A pre-Christmas family cruise turned into tragedy Saturday when a woman died after trying to jump from one of the decks.
The unidentified 48-year-old was aboard the Sky Princess when she allegedly jumped. CruiseRadio reports this.
It was on its way back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after an eight-day trip to Cozumel, Mexico; Ocho Rios, Jamaica; George Town, Grand Cayman; and at the time the cruise line’s private resort in the Bahamas, Princess Cays.
“Princess Cruises is deeply saddened by the death of a 48-year-old female guest who attempted to jump overboard earlier today,” the cruise line said.
‘The guest fell to a lower deck, where she was promptly rescued. The ship’s crew immediately provided emergency medical care, but despite their efforts she could not be revived.
“Our sincere condolences go out to the guest’s family and friends at this extremely difficult time,” the cruise line said, adding: “Emergency services are being offered to guests and crew affected by this event.”
It is believed the victim was traveling with her family when she died.
An unidentified 48-year-old woman died Saturday after trying to jump from a cruise ship
The 48-year-old was aboard the Sky Princess, which was heading to Fort Lauderdale, Florida after an eight-day Caribbean trip
News of the woman’s death first spread on social media, with another passenger posting in a Facebook group that a “tragic incident” had occurred on board the ship.
“A medical situation was called today around 3 p.m. About 20 feet away, the captain announced that a female passenger had attempted to jump off the ship,” the passenger wrote. according to Cruiseblog.
“Despite the best efforts of the crew, she succumbed to her injuries.”
Another woman shared a video on TikTok of the captain’s announcement about the passenger’s death.
“We understand that this event may be distressing for many of you,” the captain said, before warning passengers that grief counseling services would be made available to them.
Others too shared their experiences on Princess Cruise’s Reddit page.
“My mom and cousin watched the whole thing,” one user claimed. ‘They were right below us, two floors down. No one ever came to question them. They are very traumatized by it.
“They said she came across everything along the way and it was extremely disturbing. Someone held her arm for a few seconds before she fell.
“The rest of us didn’t actually see her fall, but saw her body lying there under the lifeboats,” the Redditor claimed.
Cruise officials said the woman tried to jump and fell to a lower deck, where she was pronounced dead
Others, meanwhile, shared how the shocking announcement affected the ship’s many operations.
“I was at the Princess theater and the show was stopped due to a medical emergency,” one person wrote.
“It feels heavy to know this happened.”
Another said he was eating when the captain made the announcement about the woman’s death.
“The whole dining room became quiet and somber, and everyone stopped moving,” he said, claiming it was “very chilling.”
A third Redditor also said they were at the 2:30 PM BINGO game when the call for medical help went out.
“Fortuna lady (the host) made a comment after we heard the announcement to the effect of ‘hopefully they’re okay’ and moved on,” the passenger said.
“Nobody knew the severity of the situation, so we were shocked when we heard the captain’s announcement a few hours later.”
Passengers shared their experiences on board the ship that day
One user also claimed to be a cousin of the victim.
“I just want to say that I appreciate everyone’s thoughts and concerns, and overall sensitivity to what happened,” she wrote.
“I won’t go into details because it was a very personal situation, but I will say that she was really looking forward to this cruise because it was especially important to her mother.
“Thank you again for your kindness and understanding, my aunt would really appreciate it too.”