Here's a New One... "Celebrity Cruise Ship Kept Corpse in Drink Cooler"

[Dar & Bob]

In the past dealing with a relative we were told to have the body embalmed within a week or no open casket.  So even with proper morgue temperatures they probably wouldnt have what they wanted.  That said the wife should have been informed the moment they discovered the morgue freezers weren't working.  It doesn't say how much they are seeking. 

[Dar & Bob]

19 hours ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

Hoping the link works for everyone.  Basically, an elderly gentleman died on the Equinox, and the widow was given the option of getting off the ship at San Juan PR, but would be responsible for her and her husband's body transportation costs, or she could remain on the ship until they returned to Ft. Lauderdale, with the body in the morgue.  She opted to stay on board.  The refrigeration system in the morgue failed, and the body was relocated to a a beverage cooler where it stayed until a funeral home came to pick it up.  Significant decomposition occurred, and family lost the opportunity for an open casket.

Just a sad story.

Horrible for the family, and I can't imagine the poor crew that had to enter and work around a human body laying in a beverage cooler.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/22/us/cruise-ship-body-lawsuit.html

The question is would decomposition happen even if the body had been in the morgue.  In a situation with a relative when we wanted to delay the funeral due to unfortunate circumstances, we were told to not hold the body in the hospital morgue more than a day or two or we would not have an open casket and even after embalming the funeral would have to be within the week to have a viewing.  A funeral director friend confirmed the information.  Not an expert just what we were told.

I am sure X will pay something it's just a matter of how much - the article doesn't say what they are seeking.

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 minute ago, Dar & Bob said:

The question is would decomposition happen even if the body had been in the morgue.  In a situation with a relative when we wanted to delay the funeral due to unfortunate circumstances, we were told to not hold the body in the hospital morgue more than a day or two or we would not have an open casket and even after embalming the funeral would have to be within the week to have a viewing.  A funeral director friend confirmed the information.  Not an expert just what we were told.

I am sure X will pay something it's just a matter of how much - the article doesn't say what they are seeking.

 

Lawsuit is for $1M which IDK, seems reasonable considering they'll probably settle out of court for half and the lawyer team will get around half so the plaintiffs get about $250,000 and probably a lifetime ban on X

[bunnyette]

She might have been better to disembark in San Juan.  One of the kids could have flown there to help with paperwork & logistics 

[NutsAboutGolf]

Just now, bunnyette said:

She might have been better to disembark in San Juan.  One of the kids could have flown there to help with paperwork & logistics 

 

Part of the lawsuit claims that X heavily steered them away from PR to FL for unknown reasons

[grandgeezer]

Once the Capitan agreed to keep the body on the ship, he put himself responsible for everything that transpired after that. It seems they just dumped the body in the beverage cooler and forgot about it. If they checked on it during the rest of the cruise the smell should have given them a clue that something wasn’t right, and maybe pack it in ice and detour and drop it off at a port who handle in properly. The ice option would cut into the supply they need for drinks so that was a no go.

[Sigyn]

1 hour ago, grandgeezer said:

Once the Capitan agreed to keep the body on the ship, he put himself responsible for everything that transpired after that. It seems they just dumped the body in the beverage cooler and forgot about it. If they checked on it during the rest of the cruise the smell should have given them a clue that something wasn’t right, and maybe pack it in ice and detour and drop it off at a port who handle in properly. The ice option would cut into the supply they need for drinks so that was a no go.

I agree. Celebrity was in charge of the body by keeping it on board, and they were responsible for what happened. When the morgue wasn't working, they needed to do something about it, not just let the body sit in too-warm temps in the drink cooler. This is Celebrity's fault. 

[mom says]

It appears the mods have had a busy time deleting offensive posts. Can we kindly remember that we are speaking of a deceased person who was someone's beloved family member, and refrain from inappropriate and disrespectful comments? 

Edited April 23, 2023 by mom says

[prmssk]

3 hours ago, njsmom said:

This is Celebrity's fault. 

That depends to what extent the allegations are actually true.  We are only hearing the widow's side of the story.  The widow won't know what actually went on behind the scenes.  And she may not be accurately and completely remembering or relaying the conversations she had with Celebrity crew.

[NMTraveller]

58 minutes ago, prmssk said:

That depends to what extent the allegations are actually true.  We are only hearing the widow's side of the story.  The widow won't know what actually went on behind the scenes.  And she may not be accurately and completely remembering or relaying the conversations she had with Celebrity crew.

She does have witnesses though.  The funeral home that came to pick up the body.  The issues seems to be the incompetence regarding the storage of the body.

Edited April 23, 2023 by NMTraveller

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

5 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

She does have witnesses though.  The funeral home that came to pick up the body.

I think what @prmssk was referencing is her conversations with Celebrity. If it was just her and her late husband on the cruise, there was likely no one other than her that Celebrity talked with about arrangements. And in a state of grief, we don't always listen as well as we should/our mind is not fully on the conversation so she might not have heard them correctly in their discussion of removing the body in Puerto Rico.

[NMTraveller]

20 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

I think what @prmssk was referencing is her conversations with Celebrity. If it was just her and her late husband on the cruise, there was likely no one other than her that Celebrity talked with about arrangements. And in a state of grief, we don't always listen as well as we should/our mind is not fully on the conversation so she might not have heard them correctly in their discussion of removing the body in Puerto Rico.

I would say that is irrelevant.  They do have a morgue on board.  One would expect a competent transfer and storage.

 

This story is so bizarre that I think that a jury would agree.

 

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by NMTraveller

[Bill Miller]

This is a foreign flag vessel, not sure how that will effect things. Tons of lawsuits filed in Florida everyday. Doesn't mean they will ever go to trial.

[prmssk]

38 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

She does have witnesses though.  The funeral home that came to pick up the body.  The issues seems to be the incompetence regarding the storage of the body.

Even a week in the morgue would have resulted in some decomposition.  Usually anytime someone wants an open casket, they need to hold the funeral within a few days, not a week.  

 

And I'm sure what the funeral home said has a bit of subjectivity to it.  Even when you are talking about experts in a field, disagreements are very common.

[NMTraveller]

13 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Even a week in the morgue would have resulted in some decomposition.  Usually anytime someone wants an open casket, they need to hold the funeral within a few days, not a week.  

 

And I'm sure what the funeral home said has a bit of subjectivity to it.  Even when you are talking about experts in a field, disagreements are very common.

They can be kept for two weeks or even longer with the right equipment.  A week is about half of the time.  But then most morgues don't stuff the body in a wine chiller on a palette. 🙂🙂🙂🙂 

 

[prmssk]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

They can be kept for two weeks or even longer with the right equipment.  A week is about half of the time.

Maybe if the body has been embalmed.  I doubt cruise ships are equipped with the tools to do embalming.

 

I really feel for the widow.  I can't imagine what she went through.  But I've seen enough civil cases to know that what gets put into the initial complaint never tells the whole story and isn't even always accurate.  That's why there is a process for the defendant to respond, summary judgment motions to be filed and ruled on, discovery to happen, and eventually a trial to happen unless the case settles.  

[grandgeezer]

On 4/23/2023 at 5:35 AM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Lawsuit is for $1M which IDK, seems reasonable considering they'll probably settle out of court for half and the lawyer team will get around half so the plaintiffs get about $250,000 and probably a lifetime ban on X

I don’t think a lifetime ban is much of factor. I doubt if either his spouse, or family, would ever cruise with them anyway.

I’d like to see it go to trial. If the complaint is anyway near accurate, and the pictures and testimony of the people who removed the body is entered, the $1M would be a bargain. In a civil suit, the burden of proof is much less than a criminal trial, as you only have to think that they are probably guilty, not beyond a reasonable doubt. I was unlucky enough to be on a jury for a medical malpractice trial. The suit was for $2M and it was against the hospital, the emergency room doctor, 

and the neurosurgeon who was called in. The settlement offer was $1M and turned down. When we came back from lunch the second day we were told there was a settlement agreement so we were done. Smart move, the testimony and x-rays were compelling in favor of the plaintiff and the little guy would have won.

[PTC DAWG]

Serious question, is burial at sea an option here if surviving spouse agrees? I’m guessing no, logistics and liability reasons I would assume would prevent. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

18 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

I don’t think a lifetime ban is much of factor. I doubt if either his spouse, or family, would ever cruise with them anyway.

I’d like to see it go to trial. If the complaint is anyway near accurate, and the pictures and testimony of the people who removed the body is entered, the $1M would be a bargain. In a civil suit, the burden of proof is much less than a criminal trial, as you only have to think that they are probably guilty, not beyond a reasonable doubt. I was unlucky enough to be on a jury for a medical malpractice trial. The suit was for $2M and it was against the hospital, the emergency room doctor, 

and the neurosurgeon who was called in. The settlement offer was $1M and turned down. When we came back from lunch the second day we were told there was a settlement agreement so we were done. Smart move, the testimony and x-rays were compelling in favor of the plaintiff and the little guy would have won.

We almost never see passengers vs cruise line trials…It would seem X is at fault and the failure was that there wasn’t a backup to the morgues cooler…Shooting from the hip here, perhaps X thought the drink cooler was an adequate backup hence why there hasn’t been a settlement yet as the event happened years ago and the complaint was recently filed

 

”The morgue broke, our engineers worked day and night to fix it but were unable to as they needed additional parts…So we did the next best thing which was to store it in the cooler, we’ll throw ya a bone of $10k, take it or leave it”

Edited April 24, 2023 by NutsAboutGolf

[mnocket]

On 4/22/2023 at 1:02 PM, keesar said:

Celebrity should not have given her a choice.  The corpse should have been removed in San Juan and flown back to the States.  Sad story all around...

Yeah, I hate when companies give their customers choices.

Edited April 24, 2023 by mnocket

[ontheweb]

Lawsuit: Cruise line allowed passenger’s body to decompose in ship’s cooler – KIRO 7 News Seattle

[kay1864]

Other than the obvious gross factor, it's possible that the drinks cooler is the same temp as the morgue drawer. ie the body might have (in 5 days' time) ended up the same either way.

 

But given that 2-4 people die each week on a cruise ship somewhere (1 out of 150,000 passengers), you'd think that "how many days can a body be kept in the morgue drawer" is a known number by at one or more crew members on every ship. Which implies if death occurs early in a 7-night cruise, the body and relevant passengers need to get off at the next port to get home. If it occurs late in the cruise, then you have the option of staying on board until normal disembarkation.

 

Or something like that.

[LHT28]

yes I can see them keeping the body in the regular cooler  where food is stored  NOT!!

 

What do people think happens to a body  even in the morgue for  a week

 

I bet they did not have insurance to get  her & the deceased  home  from  PR

[Aquahound]

I wouldn’t be so quick to pass judgement here. It’s a very limited one-sided story and I question some of the facts as told. 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Aquahound

[SPacificbound]

I am guessing they did not have insurance to cover the loss.