Posted on 12/08/2025 2:04:00 PM PST by DFG
The death of a Royal Caribbean passenger has been ruled a homicide after crew members allegedly served him nearly three-dozen drinks at the ship’s bar before he died, according to a new lawsuit.
Michael Virgil, 35, was served 33 drinks at one of the ship’s bars on the day he died in custody in December 2024, according to a wrongful death lawsuit recently filed by his fiancé and obtained by TMZ.
Virgil was detained during a drunken rage, in which he allegedly attacked and threatened to kill crew members and passengers.
But he died within hours after being restrained and taken into custody by cruise ship security, according to the lawsuit — with Virgil’s family initially alleging they injected him with a sedative which killed him.
-- snip --
It was during that time he was allegedly served the booze — and he broke into a rage when he left the bar extremely inebriated and couldn’t find his room.
Footage from the cruise caught Virgil attempting to batter down a door after he’d allegedly attacked crew members and threatened to kill passengers.
When he was eventually detained, his fiancé alleged “the excessive force and fatal actions taken by crew members including security and medical personnel” who “administered an injection of a sedative medication, Haloperidol, and used multiple cans of pepper spray” led to his death, according to the lawsuit.
Virgil died of “significant hypoxia and impaired ventilation, respiratory failure, cardiovascular instability and ultimately cardiopulmonary arrest, leading to his death which has been ruled a homicide,” the lawsuit read.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Depends on the pour. One ounce measured shots come 32 to the quart. But these guys are likely using liters anyway. With mixers, neat or on the rocks make a difference too.
Even the unlimited drink package has a limit on RCL.
Virgil died of “significant hypoxia and impaired ventilation, respiratory failure, cardiovascular instability and ultimately cardiopulmonary arrest, leading to his death which has been ruled a homicide,” the lawsuit read.
I call B.S. Germans don't tell jokes.
Am I reading that right? I’m seeing both a wife and fiancée in this story??????
Well, that could explain why he had so much to drink. 😳
Hunter Biden was going to take a cruise but he canceled when he found out it wasn’t an all you can snort package...
Sounds like they should have just used the ship's tranquilizer gun
From something someone posted on my blog a few years back.
Anyway about 12 years ago I was on a Celebrity ship, Solstice I think. Casino closed early because the clientele was older. I'm getting a snack around midnight and there was an announcement "all crew alpha alpha alpha port side. Ship starts a turn at the same time. (Seas were 8-10 feet.)
It took a solid 45 minutes for the ship to make a full circle back. In the meantime, you could see a flashing beacon out there.
And this is crazy: the spotlights were so bright that even from a few miles away there was a red dot. That red dot was actually the reflection from the overboard passenger's bald head.
Alright so we sort of stop a mile away. A skiff (probably 25 ft. long) pops out the side with three guys. It runs to the pink dot. Sits next to it for a minute and starts drifting away. 10-15 minutes later another skiff pops out. It runs out to the pink dot…. And makes its way back.
A buck naked 50-60 year old man is passed out. They put the skiff back in the boat and all the passengers and crew watching disperse.
The next day my team got the full story from the bridge. The guy was there to get married. He got rip roaring drunk and got in a fight. So he strips naked, stands on a rail near the bridge. When someone notices him, he jumps.
The crew deployed a beacon. That is how they knew where to find him. That was the blinking light.
When the first skiff got out there, he refused to get in. A guy reached for him and he punched the crew member breaking his nose.
The second skiff went out with the ship doctor. This is where I thought it sounded odd, but the bridge swore it was true. The ship doctor has a tranquilizer gun at his disposal. They shot the passenger and pulled him into the second skiff.
He got expelled from the ship the next day in Honduras. He was alone. His new wife, and all the family that came for the wedding stayed on the ship.
So who knew that cruise ship doctors carry tranquilizer guns?
That’s what you call being all fupp duck.
Thanks. I normally don’t miss those things, but my response wasn’t really all that important so I rushed it.
As a former editor there’s no excuse, and my grumpy printing press guy would be shaking his head, grumbling something about “carelessness.” ;-)
Andre the Giant could drink a gallon of beer and suffer no ill effects.
I knew the limit was 32 drinks....
Whatever you do, don’t shoot that guy.
It’ll just make him mad.
I don’t know, I worked with a guy that was an alcoholic and he would pound back so many drinks you would think he would pass out, but he never shoed any sign of intoxication. This guy was obviously impaired but still able to function It should be fairly easy to verify how many drinks he was served, unless someone wiped the security tapes and that would be quite damning.
It’s things like this, and all the illnesses, plus being confined to a fancy prison in the middle f the ocean, that makes me never want to set foot on a cruise ship.
Why on earth do people get onboard these things. To prepare for when they go to Hell?
The heat, alcohol annd the rolling sea have an effect on the midbrain and people are known to decompinsate on cruises.
The heat, alcohol annd the rolling sea have an effect on the midbrain and people are known to decompinsate on cruises.
Who would serve anyone 33 drinks when he would appear obviously intoxicated? The cruise line is in deep trouble on this one.
Maybe the bartender thought it would be OK since Mr. Virgil wasn’t going to be driving.
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