Cruise ship passenger dies after being served 33 drinks, never flagged

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A lawsuit says a cruise ship passenger on a Los Angeles to Mexico trip died after being served 33 drinks. He was never flagged or denied service by staff. Passenger became agitated trying to find his room in which staff then pepper sprayed him, sedated and restrained him.

Royal Caribbean cruise ship passenger died after being served at least 33 drinks, lawsuit claims

Report also showed the deceased also had commorbidities such as obesity. It was basically a suffocation death from multiple factors. 33 drinks could kill a healthy person.

Why bother to take a cruise if one is going to spend it getting drunk. Never understood the need for continuous intoxication during a vacation or in a vacation setting.
 

I have mixed feelings about this. Sure, the bar should have cut him off, and security may or may not have used excessive force after he chased a security guard who escaped by locking himself in a room, the door to which this man tried to kick down. There is cruise line responsibility there.

But this guy who's family says is ordinarily a gentle man (yeah right), and would never act that way (but in fact, he did act that way,) had 33 drinks, and he got him self in a rage. There is responsibility on both sides of this argument.

I don't blame alcohol, which the article made clear was part of the problem. Alcohol is not cunning, baffling, and powerful, and as a rather simple chemical compound, lacks the sentience to be cunning. People who drink to excess should know that they may lose control and harm themselves or others. You drive drunk, you get the ticket, not the alcohol, not the person you run over. You are the guilty party. Maybe the guilt should be shared by both sides on this issue.

If I were a passenger on the cruise, and got in this guy's way, I would want some protection from security. But the cruise line has lots of money, and this is a good way for the family to exonerate themselves, and make a lot of money. I'm probably reading too much of my own bias into this. Maybe I'll just wait for the court decision to see how it turns out. I won't lose sleep, no matter what the outcome.
 
There's more to this story. And we don't have all of the information yet.

He bought an all you can drink cruise. Their cabin wasn't ready so he decided to hit the bar and didn't stop. Where was his family? Did any of them step in?

Unless there is some sort of clause in the all you can drink that they can put a stop to it there really isn't much that can be done.

The man was out of control. The only one fingers should be pointed at was at him.
 
I've been following this story with interest, mostly because the family is claiming the crew were negligent in continuing to serve alcohol to this guy.

Most of the regular posters here know my own history with substance abuse.

I haven't focused on the specifics of the alleged use of zip ties, pepper spray, and haloperidol, but blaming the crew for the fact that this man got so very intoxicated bugs the heck out of me. Nobody poured the alcohol down his throat: He chose to drink that much.
 
Nathan said:
The wait staff apparently had absolutely no training or awareness of the liability involved in their job. Corporate failed to protect company interests.
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Except he paid for all he could drink on the cruise. Who should make the determination he's cutoff? It won't be the bartenders if he's providing them the proof he paid for the perk. How do you cut someone off who paid for it?

Maybe corporate should say never mind on this little money generating idea.
 
Two sides to every coin. His actions, his price to pay. Was he blacked out drunk and no longer aware of what he was doing? Where were his family and friends? A very sad way to go, regardless of who was at fault.

If they have an all you can drink policy, it could be set to one or two drinks an hour, even within that time frame you could run into trouble.
 
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robin416 said:
Except he paid for all he could drink on the cruise. Who should make the determination he's cutoff? It won't be the bartenders if he's providing them the proof he paid for the perk. How do you cut someone off who paid for it?

Maybe corporate should say never mind on this little money generating idea.
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Any two-bit club or bar knows when to 'say no' to a drunk patron. The Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship personnel failed, now they will pay.
 
Sadly, I can almost guarantee after being a part of a large cruise company, Royal Caribbean will most likely settle to keep the bad publicity out of the news. Also, lawyers look at large corporations as sitting ducks for settlements.

In any case, this man had as much responsibility, if not more, than the cruise line for being over-served. A man with a wife and child should practice some level of adult behavior.
 
robin416 said:
This is a cruise ship operating under very different rules and most of the time in international waters.
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Plus, it's a very different environment on a ship. Not like you can get in your vehicle and drive drunk as you might from your local bar. The worst that can happen is you fall overboard, barf in the pool or get into a fight with someone. Most would just pass out after many drinks. Plus there's a lot of bars around a ship. He may have moved around quite a bit so only having a few drinks at each place.

The other thing is these waiters on cruise ships are VERY reluctant to say anything negative to a passenger. It's drilled into them that the passenger is ALWAYS right so never challenge them unless they're a threat to others on the ship.
 
If he was drinking at just one bar, it would be obvious the staff need to cut him off. If he went from bar to bar to bar, it’s not as clear.

On a European river cruise there was one couple with the endless drinking option. They got up in the middle of the night and continued on into the next night. They easily could have been consuming 33 drinks in a day. That’s all they did.
 
MrPants said:
Plus, it's a very different environment on a ship. Not like you can get in your vehicle and drive drunk as you might from your local bar. The worst that can happen is you fall overboard, barf in the pool or get into a fight with someone. Most would just pass out after many drinks. Plus there's a lot of bars around a ship. He may have moved around quite a bit so only having a few drinks at each place.

The other thing is these waiters on cruise ships are VERY reluctant to say anything negative to a passenger. It's drilled into them that the passenger is ALWAYS right so never challenge them unless they're a threat to others on the ship.
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I couldn't figure out if I should just like your post or grin at the antics of a drunk. Although the puking in the pool was rough first thing in the AM, sipping my first cup of coffee.
 
Aunt Bea said:
That’s a good point.

In New York State, it’s illegal for bars and restaurants to offer free drinks, unlimited drink deals, and promotions that encourage excessive drinking.
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That is an interesting point, @Aunt Bea. I wonder what the rules are for casinos, where it is standard practice to encourage drinking and provide free drinks. (And I would imagine those laws may differ for casinos on tribal lands, or owned by Native American tribes.)

I'll have to do some searches on that later.
 
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Jules said:
If he was drinking at just one bar, it would be obvious the staff need to cut him off. If he went from bar to bar to bar, it’s not as clear.
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I was thinking the exact same thing @Jules.

I believe passengers have to have their badge scanned each time a drink is ordered so there is some sort of record for the cruise line. But expecting the cruise staff to keep a close eye on the number of drinks every passenger is consuming, especially on these huge ships, seems unrealistic to me.
 
KSav said:
I was thinking the exact same thing @Jules.

I believe passengers have to have their badge scanned each time a drink is ordered so there is some sort of record for the cruise line. But expecting the cruise staff to keep a close eye on the number of drinks every passenger is consuming, especially on these huge ships, seems unrealistic to me
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That's a good idea especially if free or complimentary.

Or a passenger should be forced to go to a bar itself to order a drink so the bartender gets to see the customer's condition. I wouldn't promote an open bar either. Even if the drink is cheap the process of ordering and paying might slow them down or make the staff realize how much they were drinking.
 
He may have booked this cruise precisely so he could go on a bender knowing there would be no risk of driving drunk.
Who gave him Haloperidol? That's a heavy duty antipsychotic used for people with schizophrenia who are having a really bad episode.

If they do win the suit I hope they award the money to his son. I really don't think "fiancees" are entitled to future earnings of the man they've been dating.
VaughanJB said:
Who is drinking 33 drinks without falling over first?
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I know. Seven is my limit.
 

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