Many people are choosing to scatter the ashes of their loved one out to sea instead of keeping them in their homes. Often, this is at the directive of their loved one, and other times, it is for the personal peace of mind for the family.
Since this trend is growing, Carnival Cruise Lines has chosen to help their passengers out.
Carnival Cruise Line Offers Scattering Ashes at Sea
The cruise line says that they get requests on a weekly basis for families asking if they can have a scattering ashes ceremony on board. As short as five years ago, people were not asking for this. However, the demand has grown to 4-5 per week in the last few years.
Every year, the cruise line puts together over 200 ceremonies for families. These ceremonies are complementary to the passengers that are on board.
What Are The Requirements
Carnival Cruise lists their regulations and requirements on their website. You can also contact them if you have questions.
They require that the family presents them with the Death Certificate as well as a certification that the cremation was completed at a licensed facility.
Other requirements have to do with environmental safeties. They ask that all ashes are transported in containers or urns that are leak proof. Until the ashes are scattered, they need to stay with the urn.
Ships must be 12 miles away from land before the ceremony can take place.
The Staff Takes Care Of The Ceremony Details
Once the paperwork is processed and the ship is where it needs to be, the staff will alert the family to the location they can have their ceremony. The spot on the ship will be off the beaten path so that a quiet and reflective service can take place.
To learn more about the process, you can visit the Carnival Question and Answer page.
You can also check out our boats by location. We are here to help in anyway we can.