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Scattering Ashes at Sea

docksider21

By docksider21,
in Ask a Cruise Question

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kitty9

kitty9

Posted
Posted

I've never heard of anything like that happening. Plus, it's against the rules to throw anything off the ship. And, if you try and do this on a moving ship, the ashes would blow right back on the ship, onto the balconies. You could take the ashes to a private beach, and do whatever there, but throwing ashes off a ship is something I do not believe they would allow.

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stowaway2k

stowaway2k

Posted
Posted

It's likely something that most cruise lines would not encourage, but it's not unheard of nowdays.

I witnessed just such a thing last month.

 

But this was a unique situation, as the "dearly departed" was a long-time frequent passenger, known to the senior officers who all attended the ceremony in dress uniform, along with other crew and regular passengers who knew the person.

The ceremony was held near the stern of the ship, early in the morning before breakfast.

A flag-draped table was set up dressed with flowers, and hymns were sung.

Other passengers who were about at that early hour kept a respectable distance away.

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Saga Ruby

Saga Ruby

Posted
Posted

My Spaniard father died in 2003 at the age of 91. During my Constellation cruise from Barcelona to San Juan that fall, I took a small portion of his ashes in a ziploc bag sealed in an envelope by the funeral home which also provided a form identifying my right to transport the ashes.

 

I told no one on the ship but two marvelous friends about my plans to scatter the ashes. They so kindly showed up in formal clothes with a digital camera and recorded the "service." We waited until the ship had left the Malaga pier, the closest location to our family's ancestral home in Spain. The sun was setting as I stood in the slipstream of the funnel and carefully let the ashes fly out into the air and the sea.

 

Thanks to my friends, I have a photo of me holding the ashes in the envelope. I still can feel my father's warm smile for my gesture. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and Spaniards back in their homeland at long last.

 

Ruby

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Saga Ruby

Saga Ruby

Posted
Posted

My Spaniard father died in 2003 at the age of 91. During my Constellation cruise from Barcelona to San Juan that fall, I took a small portion of his ashes in a ziploc bag sealed in an envelope by the funeral home which also provided a form identifying my right to transport the ashes.

 

I told no one on the ship but two marvelous friends about my plans to scatter the ashes. They so kindly showed up in formal clothes with a digital camera and recorded the "service." We waited until the ship had left the Malaga pier, the closest location to our family's ancestral home in Spain. The sun was setting as I stood in the slipstream of the funnel and carefully let the ashes fly out into the air and the sea.

 

Thanks to my friends, I have a photo of me holding the ashes in the envelope. I still can feel my father's warm smile for my gesture. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and Spaniards back in their homeland at long last.

 

Ruby

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ladycaveat

ladycaveat

Posted
Posted

There was a similar thread about this subject on the boards a couple years ago. My son is an officer in the Coast Guard so I asked him. He said it's illegal to throw the remains (even in ash form) of a human being off a ship. He also said it was against the rules and regulations of all cruise ships that sail in and out of the United States.

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Saga Ruby

Saga Ruby

Posted
Posted

From the website of the U.S. Coast Guard:

 

WHEN BURIAL WILL BE PERFORMED BY SCATTERING ASHES AT SEA FROM A COAST GUARD BOAT, CUTTER, OR ACFT, USE THE APPROPRIATE REIMBURSEMENT LIMIT FOR BURIAL IN A GOVERNMENT CEMETERY. IF ASHES ARE SCATTERED FROM A COMMERCIAL VSL, USE THE APPROPRIATE LIMIT FOR BURIAL IN A CIVILIAN CEMETERY

 

http://www.uscg.mil/RESERVE/msg07/alcoast/coast298_07.htm

 

There is further positive information on this website for anyone interested in scattering ashes at sea. I am interested in the above note about "scattered from a commercial vessel."

 

Ruby

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Capt_BJ

Capt_BJ

Posted
Posted
There was a similar thread about this subject on the boards a couple years ago. My son is an officer in the Coast Guard so I asked him. He said it's illegal to throw the remains (even in ash form) of a human being off a ship. He also said it was against the rules and regulations of all cruise ships that sail in and out of the United States.

 

Well....sorry to disagree but I don't think that's right. My area of expertise while in the USCG was not environmental protection....and you know about specialists! However, while CO of a Coast Guard Cutter I routinely was asked to perform scattering of ashes of qualified vet's. It was a regular thing. Before departing on patrol either the District Chaplain would deliver the remains, or sometimes they simply arrived in the mail. We'd schedule a day once a trip and typically had several packages. (not required but we video'd the ceremony with the Captain reading the appropriate passages {faith dependant as best as I could do} and sent the family a tape, a chart with the location marked and signed by the navigator and CO and a note from the CO)

 

Our instructions on the matter said we had to be outside three miles which is one of the threshholds for legality of dumping certain things....let's not get into that. But we certainly DID "dump" ashes at sea.

 

Lately I've become somewhat confused tho as I discovered there is a company that will scatter ashes in San Fran Bay!!! And if there is anyplace more paraniod about dumping things in their water than California I'd like to know where that is...

 

Certainly the ash is just that .... ash. So the bio-hazard concerns really seem to not apply logically. On the other hand I can tell you that not all creamation remains are the same...some was more "pourable"..don't ask me why, I don't know...and we could NOT dump a plastic container. That IS a no-no....disposal of plastics at sea is now a crime. But true ash and wind currents don't mix well.....or rather, they mix TOO well. After you do a scattering off a ship once, you learn to be very concerned about wind direction, and eddys....yes it's just ash but when it becomes airborne.....

 

Don't just pour off your balcony - which as stated b4 is against the rules of every cruiseline....tossing ANYTHING is a no-no. Nor off the stern of a moving ship....trust me on this one...

 

You might send a note to the Captain via the purser's desk however...or even ahead of time.

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wieslaw

wieslaw

Posted
Posted
Hi

 

Does any one know if any of the cruise lines accomodate or provide services for a brief committal or funeral service to scatter ashes at sea?

 

Thanks

 

 

Hi,

 

I remember reading few of the threads about this subject / services.

Here is a link to one of the threads: (please look at post #25 and #42)

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=235793&page=2

Wes

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ladycaveat

ladycaveat

Posted
Posted
Well....sorry to disagree but I don't think that's right. My area of expertise while in the USCG was not environmental protection....and you know about specialists! However, while CO of a Coast Guard Cutter I routinely was asked to perform scattering of ashes of qualified vet's. It was a regular thing. Before departing on patrol either the District Chaplain would deliver the remains, or sometimes they simply arrived in the mail. We'd schedule a day once a trip and typically had several packages. (not required but we video'd the ceremony with the Captain reading the appropriate passages {faith dependant as best as I could do} and sent the family a tape, a chart with the location marked and signed by the navigator and CO and a note from the CO)

 

Our instructions on the matter said we had to be outside three miles which is one of the threshholds for legality of dumping certain things....let's not get into that. But we certainly DID "dump" ashes at sea.

 

Lately I've become somewhat confused tho as I discovered there is a company that will scatter ashes in San Fran Bay!!! And if there is anyplace more paraniod about dumping things in their water than California I'd like to know where that is...

 

Certainly the ash is just that .... ash. So the bio-hazard concerns really seem to not apply logically. On the other hand I can tell you that not all creamation remains are the same...some was more "pourable"..don't ask me why, I don't know...and we could NOT dump a plastic container. That IS a no-no....disposal of plastics at sea is now a crime. But true ash and wind currents don't mix well.....or rather, they mix TOO well. After you do a scattering off a ship once, you learn to be very concerned about wind direction, and eddys....yes it's just ash but when it becomes airborne.....

 

Don't just pour off your balcony - which as stated b4 is against the rules of every cruiseline....tossing ANYTHING is a no-no. Nor off the stern of a moving ship....trust me on this one...

 

You might send a note to the Captain via the purser's desk however...or even ahead of time.

 

Well, my face is certaintly red. It's a good thing my son is a pilot with the Coast Guard flying his little Dolphin HH65 and not on a cutter . . . :p

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Saga Ruby

Saga Ruby

Posted
Posted
Hi, I remember reading few of the threads about this subject / services.Here is a link to one of the threads: (please look at post #25 and #42)

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=235793&page=2

 

Wes

 

Thanks for doing the "heavy lifting" on that reference to scattering ashes at sea. In returning my father's ashes to the land of his ancestors, I found great peace - we know when something is the right thing to do. My father was a proud Spaniard and scattering his ashes was the completion of his personal circle.

 

It's quite difficult to keep up with all the changes in federal and local laws as they are legislated, remanded, appealed. It's nice to know that scattering ashes at sea is considered appropriate and legal in today's societies.

 

Ruby

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ladycaveat

ladycaveat

Posted
Posted
Well....sorry to disagree but I don't think that's right. My area of expertise while in the USCG was not environmental protection....and you know about specialists! However, while CO of a Coast Guard Cutter I routinely was asked to perform scattering of ashes of qualified vet's. It was a regular thing. Before departing on patrol either the District Chaplain would deliver the remains, or sometimes they simply arrived in the mail. We'd schedule a day once a trip and typically had several packages. (not required but we video'd the ceremony with the Captain reading the appropriate passages {faith dependant as best as I could do} and sent the family a tape, a chart with the location marked and signed by the navigator and CO and a note from the CO)

 

Our instructions on the matter said we had to be outside three miles which is one of the threshholds for legality of dumping certain things....let's not get into that. But we certainly DID "dump" ashes at sea.

 

Lately I've become somewhat confused tho as I discovered there is a company that will scatter ashes in San Fran Bay!!! And if there is anyplace more paraniod about dumping things in their water than California I'd like to know where that is...

 

Certainly the ash is just that .... ash. So the bio-hazard concerns really seem to not apply logically. On the other hand I can tell you that not all creamation remains are the same...some was more "pourable"..don't ask me why, I don't know...and we could NOT dump a plastic container. That IS a no-no....disposal of plastics at sea is now a crime. But true ash and wind currents don't mix well.....or rather, they mix TOO well. After you do a scattering off a ship once, you learn to be very concerned about wind direction, and eddys....yes it's just ash but when it becomes airborne.....

 

Don't just pour off your balcony - which as stated b4 is against the rules of every cruiseline....tossing ANYTHING is a no-no. Nor off the stern of a moving ship....trust me on this one...

 

You might send a note to the Captain via the purser's desk however...or even ahead of time.

 

Capt . . . you know now that I read this thread again . . . maybe I was misunderstood. I meant it was illegal to scatter ashes off a "cruise ship" . . . at least that's was what my son told me several years ago . . . . :confused:

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  • 2 years later...
Traveler353

Traveler353

Posted
Posted
I knows that Host Mach has helped to arrange this on the Carnival ships, I think through John Heald, but not sure of that. Search the Carnival forums from about 2 or 3 months ago.

 

Ditto, Host Mach has helped several Carnival cruisers in the last couple of years with the arrangements to make this happen. So it can be done and is not against the law.

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MCC retired

MCC retired

Posted
Posted (edited)

Dispersing of Cremated Ashes at Sea

 

Dispersing cremated ashes at sea is permitted. The guest must contact the Purser’s Information Desk once onboard the ship. The Pursers Staff and the Environmental Officer will coordinate the burial at sea.

Depending on the ship’s itinerary, a date and time will be selected for the ceremony. The Purser’s Information Desk will notify the guest of the scheduled ceremony. The ceremony must be performed beyond twelve nautical miles from land and any restricted areas noted on the nautical charts and notices to mariners.

Ashes and flowers may be dispersed but not plastic materials such as plastic ribbons, plastic flowers, plastic urns, balloons, etc.

Edited by MCC retired
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  • 1 year later...
gingerboo

gingerboo

Posted
Posted
I wouldn't worry about the "Law"... Speeding is against the law and most of you do it multiple times a day..

 

 

Actually, I don't speed "multiple times a day"!~ I drive the posted speed limit. And, I do worry about the Law...as in I follow it and don't break it! Bad advice, IMO.

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Marie51

Marie51

Posted
Posted
I'm also thinking that this must be done while the ship is stationary, because with the winds, the ashes would most certainly blow back onto the balconies.

 

A friend of mine and her 2 sisters took a cruise with the intention of throwing their father's ashes out to sea. Unfortunately they didn't check with the cruise line first to see how to best do this. They went out one night on an open deck and dumped his ashes overboard and the wind blew the ashes back on them and the surrounding area.

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