Posted on 10/30/2025 10:58:29 AM PDT by Red Badger
Missing a boarding time for a cruise ship could end up fatal.
An 80-year-old Australian woman was discovered dead on a remote island after she was left behind by the cruise ship she was traveling on.
The woman was hiking on Lizard Island with a group of other passengers, but was separated from the group after she decided to take some time to rest.
The Coral Adventurer cruise ship ended up leaving the woman on the island, but returned several hours later to find her after she was discovered not to be on board.
On Sunday, she was discovered dead.
Per BBC:
An 80-year-old Australian woman has been found dead on a Great Barrier Reef island after being left behind by the cruise ship she was travelling on.
The woman had been hiking on Lizard Island, 250km (155 miles) north of Cairns, with fellow passengers from the Coral Adventurer cruise ship on Saturday but is believed to have broken off from the group to have a rest.
The ship left the island around sunset but returned several hours later after the crew realised the woman was missing. A major search operation found her body on Sunday morning. No details have been released.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said it was investigating and would meet the ship’s crew later this week. It is understood the woman, who has not been named, was on the first stop of a 60-day cruise around Australia, with tickets costing in the tens of thousands of dollars for the journey.
The woman has since been identified as Suzanne Rees.
Suzanne’s daughter Katherine Rees revealed the day her mother was hiking was very hot and her mother rested after unfeeling during the hike.
Katherine Rees, in a statement to the press, stated the cruise ship’s “failure of care and common sense” led to her mother’s death.
She added, “She was asked to head down, unescorted. Then the ship left, apparently without doing a passenger count. At some stage in that sequence, or shortly after, Mom died, alone.”
Cruising expert Adrian Tassone shared that cruise ships usually know who is on and off board. The case of Rees being unaccounted for appears to be a tragic blunder.
The cruise ship is responsible for making sure everyone who left the ship, returned safely before leaving the dock. Don’t tell me they don’t keep track of passengers when they leave the ship. If they didn’t keep track, there would be a lot more passengers stranded when these ships leave.
If they don't track who leaves, and who returns, they're setting themselves up for a lawsuit.
This is so important! Those people who walked away from that woman are shameful.
Yes.
“I would not have walked off and left an 80 year old alone on a trail.”
Nancy Pelosi?, Hillary Clinton?
I hope the people criticizing the 80 year old woman for taking the cruise to the island, and taking a hike/walk, are one day told they are too old, and shouldn’t be doing that stuff.
There was a talk on C-SPAN recently by a history professor about the Lost Colony (Roanoke Island). When a ship came along and offered the original set of colonists a chance to go back to England, everyone took advantage of the offer...except for three men who were off exploring or hunting at the time and were left behind. Their fate is unknown—no sign that they were found by the second set of colonists so may have died before they arrived.
3.9 square miles in size.
We took a cruise earlier this year.
We were very clearly told that if you aren’t here when we leave, we will leave your passport with the Port Authority and your trip home will be your responsibility.
I blame the people who let her stay behind to sit and rest.
You can live 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, 3 minutes without air and 3 seconds without hope.
No, I wouldn’t leave anyone alone on the trail.
I guess that Cruise line is not familiar with a name check list. They didn’t check it once let alone twice upon leaving the Island. They should be filing the Aussie equivalent of Chapter 11 anytime soon.
The article reports “she was hiking with a group of people.”
Did she not know any of them or they her? You would think even random people would notice they had an aged person among them and look out for her.
Regards,
Well this was a nature hike to see the sites on a remote island with exotic plants and animals. Maybe it was their Darwin Cruise.
Same here!
Was the cause of death “cruise ship negligence? OR that she was hiking while 80 years old?
I’ll go with the latter.
Personal responsibility.
“The ship left the island around sunset but returned several hours later after the crew realized the woman was missing. A major search operation found her body on Sunday morning.”
So she died on an overnight camping trip on an Island.
NOT THE SHIP’S FAULT.
Recently they have found evidence that the colony moved out to the Hatteras Island for some unknown reason, maybe raids by Indians, maybe some other reason. Then the colony was wiped out by a hurricane that washed away all traces of the colony...................
Generally, if you are on a cruise-affiliated tour, they will wait for the group, even if late. It is strange that they would leave her on a relatively deserted island, as opposed to leaving someone in a city from which they could find other transportation and perhaps meet up with the ship at a later port. A ship affiliated tour usually ranks tours in terms of strenuousness, so she probably overestimated her fitness level.
I had not heard of the Hatteras Island theory. I thought the most commonly accepted theory was that they left for Croatoan Island (the word Croatoan was carved on a tree trunk on Roanoke Island).
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