According to a new lawsuit, a passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise last year allegedly consumed 33 drinks before his untimely death. The incident involved 35-year-old Michael Virgil, who passed away following a dramatic episode captured on video on the Navigator of the Seas.

During the incident, Virgil was recorded behaving erratically, including banging on a door and removing his clothes. Another traveler claimed that Virgil issued a death threat amidst his outburst.

Virgil’s family initially alleged that his death occurred after ship personnel administered a sedative. Now, a recently filed lawsuit in Florida’s Southern District by his relatives has brought to light that his death has been classified as a homicide.

At the time, Virgil’s family claimed that he died after cruise ship staff injected him with a sedative. 

Now, a bombshell lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida on Friday by his grieving relatives has revealed that his death was ruled a homicide. 

He was also allegedly served 33 alcoholic beverages by the ship’s bars on the day of his death. 

The wrongful death filing, reviewed by the Daily Mail, reiterates the family’s original claim that Virgil was administered a sedative, adding that crew members also pepper-sprayed him. 

‘Michael’s family has suffered unimaginable heartache and torment caused by Royal Caribbean, a mega cruise line that prioritizes profit over passenger safety,’ the family’s attorney, Kevin Haynes, said in a statement. 

Michael Virgil, 35, died shortly after he was caught on camera amid a meltdown on board the Navigator of the Seas last year

He continued: ‘It is very clear that Royal Caribbean is completely negligent in the hiring, training and supervision of its vast fleet of maritime employees.

‘What was supposed to be a beautiful family vacation came to an unimaginably tragic end due to the reprehensible way the situation – that should have never occurred – was handled.’

According to the lawsuit, Virgil was vacationing with his fiancée, Connie Aguilar, and their seven-year-old son. 

Trouble allegedly arose after they learned that their room was not ready when they boarded the ship. 

Staffers directed the family to a bar area while they waited for their cabin for the four-day trip to Ensenada, Mexico, to be ready, the filing states. 

In the meantime, the couple’s son, who has autism, grew impatient and went with Aguilar to check on the room’s status – leaving Virgil behind at the bar. 

The family’s lawyer has claimed that within just hours of the cruise ship leaving the Los Angeles port, Virgil was served the excessive amount of alcohol. 

‘At all relevant times hereto, Royal Caribbean had the right to refuse the continued service of alcohol to any patron visibly intoxicated,’ the lawsuit reads.

The ship had been traveling to Ensenada, Mexico, from Los Angeles, when Virgil began lashing out

Despite this, Royal Caribbean failed to intervene in order to ‘protect’ Virgil’s life, as per the document. 

In his intoxicated state, Virgil allegedly went on to look for his family’s room. He allegedly became agitated and aggressive when he could not locate it. 

At this point, security personnel and other staffers approached him in an attempt to calm him down.

But as the situation escalated, crew members tackled Virgil to the ground and ‘stood on [him] with their full body weight,’ causing him to stop moving, the filing reads. 

This alleged use of force made it hard for him to breathe. 

The lawsuit alleges that it was the ship’s captain who requested that Virgil be injected with a sedative called Haloperidol. They also used ‘multiple cans’ of pepper spray on him. 

As a result of the circumstances described above, Virgil suffered from a cardiopulmonary arrest, which ultimately caused his death. 

‘What was supposed to be a beautiful family vacation came to an unimaginably tragic end due to the reprehensible way the situation – that should have never occurred – was handled,’ Haynes wrote in a statement. 

Virgil died on board Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas last year

‘We are seeing an incredibly alarming number of serious injuries and fatalities on cruise ships of late,’ he went on.

‘Our goal is to force systemic change in the way this industry operates to ensure that no person or family experiences tragedy like this again.’ 

Virgil’s family is seeking damages for loss of support and inheritance, funeral and medical expenses, and mental pain and suffering caused by his death. 

Daily Mail has reached out to Royal Caribbean for comment on the lawsuit.  

This is a breaking news story.