The passenger is believed to have fallen overboard from the Quantum of the Seas on Tuesday night, local time, nearly two weeks after the cruise left Brisbane for its journey to the Hawaiian islands.

Discussions with the man’s next of kin and the Australian consulate, as well as relevant case information, helped inform the the decision, search and rescue mission coordinator Kevin Cooper said in a statement.

“The coast guard has made the difficult decision to suspend the active search for the passenger aboard the Quantum of the Seas,” he said.

Royal Caribbean was unable to confirm reports the man’s partner had died on the ship after suffering a medical emergency.

The incident happened in the Pacific Ocean about 800 kilometres south of Kailua-Kona, on the west coast of Hawaii’s Big Island.

The cruise ship deployed six life rings and stayed in the area for two hours before continuing on its way, with the coast guard taking over the search on Wednesday morning.

A Coast Guard C-130 Hercules aircrew completed five searches over the course of six hours while on scene.

The operation came as passengers left the cruise ship in Honolulu, where it docked after 15 days at sea.

One of those on board, Susan Whittington, said passengers were given little information about what had happened after they were woken at night by the ship shuddering to a halt.

“We were wondering what was going on and it was followed by an announcement over the intercom saying that a passenger had gone overboard,” she told Nine’s Today program.

“You couldn’t really see much, just the lights searching the area, but then it was very late at night.

“It was almost impossible to see anything in the water, so we didn’t hold hope for there being an outcome from it. It was quite distressing and there weren’t a lot of details after that.”

Maritime search authorities are often informed by medical experts as to survivability timeframes.

Factors include the time the man went overboard and the height of the fall.

If the passenger survived, the water entry, wave height, currents and weather conditions would impact the search area and threat of hypothermia.

Symptoms of hypothermia can develop within minutes, and at a water temperature of 32.5C, death may occur in under 15-45 minutes.

The April average for the northern Pacific is an estimated 26C.

Cruise operator Royal Caribbean confirmed the guest had gone overboard during the trans-Pacific leg of the journey.

“The ship’s crew immediately launched a search and rescue operation and is working closely with local authorities,” a spokeswoman said.

Cruise ship passenger Georgina Thompson told Nine Network she heard repeated calls of “Oscar” over the PA system. Oscar is an emergency code indicating someone has gone overboard.

“There were lights … shining on the ocean and also there were a couple of boats out there in the water,” she said.

“The light started searching along the outside of the ship.