Gastroenteritis outbreak among hundreds of luxury cruise passengers

Passengers who were hit by a vomiting bug that ‘ruined’ their eight-day cruise to Norway are taking legal action against Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

The luxury voyage to the Norwegian Fjords had to be cut short after the stomach virus – believed to be norovirus – left hundreds of guests suffering from symptoms of a gastroenteritis-type illness on board the Balmoral.

Martin D’Arcy, one of the passengers who has contacted lawyers, claims he was confined to his cabin with diarrhoea, stomach cramps and fever.

Mr D’Arcy, from Dorset, said he continues to suffer as a result of the illness.

The 66-year-old retired sales service engineer said: ‘The illness just completely ruined our holiday – I was hoping to see so many sights but my illness meant that I had to cancel excursions and I spent half of the trip quarantined in my cabin.

‘This has affected more than just our holiday, as I am still struggling with illness symptoms now which are preventing me from getting on with my day-to-day life.

‘I am extremely frustrated by what I have been through and feel that I deserve answers as to why what was supposed to be a relaxing cruise, was completely turned upside down by illness.’

Retired engineer John Trownson, 86, described the experience as ‘dreadful’ and estimated ‘more than 300 people’ fell ill.

Systematically sanitised

The outbreak on the ship – which was carrying 1,163 passengers, all paying between £799 and £1,649 per person – was so bad that it returned to its home port a day early to be ‘systematically sanitised’ ahead of its next trip, a 13-night cruise from the Portuguese island of Madeira. 

Irwin Mitchell claims it has been contacted by multiple passengers, including Mr D'Arcy, who went on the cruise, which began on May 3 in Southampton.

A Fred Olsen Cruise Lines spokeswoman claimed Mr D’Arcy reported his symptoms to staff 11 hours after they surfaced, ‘during which time it was likely that he was able to spread the illness to others’.

The spokeswoman added: ‘Fred Olsen Cruise Lines stresses to all guests the importance of making staff aware of any illness as a matter of urgency, in order to enable the most effective containment measures on board.

‘Sadly, Mr D’Arcy did not do so and we were therefore not aware that he had become ill until much later.’

Highly contagious norovirus 

Nathan Philpot, Fred Olsen Cruise Lines’ sales and marketing director, told MailOnline Travel: ‘We are sorry that Mr D’Arcy’s cruise was impacted by what appears to be norovirus.

‘Investigations into the outbreak are ongoing, but it appears that – almost certainly – the illness was spread by one guest, as the single source, whilst waiting at the Southampton Cruise Terminal.

‘Norovirus is highly contagious, more so than the common cold, and could easily have been passed on at this time, meaning that more than one person may have boarded the ship with the illness; they were, most probably, unaware that they had picked up norovirus.

'Fred Olsen Cruise Lines issues pre-screening health questionnaires at the time of boarding, which need to be signed by all guests to confirm that they are not suffering from any illness, and no guest declared any symptoms at this time.'

Investigation into the symptoms

Irwin Mitchell said it has launched an investigation into the source of the passengers’ symptoms.

Amandeep Dhillon, a partner at Irwin Mitchell, said: ‘We are very concerned by these reports and have already been contacted for help by passengers affected by the reported illness problems on board the Balmoral cruise ship.

‘Whilst it is welcome that steps have been taken to deep clean the ship ahead of its next voyage, all of those on board the vessel during this outbreak will be keen to understand how the illness problems developed.

‘Anyone heading on a cruise expects a relaxing break, yet we see time and time again how illness on such vessels cannot only affect people’s holidays but also go on to leave them with long lasting health issues.

‘After being contacted by those affected, we have now commenced our own investigations in an effort to help the passengers obtain the answers they are searching for.’

Refund covering one day's cost

Mr Philpot said Fred Olsen Cruise Lines is ‘pretty certain’ the illness was brought onto the ship as the first case was reported within hours of the ship’s departure from Southampton, and it takes 12 to 48 hours for norovirus symptoms to appear.

He added: ‘Otherwise symptoms would have become evident later, as they did on day two and three of the cruise – which is further evidence that it was brought onto the ship on embarkation day and passed onto other guests.

‘Additionally, we know that the ship had no cases of norovirus on its previous cruise, from Egypt to Southampton.’

Passengers have been offered a refund covering one day's cost and a voucher for up to 50 per cent off a future voyage. 

Additional out-of-pocket expenses would be dealt with ‘on a case-by-case basis’, a spokesperson said previously. 

Passengers Rus and Marina Donaldson, both 55, previously said they would never go on a cruise with any company again after falling ill on board the Balmoral.

Mr Donaldson added: ‘We wouldn't risk the possibility of repeating this experience. Even if they paid us we wouldn't go on it.'

Fred Olsen has declined to reveal the number of passengers afflicted by the bug, saying ‘a number of the guests on board’ were affected. 

Read more here.

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