Marella Voyager cruise ship passenger, 72, falls off luxury liner during trip from Spain to Caribbean

A 72-year-old UK woman is missing after reportedly falling from a luxury cruise liner sailing from Spain to the Caribbean.

The pensioner was last seen on the Marella Voyager on Monday afternoon but an alarm was not raised until Tuesday evening when cruise stewards realised that her cabin’s bed had not been slept in overnight, according to The Sun.

At that point a search of the ship and an emergency headcount was called, bringing the vessels dining, drinks and entertainment agenda to a grinding halt.

Despite an exhaustive hunt for the still unnamed woman through the ship, she was nowhere to be found.

Security for the ship’s tour operator Tui was poring over CCTV video to shed new light on the woman’s fate.

While a US Coast Guard alert for passing ships in the area to keep a lookout has been sent out by the service’s co-ordination centre in Virginia, the Marcella Voyager will reportedly stay on course for the Caribbean.

That is likely due to the fact the vessel has already travelled almost 900km from where the missing woman may have gone overboard.

The Coast Guard reportedly ruled against a turnback for the 270m-long cruise liner, which had also endured severe storms in the Atlantic in previous days.

The incident comes just days after a Royal Caribbean cruise ship musician was forced to tread water for nine hours straight in the Pacific Ocean after falling overboard from the 14-deck cruise liner.

The unconscious pianist survived his ordeal after he was picked up more than 32km off California’s coastline last Friday by two men returning from a fishing trip.

The man told the fishers he was the pianist from Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas.

A Royal Caribbean Group representative told media it was: “providing support and assistance to our crew member during this difficult time”, while refusing to share any further information.