Morbid much?

So now we're home from the wonderful trip to French Polynesia. The cruise was amazing and I feel so very blessed to have been able to make the voyage, even with all my O2 equipment in tow.

However, not everyone who steps onto a cruise ship walks off. I'm not talking about the sad incident where a mother of 4 fell off the railing on a Carnival Cruise recently and was never found. I'm talking about those who die of natural causes on board.

I'd never thought about it much until we had lunch one day with a fellow and his wife who brought up the subject. He was telling about a different cruise where they'd been struck by how often the fresh flowers that decorate the dining tables, common areas and staterooms were changed. They'd never seen so many arrangements on board before. When they asked a crew member about it, he admitted that they'd had more people die on the trip than they'd planned for so they had to make more room in the cooler for the extra bodies.

Planned for?

Yes. Cruise lines plan for everything. After all, people have been dying at sea for millennia and not all of them have been buried at sea. Admiral Nelson's body, for example, was brought home after the Battle of Trafalgar in a barrel filled with brandy.  Now cruise ships estimate how much refrigerated space they'll need to return deceased passengers to their home port.

In the Q&A session with the captain, he admitted that during the 111-day Round the World cruise, they expect 4 deaths. Given the age demographic of passengers who can afford such a cruise and have the leisure time to take it, I'm not surprised.

And I'm not sad either. We all have to die somewhere. Why not shuffle off this mortal coil while you're having an adventure?

If I have anything to say about it, I'll finish up a cruise in a refrigerator someday. And I'll smile down from heaven while everyone else enjoys the extra flowers...