Home » News » Deceased Celebrity Cruises passenger was decomposing in drinks cooler, lawsuit claims

24 April, 2023

Deceased Celebrity Cruises passenger was decomposing in drinks cooler, lawsuit claims

A Celebrity Cruises passenger has filed a lawsuit against the cruise line, alleging it improperly stored her late husband’s body in a cooler, rather than the ship’s morgue.

The complaint states that Robert L. Jones died of cardiac arrest on Celebrity Equinox in August 2022 while travelling to ports in the Easter Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale.

The lawsuit, which was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida on Wednesday, states that Jones’ wife, Marilyn Jones, was told she had two options for what could be done with Robert’s body. These were to have Robert’s body removed from the ship in San Juan, or to “have his body stored on the ship until it reached port in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, approximately six days from the date of his passing,” according to the lawsuit. His body stayed on the ship for approximately six days, the lawsuit claimed.

“When the funeral services employee in Ft. Lauderdale was brought onto the ship to retrieve Mr. Jones’ body, his body was not located in the ship’s morgue,” according to the lawsuit.

“Instead, Mr. Jones’ body had, at some time not yet known, had been moved from the ship’s morgue to a cooler on a different floor than the ship’s morgue.

The cooler in which Mr. Jones’ body was found by the funeral employee had drinks placed outside of the cooler, and was not at a temperature which was sufficient nor proper for storing a dead body to prevent decomposition.”

Robert’s body was found “in a bag on a palette on the floor of the cooler” and “in advanced stages of decomposition,” according to the lawsuit.

Mrs. Jones and her family are looking for compensation damages of USD$1 million (approximately AUD$1.5m) and want a trial by jury.

Travel Weekly awaits comment from Celebrity Cruises.

Featured Image: Celebrity Equinox (Source: Celebrity Cruises)

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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