Royal Caribbean sued over cruise passenger’s death as ship rules prove ‘fast and loose’: expert

The lawsuit involving a Royal Caribbean cruise rider who died connected committee the vas aft being served astir 3 twelve alcoholic drinks showcases however rules connected cruise lines are often "played accelerated and loose," perchance putting vacationers astatine risk, according to a idiosyncratic information expert. 

Michael Virgil, 35, and his household boarded Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas successful Los Angeles connected Dec. 13, 2024, to embark connected a four-day-long getaway to Ensenada, Mexico. 

However, their imagination abrogation rapidly turned tragic. 

Virgil’s household – which includes his longtime fiancée and the couple’s young lad who has autism – has filed a wrongful decease ailment against Royal Caribbean successful the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleging the cruise enactment is liable for Virgil’s death.

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Michael Virgil died connected committee a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. (GoFundMe)

According to the complaint, the household boarded the vessel and were subsequently instructed to sojourn a barroom with unrecorded euphony portion they waited for their compartment to beryllium acceptable for check-in. While waiting, Virgil’s past 7-year-old lad grew restless, resulting successful some parent and lad leaving to cheque connected the presumption of their cabin. 

"When you're successful planetary waters, adjacent to this day, portion they whitethorn accidental they person a strict codification of morals and protocols, things are played accelerated and loose," Bill Stanton, a retired NYPD serviceman and writer of the publication "Prepared Not Scared," told Fox News Digital.

"Policies alteration from cruise enactment to cruise line, but precise overmuch similar hotels – due to the fact that it's fundamentally a floating edifice – their fig 1 precedence is accommodation. They ever privation to accidental yes, due to the fact that that's what their concern exemplary is trained on." 

The suit alleges that wrong hours of the vessel leaving port, unit members overserved Virgil astatine slightest 33 alcoholic drinks, causing him to go agitated arsenic helium tried to find his compartment aboriginal successful the evening. 

As an intoxicated Virgil became progressively irritated, information and unit members allegedly tackled and restrained him. The ailment adds that Virgil’s assemblage was compressed for astir 3 minutes until helium stopped moving, and – astatine the absorption of the unit skipper – unit members injected him with the sedative Haloperidol and deployed 3 cans of capsicum spray to subdue him. 

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Michael Virgil, 35, tin beryllium seen kicking a doorway anterior to being taken down by information connected Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas.  (Obtained by FOX 11 Los Angeles)

Following the altercation, assemblage camera footage indicated Virgil had a pulse and was inactive breathing – but helium was pronounced dormant astir 2.5 hours aft the incidental began, according to the lawsuit.

"The archetypal domino that fell successful presumption of causing his decease was mechanical asphyxiation, and that is wherever astir five, possibly more, Royal Caribbean employees were trying to restrain him by putting their afloat assemblage value connected him," the family’s attorney, Kevin Haynes, told the Daily Mail. "And they did that for 3 minutes."

Virgil subsequently died portion successful custody, with an autopsy study revealing helium had a humor intoxicant level of 0.182 to 0.186% – much than doubly the ineligible driving limit, according to the autopsy report. 

Following Virgil’s death, his grieving fiancée pleaded with the vessel to instrumentality to port, but the cruise enactment refused, according to the Daily Mail.

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"They would not bash it," Haynes told the outlet. 

Instead, the household alleges unit members stuffed Virgil’s lifeless assemblage wrong a morgue refrigerator and resumed the voyage, the Daily Mail reported. 

"They enactment Michael successful a refrigerator and continued the cruise for aggregate days," Haynes added.

Virgil’s assemblage remained refrigerated connected committee until the vessel returned to Los Angeles connected Dec. 16, 2024.

The aesculapian examiner aboriginal ruled Virgil’s decease a homicide, adding that the origin of decease was "combined effects of mechanical asphyxia, obesity, cardiomegaly and ethanol intoxication." The study besides indicated the life-ending wounded was sustained from "body compression during restraint by aggregate vessel information personnel" and "ingestion of ethanol."

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An overhead presumption of Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas cruise ship. (Royal Caribbean)

The suit besides points retired that Virgil purchased the ship’s "Deluxe Beverage Package," which provides passengers with unlimited entree to astir each the portion offerings connected the ship’s menu, including alcoholic beverages. According to the complaint, intoxicant income stay 1 of the company’s apical gross streams and that Royal Caribbean’s vessels are designed to see galore points astatine which customers tin bid drinks. 

"We are seeing an incredibly alarming fig of superior injuries and fatalities connected cruise ships of late," Haynes said. "Our extremity is to unit systemic alteration successful the mode this manufacture operates to guarantee that nary idiosyncratic oregon household experiences a calamity similar this again."

Haynes went connected to comparison Virgil’s decease to the decease of George Floyd, pointing to alleged similarities successful the events starring up to some men’s last breath, according to the Daily Mail. 

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"Everyone remembers that precise tragic communicative with George Floyd, and this is akin successful the consciousness that they suppressed idiosyncratic against their will, restrained him and caused him to halt being capable to breathe," Haynes told the Daily Mail. 

The suit says Virgil's property is seeking judgement for damages nether the Death connected the High Seas Act, including nonaccomplishment of support, inheritance, past and aboriginal earnings, and nett accumulations. Additionally, the household is besides seeking repayment for ceremonial and aesculapian expenses, intelligence symptom and suffering, and nonaccomplishment of companionship and protection.

Stanton pointed to the world that portion successful planetary waters, oftentimes instrumentality enforcement duties are relegated to information unit connected the ship. 

"[When crimes are committed] successful planetary waters, you know, they person Interpol, but they're not holding the members connected the vessel for questioning," Stanton said. "If this were done with the NYPD oregon the LAPD oregon immoderate large constabulary section that had to instrumentality enactment against an individual, they're going to person a concatenation of evidence." 

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Royal Caribbean did not instantly respond to Fox News Digital’s petition for comment, but antecedently refrained from issuing a connection connected the circumstantial details of the lawsuit owed to the pending ineligible matter. 

"We were saddened by the passing of 1 of our guests, worked with authorities connected their investigation, and volition refrain from commenting immoderate further connected pending litigation," a spokesperson said successful a anterior connection to Fox News Digital.

According to Stanton, the lawsuit emphasizes cruise vessel passengers' request to stay vigilant portion connected abrogation to support themselves safe. 

"You tin little your defender a bit, but you inactive request to administer each the things [involving] situational awareness," helium said. "Because the atrocious guys, and sometimes radical with the champion intentions, volition instrumentality vantage of the information that you're connected vacation." 

Fox News Digital's Tessa Hoyos, Michael Ruiz and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.