Passenger describes scene on board world’s largest cruise ship after man died jumping from ship

Passengers travelling on the world's largest cruise ship have told of the 'dystopian' experience onboard after a man reportedly jumped off of the vessel and died.

The unidentified victim is said to have plunged from the 1,200-foot-long Royal Caribbean ship Icon of the Seas on the first night of the week-long voyage which began in Florida on Sunday (26 May).

Reports claim the cruise liner was just 300 miles from PortMiami when the tragic incident occurred.

The Icon of the Seas - which can accommodate a whopping 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew - had set sail to explore the Gulf of Mexico before the alarm was raised that a traveller had gone overboard.

The vessel came to a halt for around two hours as the Coast Guard and Royal Caribbean conducted a search for the man, before it was announced that he had passed away.

The man went overboard on the first day of the Royal Caribbean cruise (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

"The cruise ship deployed one of their rescue boats, located the man and brought him back aboard,” the Coast Guard told the New York Post. "He was pronounced deceased.

"Beyond assisting in the search, the US Coast Guard did not have much involvement in this incident."

Now, those onboard the Icon of the Seas have spoken out about the 'dystopian' scenes which have unfolded on the ship since the man reportedly jumped off.

Zachary Normandin, 31, said that hundreds of passengers were eating dinner in one of the ship's restaurants when the captain made an announcement informing them that the missing holidaymaker had been located.

However, tourists mistakenly presumed that the man 'was fine' and initially burst into celebration.

Normandin told the Post: "Everyone in the dining room clapped and we’re like, 'yeah!' We assumed that the guy was fine."

Passengers said it is back to business as usual onboard now (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The dad-of-one, from Connecticut, said that he felt somewhat uncomfortable with those onboard the Icon of the Seas just carrying on as normal despite the death of a passenger.

"I don’t think everyone knows about the guy dying. I think it’s kind of purposely silenced," Normandin said.

"I think people we’re just trying not to think about it, maybe, I don’t know.

"It just seemed like more people would have been like ‘oh my gosh, what’s going on,’ but no, people were just going about their day. It’s just kind of dystopian."

He recalled how the captain informed people that the Icon of the Seas was turning around in the hopes of finding the man overboard and presumed 'that was it' for his holiday.

"But no, everything just kept on going," Normandin said.

He also paid tribute to the man who lost his life and said he hopes his loved ones 'get through this'.

LADbible have contacted Royal Caribbean for comment.