Due to Norovirus outbreak, Sea Princess will be returning to Southampton a day early, thus missing Lisbon port of call. The previous cruise had been affected and despite significant efforts by the crew, the problem wasn't irradicated, so the Captain made the decision to cut the cruise short last night.
She will be cleansed out and will hopefully be allowed to sail on Saturday as planned. However, now that she has cut her current cruise short, the port and health authorities will have been informed and like in the case of Van Gogh last weekend, whether or not she sails on Saturday remains unclear at this point.
Princess should contact anyone sailing on Saturday if there is a change of plans, it will be short notice. Hopefully the ship can be sorted out by then and the cruise on Saturday will be unaffected
Two hundred passengers aboard a luxury cruise ship have been struck down with a vomiting virus, forcing their £1,000 seven-day cruise to end a day early.
The Sea Princess will return to Southampton on Friday and miss out the intended destination of Lisbon, to allow extra time to disinfect the ship.
A 30% refund has been offered to the 2,258 passengers and Princess Cruises says only 15 people are still sick.
One passenger aboard told the BBC News website people were "up in arms".
Mr P Wilson said: "The reaction is that passengers are up in arms at the offer and that Princess are totally responsible for the sanitation of the ship."
He said the virus struck within 24 hours of setting sail.
The boat departed from Southampton on Saturday for a seven-night cruise to Guernsey, France, Portugal and Spain.
A spokeswoman for Princess Cruises said the virus was suspected to be the Norovirus, which is a highly contagious stomach illness.
She said symptoms typically last between 24 and 48 hours, and passengers were being asked to stay in their rooms for that period.
Extra medical staff were joining the ship on Wednesday.
"Room service is provided to the affected passengers and every effort is made to make them as comfortable as possible," she said.
As well as the 30% offer, she said all passengers can get a £150 discount on future voyages.
On arriving in their cabins, passengers were provided with a precautionary health notice advising of widespread "Norovirus activity", which Princess says is standard procedure due to the prevalence of the illness.
One BBC News website reader, who has parents and grandparents on board, said passengers were unhappy at being charged for drinks and for laundry.
But Princess Cruises said water was provided free of charge, and the cleaning of bed linen was also part of the service.
At the weekend, 500 passengers had their cruise on board the Van Gogh liner cancelled after more than 100 on a previous cruise fell ill with a stomach virus.
And in 2003, 600 passengers and crew on board P&O's Aurora contracted the same Novovirus.
I know this might sound bad but in a way, I hope the next sailing is pulled, in the same way that the Van Gogh cruise this week was, as to me, the only way this sort of problem can be eradicated is by having no-one on board, the ship cleaned/disinfected from stem to stern and having the crew all given health checks.
Granted, people are going to be annoyed and disappointed by the cancellation of their cruise, but given the choice, I would prefer not to sail if it meant being put at risk, no matter how slight, of picking up this infection.
Seeing as Van Gogh was impounded for the same thing just this last weekend at Harwich, there is a real chance that Sea Princess will be too. And, tbh, I am not so sure that its such a bad thing really.
Its going to be down to money...the cruises cancelled would be refunded plus compensation for flights etc...then again there will be partial refunds with compensation for a messed up cruise if it does go ahead.
However, the money side of things pales into insignificance if the authorities slaps a ban on the ship going anywhere, which could happen if the ship is judged unfit to sail.
I couldn't help but notice a comment, "the ship is responsible for the cleaning of it" something lilke that anyway. My thoughts are, the cleaning only goes so far. It is up to the people to be responsible for themselves, ie: excellent hand washing ALL THE TIME AND EVERYWHERE, staying away from others (in your cabin) if you are ill, not getting on when you are already ill, etc.
I am a nurse around many sick people with ills a lot worse than the virus, and I never get anything. Just common sense and good technique.
Don't put all the blame on the ships!!!!
A luxury cruise ship has returned to port a day early after 200 passengers were struck down with a vomiting virus.
The Sea Princess docked in Southampton, missing out the intended destination of Lisbon, to allow extra time to disinfect the ship.
A 30% refund has been offered to the 2,258 passengers on the seven-day trip, and Princess Cruises said fewer than eight people were still sick.
But passengers leaving the ship have reacted angrily to the offer.
Suzanne Wilson, 44, from Radstock, near Bath, who was on board with her husband Philip and two children, told the BBC: "It was very, very unpleasant.
"We were kept in our cabins, we couldn't go ashore, we couldn't go out on the ship. I'm just very, very angry.
"They [Princess Cruises] hold full responsibility for what's happened.
"We want a full refund because with children as well, to see them in the state they were in was so upsetting, I just wouldn't want to go through that again."
Mr Wilson, 50, said: "It was a holiday from hell. That's not even describing it. It was worse than that."
One passenger aboard told the BBC News website it had ruined her holiday.
Wendy, 58, from the Midlands, said she had spent five years trying to convince her mother to come on a cruise.
But her two parents, who are in their 80s, had been very sick for two days.
"Most people on board are fed up and it's put an end to the holiday, although things are carrying on," she said.
The boat departed from Southampton for a seven-night cruise to Guernsey, France, Portugal and Spain.
The virus is suspected to be the Norovirus, which is a common cause of stomach bugs and lasts 48 hours.
Peter Shanks, of Princess Cruises, said the virus was not a usual occurrence on a ship, claiming it must have come from the shore.
He said an extra 24 hours had been added to the turnaround time of the ship, to ensure it would be "beautifully clean" and healthy for its next outing.
Earlier, the company admitted there had been a smaller outbreak on the last two days of the boat's previous cruise but it does not believe the two outbreaks are linked.
Passengers were informed of the first outbreak when they got to their cabins on Saturday, when a precautionary health notice through their door advised of widespread "Norovirus activity".
But Wendy was outraged that passengers were not told before boarding, and given the chance to change plans.
"We just don't think Princess Cruises dealt us a fair hand.
"They are decontaminating cabins now but they should have done this before we got on when the ship was empty."
As well as the 30% refund, passengers have been offered a £150 discount on future voyages.
Another passenger, Mr P Wilson, told the BBC News website: "Passengers are up in arms at the offer. Princess are totally responsible for the sanitation of the ship."
At the weekend, 500 passengers had their cruise on board the Van Gogh liner cancelled after more than 100 on a previous cruise fell ill with a stomach virus.
And in 2003, 600 passengers and crew on board P&O's Aurora contracted the same Norovirus.
WHAT IS THE NOVOVIRUS?
It is the most common cause of stomach bugs
Affects 600,000-1m people in the UK each year
It is very easily transmitted by human contact, eating contaminated food or touching contaminated surfaces
Nausea is followed by vomiting and diarrhoea
Outbreaks common in semi-closed environments
Source: Health Protection Agency
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