Lawsuit: Royal Caribbean Accused of Serving Man 33 Alcoholic Drinks Before His Death

Royal Caribbean Cruises is being sued over a man dying aboard one of its ships after he was allegedly served 33 alcoholic beverages.

The autopsy for 35-year-old Michael Virgil said his manner of death was homicide and now his family is taking legal action against the cruise line, Fox News reported Monday, noting the wrongful death complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Virgil’s family, including his fiancé and young son who has autism, boarded the ship on December 13, 2024 in Los Angeles for a trip to Mexico when the incident happened:

According to the complaint, the family was directed to a bar with live music because their cabin was not ready. As they waited, Virgil’s then 7-year-old son grew restless and left with his mother to check the room, leaving Virgil alone.

The suit claims that within hours of the ship’s departure, crew members negligently served him at least 33 alcoholic drinks, after which he became intoxicated and increasingly agitated while trying to locate his cabin.

Video footage shows the man in a hallway of the ship apparently kicking a cabin’s door as people watched.

The footage also shows security guards taking him into custody. The passenger who recorded the clip told Fox 11, “The gentleman that was drunk said he was gonna kill us and then he started chasing us down the hallway.”

Ship security officers are accused of tackling and restraining the man, compressing his body until he was not moving, injecting him with Haloperidol, and pepper spraying him.

Haloperidol is a sedative used to treat patients with schizophrenia and balances the dopamine in the brain, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The family’s attorney, Kevin Haynes, said, “The video of Michael agitated, kicking a door — it’s totally out of character for him. We’re not going to sit here and say it’s good behavior, but that’s not who he was as a person.”

“He was a loving father, they believed that he was a ‘gentle giant.’ So that’s what alcohol does to you. It transforms you into a different person, especially that much alcohol. So I can’t sit here and say that his family is excited about the way he was behaving but let me put it his way: It doesn’t deserve a death sentence,” Haynes added, per ABC 7.