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Burial at Sea on Mariner last week - our experience

#1packerfan

By #1packerfan,
in Royal Caribbean International

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#1packerfan

#1packerfan

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I wanted to give our experience with a Burial at Sea on Mariner Dec 19-24.  It was for our son in law who passed away unexpectedly in June.  It was my husband and I, our daughter and granddaughter and my sister and brother in law.

 

We started back in July with correspondence and to get the approval to proceed.  It was an easy process. We had to have death certificate, cremation certificate and proof the urn was biodegradable.  We did not  have a certificate for the urn but it was stamped on the bottom that it was biodegradable so that was fine.

 

My daughter and I went to Guest Services as soon as we boarded to get it set up.  We wanted it on our first sea day in the morning.  The gal at GS took our information and asked us to come back at 6:30 to talk to the Hotel Manager, so we did that.  We got it all set up, but because we did not have an actual cert saying the urn was biodegradable, the environmental officer needed to go to my daughter's stateroom to look at the urn.  It was not an issue, just one more step.  She received a call the night we got back on the ship from Coco Cay that it was all set up for 10:30 the next morning, while at sea.

 

We went to GS at 10:15 and 2 security officers, the environmental officer, the hotel manager and 2 GS staff walked us down to Deck 4 promenade to the back of the ship.  The Security officers stopped passengers from coming through that way while we were there.  They told my daughter what to do, and one of the GS staff videoed it for my daughter at her request.  They also brought along a box of tissues for us, we never gave that a thought. 

 

It was all done so respectfully and we cannot say enough good things about all staff that helped us.  I made sure to mention them in my survey at the end.

 

Each cabin then received the certificate signed by the captain and hotel manager with our son in law's name, DOB, Date of death, and who attended along with the coordinates.  We were asked if we wanted it laminated and we said yes, that way it will never tear, etc.  It was something we will always remember and hopefully our daughter and granddaughter can start to move forward now.

 

All in all the cruise was great as always even with the emotional aspect of saying goodbye to a loved one.  We all love to cruise and our daughter knew this would make him happy to be forever at sea.  

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soremekun

soremekun

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I am sorry for the loss and I hope, in time, all who knew him are able to find a source of comfort and take the necessary time to grieve and heal.   I don't know how you feel but I lost my mother in August and I miss her everyday.

 

Thank you for this information.  This information is very helpful to the forum.

 

I respectfully ask:

Was there a cost associated with this service?

How long was the actual burial at sea "funeral"?

What was the process of transporting the ashes through the airport/plane?

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#1packerfan

#1packerfan

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1 hour ago, soremekun said:

I am sorry for the loss and I hope, in time, all who knew him are able to find a source of comfort and take the necessary time to grieve and heal.   I don't know how you feel but I lost my mother in August and I miss her everyday.

 

Thank you for this information.  This information is very helpful to the forum.

 

I respectfully ask:

Was there a cost associated with this service?

How long was the actual burial at sea "funeral"?

What was the process of transporting the ashes through the airport/plane?

No cost. 

 

It only took about 15 minutes but I think we could have spent more time had we wanted to or if we had wanted like some sort of prayer service or something.

 

Our daughter lives in Florida so we did not have to fly and they never looked at it at all through security at the port even though she had the paperwork with. She just had the urn in a tote bag type of thing that we carried on.

 

She did fly with the urn this summer to get home to Florida and they did check the urn at security at the airport but it was not an issue at all

 

 

 

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barbeyg

barbeyg

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Thank you for sharing your experience with this. I have no doubt this will be very helpful to others.  How thoughtful of you to share.

 

My condolences and best wishes to all of you as you grieve and move forward.  I am glad RCI was accommodating to your wishes. I hope this brought solace to your daughter and granddaughter.

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Cru1s1ng2009

Cru1s1ng2009

Posted
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6 hours ago, #1packerfan said:

I wanted to give our experience with a Burial at Sea on Mariner Dec 19-24.  It was for our son in law who passed away unexpectedly in June.  It was my husband and I, our daughter and granddaughter and my sister and brother in law.

 

We started back in July with correspondence and to get the approval to proceed.  It was an easy process. We had to have death certificate, cremation certificate and proof the urn was biodegradable.  We did not  have a certificate for the urn but it was stamped on the bottom that it was biodegradable so that was fine.

 

My daughter and I went to Guest Services as soon as we boarded to get it set up.  We wanted it on our first sea day in the morning.  The gal at GS took our information and asked us to come back at 6:30 to talk to the Hotel Manager, so we did that.  We got it all set up, but because we did not have an actual cert saying the urn was biodegradable, the environmental officer needed to go to my daughter's stateroom to look at the urn.  It was not an issue, just one more step.  She received a call the night we got back on the ship from Coco Cay that it was all set up for 10:30 the next morning, while at sea.

 

We went to GS at 10:15 and 2 security officers, the environmental officer, the hotel manager and 2 GS staff walked us down to Deck 4 promenade to the back of the ship.  The Security officers stopped passengers from coming through that way while we were there.  They told my daughter what to do, and one of the GS staff videoed it for my daughter at her request.  They also brought along a box of tissues for us, we never gave that a thought. 

 

It was all done so respectfully and we cannot say enough good things about all staff that helped us.  I made sure to mention them in my survey at the end.

 

Each cabin then received the certificate signed by the captain and hotel manager with our son in law's name, DOB, Date of death, and who attended along with the coordinates.  We were asked if we wanted it laminated and we said yes, that way it will never tear, etc.  It was something we will always remember and hopefully our daughter and granddaughter can start to move forward now.

 

All in all the cruise was great as always even with the emotional aspect of saying goodbye to a loved one.  We all love to cruise and our daughter knew this would make him happy to be forever at sea.  

thank you so much for sharing this. 

 

My daughter (30) passed away in 2019 and my mom just passed away 2 weeks ago. I have been thinking about this for my DD for a couple years and now with my mom it is doubly so. Both loved cruising. 

I hope to one day be able to do a 'two'fer' and do this for both of them. having a certificate with matching coordinates will be wonderful. 

 

i am so sorry for your loss. 

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nasa1974

nasa1974

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#1packerfan,

 

Thank you for your story.  Sorry for your loss.

I am planning on doing the same thing on the Oasis of the Seas in March.

 

If you are interested in having a burial at sea for one of your loved ones here is some information you need to do at least a month before your cruise.

You need to send an email to, emergencytravelteam@rccl.com

In the email you need the following information: the ship you will be on, the date of sailing and your booking number. They actually got back to me within 24 hours.

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#1packerfan

#1packerfan

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5 hours ago, nasa1974 said:

#1packerfan,

 

Thank you for your story.  Sorry for your loss.

I am planning on doing the same thing on the Oasis of the Seas in March.

 

If you are interested in having a burial at sea for one of your loved ones here is some information you need to do at least a month before your cruise.

You need to send an email to, emergencytravelteam@rccl.com

In the email you need the following information: the ship you will be on, the date of sailing and your booking number. They actually got back to me within 24 hours.

Yes they were very responsive with us as well.  I hope everything goes as smoothly for you as it did for us, and my sympathy on the loss of your loved one.  One of my sisters is also my TA so she took care of all the legwork for us.

 

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