Father falls to death from balcony of Carnival Horizon cruise ship

Brian Rice is survived by his wife Diana and twin sons Brian Jr and Bradley. Photo / Supplied

A father of two has died from a fall while on a family holiday on the Carnival Horizon.

Brian Rice died on Friday as the ship he was on was in the waters off of Miami, according to officials in Florida.

His wife and two sons were also on the cruise at the time according to USA Today, and a fundraising campaign has been started to support them.

According to the medical examiner's office, Rice's death is not being treated as suicide.

The boat had been returning from a six-day cruise in the Caribbean at the time of the tragedy.

Rice fell to his death over the balcony of his deck 9 cabin four storeys to deck 5.
Police were not able to board and begin an investigation until Saturday, a day later when the ship finally completed its voyage to the Port of Miami.

Brian Rice is survived by his wife Diane and three-year-old twins Brian Jr. and Bradley, and his parents and three siblings who were not on the cruise.

"Anyone who knew Brian knows how easy it was to call him a friend," reads the Go Fund Me campaign which was started to help his family "while they go through the grieving process."

The campaign has already raised over $11,000 of its $15,000 goal with some of those donating claiming to have been on the boat at the time of the accident.

Launched in 2018, the Horizon is the largest ship in the Carnival fleet. Photo / Supplied

"I happened to be on the 5th floor at a restaurant when the tragic incident occurred," wrote one donor.

"We did what we could do to until staff arrived. I tried to console his wife and keep her inside, so she could not see her husband in such a state. My heart is so heavy right now."

Vance Gulliksen a spokesperson for the cruise line said that they were providing support to the Rice family and that "our thoughts and prayers are with the guest's family."

The 3953 passenger, 15-deck tall ship Carnival Horizon is just a year old. Having been launched in 2018 it is the largest vessel in Carnival's fleet.

This accident follows after a development in the case of Chloe Wiegand in which the eighteen-month-old girl fell to her death from a Royal Caribbean cruise in July. The child's grandfather Salvatore Anello was charged with "negligent homicide" on Wednesday, after a Puerto Rico court deemed he dropped her out of the ship's window.