Cruise ship staff were in for a shock when they went to check on one passenger while docking. House cleaning staff found the woman's luggage and a handwritten note suggesting she committed suicide. She asked that the luggage be returned to her son.
The woman was an American and a mother, who had spent years grieving her daughter and dealing with disability. Ultimately, she chose to take her own life, jumping into the Tasman Sea. Cruise ship staff aren't sure when or where she took her fateful plunge on the journey from New Zealand to Australia.
According to family, the woman was a regular on cruises. She also threatened that she would commit suicide on one of the cruises, regularly sharing her dark thoughts with family and friends.
Deputy State Coroner David O'Neil declined to identify the deceased woman. But her son was informed. The passenger's daughter had died in 2006. She also suffered a knee replacement in 2014. However, that surgery led to both knees and hips needing to be replaced. Multiple surgeries left her in ongoing pain.
She got around with a motorized scooter due to her pain. As her health declined, it appears the cruise ship passenger fell into a deep depression and isolated herself from her family.
Cruise Ship Death
Deputy State Coroner David O'Neil said, "She spiraled into depression and told people that she didn't want to live anymore. The grief coupled with the physical pain that she was in caused her to experience suicidal ideation."
The passenger found refuge and enjoyment in cruise ships, regularly traveling the sea. However, she threatened to her son that she would die on one of the cruises. "She would often tell him before departing on cruises that it would be her last and she would not return," O'Neill said.
So in January, she boarded the Majestic Princess cruise ship and took off for 14 days at sea. She booked a premium room with a port-side view. However, visa issues required her to disembark once the cruise ship reached Circular Quay. Ultimately, that proved to be a line too far for the woman.
She reportedly wasn't happy that she couldn't finish her trip on the cruise ship. When staff came to clean the room, they found her gone with all of her belongings inside. Security footage later confirmed that she jumped overboard.
"What is clear is that [Ms C] intended to end her own life," O'Neil said. "She had a history of expressing that she would take her own life during a cruise on a ship. [Ms C] made quite deliberate arrangements in relation to her belongings even to the extent of indicating payment by her son. Her actions leading up to and jumping from the ship were clearly intentional."
