The grieving family of a cruise passenger who fell overboard is suing Royal Caribbean for allegedly serving the mother too much alcohol.
Dulcie White, 66, died after falling in front of her daughter during a five-day Taylor Swift-themed cruise in the Bahamas and her body has not yet been found.
Her loved ones are now fighting for justice after claiming Ms White’s death was due to staff negligence.
In a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida on October 28, Ms. White’s family says the crew aboard the Allure of the Seas should have limited her alcohol consumption.
They claim that he was served “at least seven alcoholic beverages continuously over a period of approximately six hours and eight minutes.”
The lawsuit alleges: “He was staggering, stuttered, slurred speech, had alcohol on his breath, could not maintain composure, had glassy eyes, while in view of crew members.
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“Each of these crew members was negligent in continuing to serve him alcoholic beverages in his intoxicated state.”
According to the lawsuit, it was a concerned fellow passenger on board who ended up stopping Ms. White from continuing to drink.
They took the mother back to her cabin around 7:30 p.m.
Shortly thereafter, Mrs. White fell overboard in direct view of her daughter Megan Klewin.
Megan remembers seeing her mother go out onto the balcony and start climbing over the railing before falling into the water.
He family is suing for one count of excessive serving of alcohol, one count of negligent search and rescue operation and one count of negligent infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit says Ms. White had purchased a “CHEERS!” with everything included. alcohol packet.
Costing $69.95 per day, the deal allows guests to consume 15 alcoholic drinks every 24 hours, according to Royal Caribbean’s website.
megan said CBSMiami that his mother was probably trying to get his money’s worth by trying to get as many drinks as possible.
“She was completely drunk in a way I had never seen before. It saddens me that this is the last memory I have of her,” he added.
The lawsuit goes on to accuse the cruise company of inadequate rescue protocols.
It claims that the Allure of the Seas never performed a Williamson or Anderson turn, a common maneuver used in man overboard situations.
The lawsuit also alleges that the crew never gave the order to launch a rescue boat to search for Ms. White.
Real Caribbean They say they immediately alerted authorities according to procedure.
Within 24 hours of Ms White being first reported missing, the Royal Bahamas Defense Force suspended the search.
There is no trace of any corpse.
Megan said: “It will haunt us for the rest of our lives.
“I feel like excessive alcohol consumption and excessive serving of alcohol was the cause of this.
“These crew members are incentivized to continue serving you because that’s how they earn their tips.”
Attorney Spencer Aronfeld said PEOPLE They believe Royal Caribbean is “putting profits before passenger safety with these all-you-can-drink packages.”
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Aronfeld continued: “We look forward to celebrating [Royal Caribbean] “fully responsible for Dulcie’s death and creating and inspiring industry change to discontinue these all-you-can-drink packets.”
A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean announced that they will not comment further on the lawsuit.
