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 put in a drinks cooler after his death, resulting in his body being badly decomposed after they deboarded the ship. 

Robert L. Jones died from heart complications while on board 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 arrived back in Florida. 

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

Jones – along with her daughters Robin Phillips and Teresa West – allege that cruise staff urged her to keep Bob’s body on board, instead of removing it during a stop in Puerto Rico.

By the time a funeral services employee went to retrieve the elderly man’s body upon arrival in Florida, the corpse – which was found in a body bag on a floor palette – had been so badly decomposed that an open-casket funeral was not possible. 

Jones, her daughters, and her grandchildren are suing 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 on April 19 in the Florida Southern District court, the family alleges Celebrity Cruises improperly stored the 79-year-old’s body, so much so that his remains were ‘so far gone in the decomposition process.’ 

The remains could not be salvaged, the lawsuit states, and the family had to forgo their ‘long standing family custom’ of open-casket services. 

Upon his passing, cruise workers told Jones she had the option to either have his body removed from the ship in San Juan or have it stored properly for six days until they arrived in Fort Lauderdale.   

‘Celebrity employees told Plaintiff Marilyn Jones that if she had her husband’s body taken ashore in San Juan, she would be required to stay in San Juan with his body and would have to make arrangements for transport for herself and her husband’s body back to the mainland United States,’ the complaint alleges.   

‘Plaintiff Jones was 78 years old at the time and was without any other family members on board the ship,’ it goes on to say. 

Cruise ship representatives told West that there was a ’50/50 shot’ the coroner’s office in San Juan 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 that was equipped to deal with situations like these. 

It was on their recommendation, the complaint states, 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 stored 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 journey back to Florida, Bob’s body was moved from the ship’s morgue to a drinks cooler that was not adequately equipped to store remains. 

It wasn’t until a funeral services employee in Fort Lauderdale went to retrieve the body from the morgue that they realized it had been moved at all. 

‘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,’ the complaint reads. 

‘On inspection of Mr. Jones’ body, it was immediately clear that Mr. Jones’ body was in advanced stages of decomposition and was never stored in a temperature appropriate to stop decomposition from occurring,’ the suit continues. 

According to the family, the man’s body was found severely expanded from gas that had formed from the decomposition. 

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

There was also blood spatter on the inside of the bag that ‘would have only occurred’ from the gas building up in the body and being released through the tube. 

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

In order to keep dead bodies in proper condition, they must be stored in freezing temperatures to slow the decomposition process. 

Celebrity – which has experienced dozens of deaths on other cruises – should have known this and had a properly working morgue that could have kept Bob’s remains in the correct state, the complaint alleges. 

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

According to the family, the man’s body was found severely expanded from gas that had formed from the decomposition

By the time a funeral services employee went to retrieve the elderly man’s body upon arrival in Florida, the corpse – which was found in a body bag on a floor palette – had been so badly decomposed that an open-casket funeral was not possible

The family says the actions and inactions regarding the elderly man’s body show Celebrity’s indifference to ‘his passing, his dignity, and his family, friends, and community’s loss, and showed an entire want of care for the safety of his remains’

Jones and her family members are asking a judge for $1 million, including prejudgment and post judgment interest and costs, as well as demand a trial by jury

The family says the actions and inactions regarding the elderly man’s body show Celebrity’s indifference to ‘his passing, his dignity, and his family, friends, and community’s loss, and showed an entire want of care for the safety of his remains.’

‘The Celebrity crew in charge of storing Mr. Jones body during the six remaining days of the cruise acted recklessly, willfully, and wantonly, and without care for the Jones family’s loved one by failing to ensure that the morgue was properly working for the duration of the near week that the remains were stored under their care,’ the suit states. 

‘As a passenger on its ship, the defendant owed Robert Jones a duty to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances,’ the complaint reads. 

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