A passenger who had been on a nine-month cruise since mid-December reportedly died on Sunday aboard the Royal Caribbean liner.
“A guest on board the 'Serenade of the Seas' has unfortunately passed away. […] “To respect the privacy of the guest and his family, we have nothing further to share at this time,” Royal Caribbean said in a statement to People on Monday, according to the New York Post.
According to the American newspaper, passengers aboard the nine-month cruise that welcomed 2,467 vacationers reported on Sunday they were shaken after seeing a passenger's body being transported to the ship's morgue.
Most large cruise ships anchored at sea for extended periods are required to have a morgue and body bags on board to keep bodies on board until the next major stop in the event of an unexpected death, the NY Post said.
One of them, an elderly woman named Adita, who regularly shares updates of the adventure with her 65,000 followers on TikTok, reportedly lamented the death of the passenger, an elderly woman who was traveling alone on board.
“Sad news. We had our first death on the Ultimate World Cruise […] “I came into my room when they took the body out, it was very, very sad for me because I was there to watch,” she reportedly confided to her subscribers, according to the NY Post.
The death reportedly occurred as the ship approached Los Angeles, one of several stops on the cruise, which is expected to visit a total of 65 countries.
The boat, which began its journey on December 10 in Miami, quickly became the playground of many vloggers, while many Internet users followed the journey of its passengers on board on social networks, The New York Times reported.