor your parents.

I also am sorry for your loss and appreciate you sharing this with us. My husband and I both want our ashes in the caribbean, and until these posts were not quite certain how to do it. Now that we know Royal will accomodate this, that is the way we will both go. I also saved the website for the biodegradable urn, thanks for sharing that. That is something we can buy any time and save for the eventual day our son may need it for us. Thanks again for sharing your story.

What a beautiful closure for them and for you - I love the part about

latitude and longitude - thanks to Royal Caribbean for helping and to

you for sharing - I'm also crying, along with many others - thanks again -