Celebrity cruise lawsuit: Family alleges their loved one was put in a drinks cooler after death

A Florida family is suing Celebrity Cruises after they say their loved one was stuffed into a beverage cooler after his death, leaving his body in a state of severe decomposition after they disembarked.

Robert L. Jones died of heart complications while aboard the Celebrity Equinox on August 15, 2022. After his death, his wife Marilyn Jones was told the body could be kept in the ship’s morgue for six days until they returned to Florida .

At some point, however, Bob’s corpse was moved from the morgue to a beverage cooler on another floor of the ship, the complaint alleges.

Jones — along with her daughters Robin Phillips and Teresa West — allege cruise staff urged her to keep Bob’s body on board, rather than dispose of it during a layover in Puerto Rico.

By the time a funeral service worker arrived in Florida to collect the elderly man’s body, the body—found in a body bag on a floor palette—had decomposed so much that an open-casket burial was not possible.

Jones, her daughters and her grandchildren filed a lawsuit for $1 million.

A lawsuit filed by Marilyn Jones, 79, and her daughters alleges that cruise staff urged Jones – who was 78 at the time – to keep the body of Robert L. Jones, 79, (pictured) on board

In the lawsuit, filed April 19 in Florida’s Southern District Court, the family alleges that Celebrity Cruises improperly stored the 79-year-old’s body, so much so that his remains were “so far into the world.” decomposition process had disappeared’.

The remains could not be recovered, the lawsuit says, and the family had to abandon their “long-standing family practice” of open-casket services.

After his death, cruise employees told Jones she had a choice of either having his body removed from the ship in San Juan or having it properly stored for six days until they arrived in Fort Lauderdale.

Celebrity associates told prosecutor Marilyn Jones that if she landed her husband’s body in San Juan, she would have to stay in San Juan with his body and make arrangements for the transportation of herself and her husband’s body back to the mainland United States,” the indictment alleges.

Plaintiff Jones was 78 years old at the time and had no other family members on board the vessel.

Cruise ship representatives told West there was a “50/50 shot” that the San Juan coroner’s office would take possession of her father’s body before releasing it to a funeral home for preservation procedures.

They also allegedly told the family that they had a working morgue on board equipped to deal with this type of situation.

According to the complaint, it was on their recommendation that Jones decided to keep her husband’s body on board where she believed it would be safe.

Jones – who had been married to ‘Bob’ for 55 years – was allegedly told by Celebrity employees that her husband’s corpse could be kept in the ship’s morgue until they returned home

Robert Jones (center) daughter Robin Phillips (left) and granddaughter (right)

At some point during the six-day voyage back to Florida, Bob’s body was moved from the ship’s morgue to a beverage cooler that was not adequately equipped to store remains.

It wasn’t until a Fort Lauderdale funeral service worker went to retrieve the body from the morgue that they realized it had been moved in the first place.

“The cool box in which Mr Jones’s body was found by the undertaker had drinks placed outside the cool box and was not at a temperature that was neither sufficient nor suitable to store a corpse to prevent decomposition,” the suit reads.

“Upon inspection of Mr. Jones’ body, it was immediately apparent that Mr. Jones’s body was in an advanced stage of decomposition and had never been stored at a temperature suitable to prevent decomposition,” the suit continues.

According to the family, the man’s body was found severely distended from gas formed by the decomposition.

In addition, Bob’s skin had turned green and the intubation tube was still in his mouth and throat.

There were also blood spatters on the inside of the bag that “could have just been created” by the gas accumulating in the body and being released through the tube.

The family believes that the morgue on board the ship was not operating properly at the time and they were never made aware of the situation or given a chance to make decisions.

To keep dead bodies in good condition, they must be stored at temperatures below freezing to slow down the decomposition process.

Celebrity — who has experienced dozens of deaths on other cruises — should have known this and had a well-functioning morgue that could have kept Bob’s remains in proper condition, the suit alleges.

Normally, dead bodies should be able to be kept in morgues for weeks or months before major decomposition begins.

According to the family, the man’s body was found severely distended from gas formed by the decomposition

By the time a funeral service worker arrived in Florida to collect the elderly man’s body, the body—found in a body bag on a floor palette—was so decomposed that an open-casket burial was not possible.

The family says the actions and omissions related to the elderly man’s body show Celebrity’s indifference to “his passing, his dignity and the loss of his family, friends and community, and showed a complete lack of concern for the safety of his remains’.

Jones and her relatives are asking a judge for $1 million, including prejudice and interest and post-judgment costs, and are seeking a jury trial

The family says the actions and omissions related to the elderly man’s body show Celebrity’s indifference to “his passing, his dignity and the loss of his family, friends and community, and showed a total lack of concern for the safety of his remains’.

“The Celebrity crew responsible for the storage of Mr Jones’ body during the six remaining days of the cruise acted recklessly, willfully and willfully, and with no regard for the Jones family’s loved one, by failing to care for it. that the morgue operated properly for the duration of the nearly week that the remains were stored in their care,” the suit reads.

“As a passenger on his ship, the defendant Robert Jones had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the circumstances,” the indictment reads.

DailyMail.com reached out to Celebrity Cruises for comment, but did not receive a response at time of publication.