P&O UKs bad luck has held this week with a second ship struck down with the norovirus. Last week Oriana was dubbed the ‘plague ship’ after around 300 guests were laid up with the gastric bug during an 11-night Baltic cruise. Angry guests spoke to the media following the outbreak,...
P&O UKs bad luck has held this week with a
second ship struck down with the norovirus.
Last week Oriana was dubbed the ‘plague
ship’ after around 300 guests were laid up with
the gastric bug during an 11-night Baltic cruise.
Angry guests spoke to the media following the
outbreak, complaining of wait times and the shut
down of certain eateries and public areas, and
the sick being confined to their rooms.
Guests were also angered to learn that the
illness had also broken out on the voyage
which proceeded their own.
P&O Cruises managing director, Carol
Marlow defended the company however,
saying “The number of people affected was at
an unprecedented level but we did not put
profits before health”.
“There were a small number of people on
the previous cruise that had norovirus but we
thoroughly cleaned the ship at the end of that
trip,” she said.
“We believe somebody unwittingly brought
the virus onto the ship at the start of the latest
cruise.
“The virus has an incubation period of 15 to
24 hours but the first case was reported on
board just four to six hours after leaving port.
“That means they could not have caught it
on board,” she added.
Compensation for the cruise, according to
Marlow, would be considered on a ‘case by
case’ basis.
Meanwhile after weathering that storm, the
company has this week been hit with another
bout of the sickness, this time on Azura, with
ten pax reporting gastro symptoms whilst on
an 11-night Iberia cruise.
