Kristen Schroder's decision to climb a fifth-storey cruise ship railing would be the final test of her partner's love.
The 26-year-old slipped and fell 18 metres from the balcony, prompting her boyfriend, Paul Rossington, to plunge into the sea after her.
The bodies of the NSW couple have never been found.
Deputy State Coroner Hugh Dillon found on Tuesday that it was improbable Ms Schroder, who suffered anxiety and depression, meant to end her life that night in May, 2013.
"The most likely explanation is that Kristen, being unafraid of heights, was making a dramatic gesture to alarm and test Paul," he said.
The couple, who had recently started living together in the northern NSW town of Barraba, were on the Carnival Spirit cruise in a last-ditch attempt to get their volatile relationship back on track.
A CCTV camera captured them having a "terse" conversation before the incident on the last night of the voyage.
Mr Dillon said the case was especially tragic because of the "loneliness of their deaths in a dark ocean", and because the couple had been denied an opportunity to repair their relationship.
"Paradoxically, what they had struggled to achieve in life - loving unity - they perhaps managed in their last actions alive," he said.
He said it was probable the couple, if they survived the fall, would have died within hours of hitting the water 120km off the NSW coast.
They were not reported missing until the ship docked in Sydney the following morning.
Infra-red CCTV supplied to the inquest shows Ms Schroder clinging to a wooden railing for four seconds before falling before 9pm.
She struck the railing of a lower deck, then somersaulted a further 12.6 metres into choppy waters.
Mr Rossington, 30, is shown jumping off the balcony moments later.
The paramedic's much brighter infra-red image suggests he was warm and naked, and had probably leapt out of bed when Ms Schroder fell.
Mr Dillon said he would nominate Mr Rossington for a bravery award following calls from the police officer in charge of the case to have him receive the Cross of Valour.
"Paul's act in jumping off the ship to help Kristen appears to have been conspicuously courageous and undoubtedly placed him in extreme peril," Mr Dillon.
Mr Rossington's parents said they were humbled by the recommendation for their son, who they described as a quiet man who did not like being the centre of attention.
His mother Christeen said the end of the inquest will help her family start to move forward.
"Perhaps now we can start to grieve," she said flanked by family, including a brother who was wearing Mr Rossington's kilt.
The Coroner found the deaths were not because of any failure by Carnival Cruises but he recommended it give passengers specific briefings on man overboard procedures.
Carnival Australia said the deaths were a "profound human tragedy".
"Specific information on how to respond to a man overboard has been included in the mandatory safety drills," it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The company also said the drills were part of industry efforts to develop systems that would alert staff of a person overboard in real time.
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