170 passengers hit with vomiting bug on cruise ship

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Around 170 people on a luxury cruise ship holiday have been hit with the norovirus vomiting bug.

The Boudicca was carrying 828 passengers and 348 crew members when it docked at Greenock, on the Firth of Clyde, after a 13-day trip around the Canary Islands.

One passenger told the Mirror: "We started calling the ship HMS Holby City.

"There were two nurses wandering around visiting people. Half of the facilities were shut down and we were told not to swap quiz sheets to stop it spreading.

"We were offered £150 off our next cruise but we don't know anyone who accepted."

A spokesman from Fred Olsen, the company that owns the Boudicca, said the bug was caused by a viral infection, and told the Daily Mail: "During this cruise, the highest number of guests needing to be kept in isolation at any one time was 35, out of a total number of people on board of 1,176, comprising 828 guests and 348 crew.

'The total number of cases reported during the 13-night cruise was 170.

'Boudicca returned to Greenock yesterday, and departed on a 21-night 'Adriatic with Croatia' cruise D1210 last night.

'She departed at 6pm, instead of the original scheduled time of 4.30pm, in order for a complete and intensive fumigation process to take place, details and timings of which were notified to all guests prior to the cruise's departure. The cleaning procedure went ahead, and also included the Cruise Terminal."

The spokesman went on to add that guest and crew health and safety is a "priority at all times" for Fred Olsen Cruise Lines and complies fully with the "strict requirements and inspections of their Flag State and relevant authorities".

The Boudicca was hit with three sickness outbreaks in as many weeks back in 2010, and was forced to cut short a trip to the Mediterranean and return to port in Liverpool.

In January of this year, another Canary island cruise was struck by a vomiting bug and 37 people were kept in isolation to be treated before docking back in London.

And, even more shockingly, last year a ship docked in America carrying two dead passengers after a cruise to Bermuda.


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