Cruise worker reveals the devastating reality of working on ships

A cruise worker has shared a devastating downside to her job that people rarely discuss.

In a viral clip posted to TikTok, Zoie Madigan lifted the lid on the realities of working onboard, saying: "Something I feel like no one is talking about enough about this nine month world cruise is how often people just simply pass away of natural causes while they are on vacation."

While the TikToker did not share which company she worked for, she did note that the average age of travellers on the cruise was around 60.

Zoie, who previously worked in other hospitality sectors, set sail for nine months at a time, explaining that deaths are more common than people may think.

"Not every week," she added. "I’m not trying to scare you guys but a lot of elderly people do come on vacation and then they just like pass away in their sleep or something happens."

The comments were soon flooded by curious TikTokers, with one asking whether there was a morgue on the ship.

"Honestly I’m sure there’s at least a room in medical, but I’m not sure," Zoie responded. "The bodies are taken off at the next port if it happens while we’re at sea."

Another asked whether the larger cruise ships tend to have helipads for medical emergencies, as "people are normally sick first".

The TikToker replied: "No it’s happened a few times here where someone just has a heart attack out of nowhere or they just pass away in their sleep. Our ship is too small."

Meanwhile, another fellow cruise ship worked backed Zoie's point, claiming: "Yes! When I would hear 'code Alpha' and then a few moments later 'stand down' in the middle of the night."

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