Dulcie White family file wrongful death lawsuit blaming Royal Caribbean for continuing to serve the mom alcohol before she fell overboard.
Maybe a mother should have just said no more thanks….? A family is suing Royal Caribbean after their mother plunged to her death after falling overboard while on an ‘all you can drink’ cruise on one of the company’s Taylor Swift-themed cruises.
Dulcie White, 66, of New York fell overboard on October 22, 2024, never to be seen again.
Are cruise beverage packages causing passengers to end up dead?
White’s body remains lost at sea after she fell from the deck of the Allure of the Seas.
Megan Klewin, White’s daughter, who had traveled with her mother, told CBS News that her mom had purchased an unlimited alcoholic beverages package on the Allure of the Seas cruise ship, with tickets for the Taylor Swift event starting at $1,573. An additional drinks package can cost $80-90 extra per day.
The pair were on a four-day cruise that was dedicated to the pop star and run by Marvelous Mouse Travels, a travel agency that planned the voyage following Swift’s visit to Miami, Florida for her Eras Tour, according to Royal Caribbean Blog.
According to the wrongful death lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Miami-Dade County, White’s family claim crew members plied White with drinks during her stay on the cruise ship.
The suit alleges the mother being served ‘seven alcoholic beverages continually within a span of approximately six hours and eight minutes.’ It also claims that the grandmother of four was visibly intoxicated and was still given drinks despite having slurred speech and difficulty standing up.
Was mom just trying to get her moneys worth?
According to Klewin, that was the only time she had ever seen her mother so intoxicated.
Klewin says that the ‘overconsumption’ and the ‘over service of alcohol’ were the cause of her mother’s death.
Added Klewin, ‘she did overdo it. Just trying maybe to get her money’s worth…’
Klewin told CBS News that she thought her mother was ‘going to check her suitcase,’ shortly before the mother falling into the waves 17 miles off the coast of the Bahamaian capital of Nassau.
‘I wasn’t looking and the next chance that I did look up, I saw her back,’ Klewin told the outlet. ‘She was seated on the edge of the balcony like she had climbed up.
‘She was seated and then fell over before I could get to her.’
The suit further alleges the boat never stopping or deploying rescue services to search for White. According to TMZ the U.S. Coast Guard and the Royal Bahamas Defense Force deployed rescue boats in a desperate bid to find the missing 66-year-old.
Personal responsibility versus cruise liners preying on passengers
Royal Caribbean, along with many other cruise lines, offer drink packages to passengers that allows them to practically drink all they want during their vacations.
But, according to Spencer Aronfeld, the attorney representing Klewin, instead of selling a drink package, Royal Caribbean ‘sold danger.’
‘Royal Caribbean didn’t just sell drinks—it sold danger,’ Aronfeld stated.
Klewin’s attorney said that he hopes that the case will radically change how cruise lines offer alcohol packages.
‘I think a victory in this case would be if Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines, Carnival, Celebrity, Norwegian, decide to discontinue these all-you-can-drink (alcohol) drink packages,’ Aronfeld said. He added that the High Seas Act limits the prospect of large monetary winnings at court.
‘This isn’t an accident; it’s an industry pattern. We’re putting the cruise lines on notice: the days of profiting from over-service while passengers die at sea are over.’
