Do Celebrity Ships have Morgues?

[cruisellama]

https://www.wfaa.com/article/travel/celebrity-cruise-line-let-passengers-body-decompose-lawsuit-says/507-112495a2-8ada-48b5-be24-6034a62e5e3a

Yes - but they aren't necessarily functioning.   Curious on why it took a week to remove the body.   Was it to complete the cruise ? - yes

 

 

[Carlos A.]

This is disturbing, I can't imagine how they came to think that storing the body in a cooler was appropriate. 

Speechless.

[cruisellama]

11 hours ago, Carlos A. said:

This is disturbing, I can't imagine how they came to think that storing the body in a cooler was appropriate. 

Speechless.

Then they probably used it for food or beverages.

[smokeybandit]

That whole thing is a major mess for Celebrity if that happened how it was alleged (which, likely isn't the case).

The CDC wouldn't exactly appreciate a dead body in the same cooler with foods.

That said, I wouldn't think that cooler would be any warmer than a traditional morgue cooler, which isn't designed to prevent decomposition anyway.

[twangster]

Odd she wanted to stay on a cruise in this circumstance. 

Lawyers wants a jury trial.  Smells like a money grab. 

[Cakemeister]

Remember, a cooler is not a refrigerator!

[Happy Cruisers]

https://abc7chicago.com/cruise-ship-celebrity-equinox-decomposed-body-do-ships-have-a-morgue/13170894/

Since this blog now purports to cover Celebrity, too, this seemed relevant.  Absolutely disgusting, heartbreaking and barbaric story coming out of Chicago from a cruise last August.  Some poor lady lost her husband of 55 years at the start of the cruise, so Celebrity apparently stuck him in the cooler instead of the morgue.  Morgue inop or not, the way this was handled was 100% unacceptable and likely amounts to abuse of a corpse.  Shame on the parent company for even letting this lawsuit be filed - certainly, there would have been demand letters that pre-dated the lawsuit.  Since the widow had to file a lawsuit to apparently get Celebrity's attention about letting her husband rot for a week, I hope it costs them a lot more than $1 million to settle this outside of court.  Unfortunately, it probably will be that inexpensive.  Simply disgusting by any and all involved - to the crew who decided to shove that man into a cooler for a week, all I can say is what Galatians already does - you reap what you sow.  And boy am I glad I'm not them.  

[Atlantix2000]

There's a thread in the Celebrity section.

[Happy Cruisers]

I must have overlooked it when I searched earlier (and I really did!); thanks for letting me know.  Glad for the moderators to consolidate/move/handle this thread as they wish.  

[cruisellama]

3 hours ago, Happy Cruisers said:

https://abc7chicago.com/cruise-ship-celebrity-equinox-decomposed-body-do-ships-have-a-morgue/13170894/

Since this blog now purports to cover Celebrity, too, this seemed relevant.  Absolutely disgusting, heartbreaking and barbaric story coming out of Chicago from a cruise last August.  Some poor lady lost her husband of 55 years at the start of the cruise, so Celebrity apparently stuck him in the cooler instead of the morgue.  Morgue inop or not, the way this was handled was 100% unacceptable and likely amounts to abuse of a corpse.  Shame on the parent company for even letting this lawsuit be filed - certainly, there would have been demand letters that pre-dated the lawsuit.  Since the widow had to file a lawsuit to apparently get Celebrity's attention about letting her husband rot for a week, I hope it costs them a lot more than $1 million to settle this outside of court.  Unfortunately, it probably will be that inexpensive.  Simply disgusting by any and all involved - to the crew who decided to shove that man into a cooler for a week, all I can say is what Galatians already does - you reap what you sow.  And boy am I glad I'm not them.  

Yes the morgue fridge was broken so they used a beverage refrigerator.   There was an opportunity for the family to disembark with the body in Puerto Rico, but they elected not to to save transportation costs.   So they remained not he cruise for 6 days and the makeshift accommodations did not work out.  Not cold enough.

[smokeybandit]

2 hours ago, cruisellama said:

So they remained not he cruise for 6 days and the makeshift accommodations did not work out.  Not cold enough.

Common morgue fridges aren't any colder than your typical home fridge. Not that putting a body in a beverage fridge seems overly ethical though

[twangster]

The cruise line is hampered by not being to provde another perspective or side to the story.  An empty refrigerated storage locker may be an acceptable place under the circumstances.  We'll likely never know.  The money seeking lawyers have the advantage of using the media and in the media they can lie and say whatever.  They won't do that in Court, but in the media truth doesn't matter.

[BrianB]

Not in any way taking sides. This is a horrible situation and I hope whatever happens with this, the family finds peace and consolation for the loss of their loved one.

But…as @twangster pointed out…there is only the one side of the story right now. It reminds me of that other horrible situation where a small child lost their life falling from an open window on an upper deck. The story put forth by their lawyers gave the impression that the window being open was negligence on the part of the ship…and that was the reason the child fell. As the story gained traction…as the lawyers probably intended…the cruise line was careful not to respond. Apparently for two reasons…one, they wanted to let the investigation continue until all the facts were available. And two, they didn’t want to bring more pain and suffering to a family already suffering unimaginable pain. 
But…the lawyers were looking for public shock, disgust and support so that they could influence a future jury…or manipulate a more expensive settlement. I’m not blaming the lawyers for being the best advocates for their clients…that’s their sworn duty. Finding truth and justice is not their job…representing their clients is.

The cruise line finally felt they were forced into releasing some of the videos. Just enough to support their position as to what happened on that terrible day. Turns out there was another story.

So, I’ll wait and see what results from this investigation before making a judgment. And I’ll try to get my information from a reliable, reasonable source. Not some of the agenda-driven, click-bait-seeking, usually slanted media. Just my opinion.

[Ampurp85]

I will take sides. I blame the family; they acknowledge they were giving the option of disembarking at San Juan with the body to go to a morgue. They chose to stay on the cruise for 6 more days, knowing that anything could happen. 

[teddy]

Disclaimer:  I haven’t looked at any updates on this story since it was initially released, so I may be missing something.  
 

My wife and I have only been married 26 years, but if she died on a cruise, I’d definitely bail at the first possible port and get us both home.  I can’t imagine staying on the ship.  
 

This is one of the times our travel insurance policy would come into good usage. 

[Vancity Cruiser]

Updating my will to include a provision that if i die on a cruise ship I want my body dumped overboard, not hauled back. My family and friends can honor my memory, not my dead body.

[CruiseGus]

5 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I will take sides. I blame the family; they acknowledge they were giving the option of disembarking at San Juan with the body to go to a morgue. They chose to stay on the cruise for 6 more days, knowing that anything could happen. 

I have to agree with you on this subject.

[smokeybandit]

The suit claims RC told the lady that the morgue in San Juan could confiscate the body or something like that.

[GatorCruiser]

Supposedly they were an advanced age elderly couple cruising alone and the family was worried the wife wouldn’t be able to navigate getting off at Sam Juan so she chose to stay aboard. 

[FloatyBoaty]

I am trying not to judge because we obviously do not have all of the facts, just the heart wrenching story the news/lawyers are putting forth - BUT - I personally can't even imagine staying on the cruise with my dead husband in any sort of cooler upstairs. I just can't imagine. And - I would hope that one of my children or siblings would pop on the next flight to San Juan to help me deal with the loss of my husband and the transport of his body back to our home. Yes, last minutes flights are very expensive and we don't know what all was considered/discussed. I am just saying, if it were me, I could not imagine staying on the ship or not having someone there to support me. My father passed very recently and 1- there was just so much to do at his death, and 2- my mom needed us all there/available for her for help and support.

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, FloatyBoaty said:

My father passed very recently and 1- there was just so much to do at his death, and 2- my mom needed us all there/available for her for help and support.

Same thing happened to me in January. That last minute cross country flight was brutal. But it had to be done and I'm glad I did it.