Cruise Company Sued Over Man Who Died on Ship And Placed in Drinks Cooler

The man who died is from Florida, and his family is taking legal action by suing the company for a million bucks. 

Robert Lewis Jones, 78, gave up the ghost on the Celebrity Equinox back in August in the middle of the high seas. 

Following his death on the high seas, Robert’s body was placed in a walk-in cooler, which is used to stock beverages and keep them cold for 6 days until the ship docked in Lauderdale. His wife later finds out.

The lawsuit argues that the body should have been put in the cruise ship’s morgue for proper care instead of a cooler.

Storing Robert’s body in a cooler has led to a high decomposition of Robert Lewis Jones' body.

The lawsuit claims that the corpse was initially placed in the morgue but later transferred to the cooler.

“The ship docked in Puerto Rico after Jones died, and the suit claims his widow was given 2 options ... take the body off in Puerto Rico or keep it in the morgue until it returns to Ft. Lauderdale.” The lawsuit further argues that they advised his widow to keep the body on board, and she agreed.

However, upon docking in Ft. Lauderdale, a Sheriff's deputy came on board and the body was not placed in the morgue.

The suit claims funeral service workers found it inside a blood-splattered bag, laying on the floor of the cooler.

The corpse was badly decomposed because the temperature was not suitable for preserving it. The family wanted an open casket, but Jones' body was green and bloated, so they couldn't follow their long-standing family tradition.

Following TMZ’s tweet about the tragic incident on Twitter, a lot of netizens have expressed how they feel about the incident. 

Cindy wrote, “What a heartbreaking story, Not only was she mourning the death of her husband but she also had the extra heartbreak of the disrespectful way his body was treated. Also, I didn't know cruise ships have a morgue onboard. Are people dying on cruises more common than I thought?” 

Paul tweeted, “Blood splattered body bag, wtf happened 🤔?”

Another user commented saying, “What I don’t get is why they didn’t get off the ship at the first port of call after he died so they could fly the body home.”

“Ewwwww, so when you have your drink on a Celebrity Cruises ship, there might have been a dead body in the same cooler that contained your drink???  WTF??” American Pancake lament. 

 A user asked, “what were they expecting. It’s a walk in freezer to prevent decomposition. Did they want the body to rot?” 

Donzel responded with a snide comment and justification saying, “Reading is a fundamental super star. The body DID rot jack azz b/c a Drinks cooler is not a Freezer. The ship had a morgue which was not used after 6 days sheriffs recovered a green, bloated body on the floor of the cooler in a blood-soaked bag. One million is way too low. 

Loengo wrote, “Is there nothing in something's?”

Agamammon tweeted, “Why? Where else were they supposed to put him?”