Royal Caribbean pays up big after staff allegedly serves man more than 30 drinks. So he was stomped and killed by security for acting ‘belligerent’

Royal Caribbean has reached a settlement with the family of Michael Virgil, a 35-year-old man from Moreno Valley, California, who died aboard the Navigator of the Seas on Dec. 13, 2024. Court records in Florida show an undisclosed sum is to be paid to his son, Michael Virgil Jr. The lawsuit alleged the cruise line was negligent after staff continued serving him alcohol.

Virgil boarded around 11 a.m. with his fiancée, Connie Aguilar, and her family for a four-day trip from San Pedro to Ensenada, The Mercury News reported. Their cabin was not ready, and employees directed him toward a bar, according to the civil complaint. He apparently had purchased the ship’s Deluxe Beverage Package, which allows passengers to have unlimited alcoholic drinks, one at a time.

The family alleged crew members “significantly overserved” him 33 alcoholic drinks in a “matter of hours.” The complaint said he “exhibited obvious visual signs of intoxication, while in plain view of the crew members serving him these alcoholic beverages.”

Settlement approved for Virgil’s minor son after Florida lawsuit

Attorney Kevin Haynes filed the case in U.S. District Court in Florida, where Royal Caribbean is headquartered, on behalf of Aguilar and Virgil Jr. The family had sought damages, listed in one court filing as $75,000. Other settlement details were filed under seal on September 1. An order approving the deal stated, “The court finds that the settlement is in the best interest of the minor child.”

The complaint alleged Virgil’s death “was directly caused by his intoxicated state and by Royal Caribbean’s crewmembers’ over-serving alcohol when they knew or should have known that [Virgil] was in an intoxicated state.”

Law&Crime reported that Royal Caribbean did not respond to requests for comment. Royal Caribbean’s troubles go beyond allegations of over-serving alcohol, as one passenger says she was forced off a ship and left on the dock.

The ship reportedly sailed at 4 p.m. Virgil later struggled to find his room and became agitated, Haynes previously said. A coroner’s report obtained by The Press-Enterprise cited an FBI investigator who reported that Virgil was “belligerent” and “making violent threats to staff and guests.”

The investigator said he was banging and kicking doors, removing ceiling panels, and “brandishing them as weapons.” Recent incidents involving Royal Caribbean range from fatal onboard violence to high-alert situations that left a passenger panicked.

Guards arrived about 6:10 p.m., the report said. They reportedly handcuffed his wrists and zip-tied his feet, used pepper spray, and a doctor injected a sedative. The family’s complaint stated: “When [Virgil] became intoxicated and agitated, Royal Caribbean crew members, including but not limited to security personnel, tackled [Virgil] to the ground, stood on [Virgil’s] body with their full body weight, and compressed [Virgil’s] body, causing [Virgil] to stop moving.”

It is alleged that he was held face down while guards remained on top of him for about three minutes. The complaint said the compression and “prolonged prone restraint” impaired his breathing and led to hypoxia, respiratory failure, cardiovascular instability, and cardiopulmonary arrest. He reportedly stopped moving about two minutes after he was restrained and was pronounced dead at 8:32 p.m.

The autopsy listed the manner of death as homicide. The cause was reportedly given as “combined effects of mechanical asphyxia, obesity, cardiomegaly, and ethanol intoxication.” His body mass index was 49.3, per the report, and described as “severely obese.” His heart weighed 560 grams, above a reported normal range of 230 to 383 grams for men. Blood-alcohol concentration measured three days after death was 0.182, more than twice the legal limit for driving.

The coroner’s report said the enlarged heart increased the risk of sudden heart failure during a struggle and that the alcohol level could have made it harder for him to breathe while pinned down. A spokesman for California’s Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said the state does not regulate liquor sales on cruise ships after they set sail from a port.