Robert Jones, 78, died on board and his widow requested his body stored in the ship morgue, according to the lawsuit filed against Celebrity Cruises.
The suit claims the cruise line hid the fact that the morgue wasn’t operable.
The body was stored in the cooler for six days
Jones’ body was found in the cooler badly decomposed by a funeral home worker and sheriff’s deputy when the ship arrived back at Fort Lauderdale.
It was in a bag on the cooler floor, the complaint alleges.
Jones’ widow and family are seeking $1 million in damages.
Jones died of a heart attack on Celebrity Equinox last summer.
“The cooler was not at a temperature which was sufficient nor proper for storing a dead body to prevent decomposition,” the suit said.
Because of decomposition, the Jones family were unable to have an open casket funeral.
The cruise line acted ‘recklessly, willfully, and wantonly, and without care for the Jones family’s loved one’ it said.