The couple were onboard the Sun Princess, which was forced to turn around in the early hours of Tuesday morning when it was discovered a man had gone overboard.

"It was our first time and our last time (on a cruise)," Mr Bortolazzo said.

The couple was in shock when they heard the captain's announcement at breakfast on Tuesday morning.

"The captain said a male guest was reported missing by a family member. A complete search of the ship was performed and the authorities were notified. A subsequent review of CCTV footage showed he went overboard."

Mr Bortolazzo said the ship turned around to retrace its path, but the search for the 84-year-old man was eventually called off.

"The CCTV footage showed the man went overboard at 8.44pm but the family didn't report him missing until 1.15am," Mr Bortolazzo said.

Mr Bortolazzo said he and his wife were in shock.

"We felt deep sorrow for the family," Mr Bortolazzo said.

The couple had to queue to use one of four public phones on the ship for more than six hours on Tuesday to let family members know they were OK.

"They only had four phone lines we had to wait from 1pm to 6.35pm to make a call," Mr Bortolazzo said.

He said the couple had booked accommodation in Sydney for Tuesday night but they did not arrive until early Wednesday morning.

Mr Bortolazzo said he believed the man's room was on the 10th floor.

When the ship arrived in Sydney on Wednesday morning, police boarded the ship.

The Sun Princess had been on a 13-day New Zealand cruise.