More than 250 passengers ‘vomiting from bug’ after norovirus outbreak on cruise

Hundreds of holidaymakers have been hit by a ‘vomiting bug’ on a P&O cruise ship.

Passengers and crew have allegedly been hit by norovirus on the cruise liners’ Ventura ship for weeks.

Currently, more than 150 guests are isolated on board the latest cruise that left the UK on May 11, a source has alleged.

They told Metro.co.uk there have been 250 suspected cases of the vomiting bug in the last four days, with guests allegedly ‘throwing up in public spaces’ around the ship.

The 14-day voyage from Southampton around the Canary Islands has turned into a nightmare as ‘more and more people get sick,’ they claimed.

P&O Cruises said it implemented its ‘approved and enhanced’ sanitisation protocols after reports of ‘guests with gastrointestinal symptoms.’

‘Some guests have left the ship to fly home’ the eyewitness alleged.

A source told Metro: ‘The ship has been in level 3 lockdown for the last month and it is only getting worse.

‘There are currently over 150 guests isolated on board and 250 cases in the last four days.

‘Guests are throwing up in public spaces, and some have had to leave the ship to fly home.

‘It is a terrible situation but management has said they need to keep making money so they’re willing to put guests’ health at risk to sell cruises.

‘This is a serious outbreak. We don’t know where it came from, it has been on board for a month maybe 5-6 weeks now and each cruise we think it has gone but more and more people get sick.’

‘This is the most we have had sick this time and the company has asked people to leave the ship for the day and given them £15 each to leave to clean the ship.’

The situation on the ship with capacity for 3,192 passengers was described as ‘terrible’ and ‘serious outbreak.’

The bug has allegedly plagued Ventura for more than a month, with staff thinking it was gone after each cruise before the bug returned to wreak more havoc among guests and some crew.

Guests allegedly face a five-hour wait to call the ship’s medical centre because of ‘so many cases.’

Passengers were allegedly handed £15 each to leave the ship while it was cleaned.

But the latest outbreak was the ‘most we have had sick this time,’ the source said.

They claimed that passengers have not received compensation.

A spokesperson for P&O Cruises said in a statement that all guests were provided ‘with an advisory notice with precautionary health measures for on board and on shore, as is standard procedure across our fleet’ at the start of the journey.

They said: ‘Following reports of guests with gastrointestinal symptoms P&O Cruises has swiftly implemented our approved and enhanced sanitisation protocols to uphold the welfare of everyone onboard.

‘Alongside the above a further sanitisation is also taking place today in Tenerife. Ensuring the health and wellbeing of all guests and crew is our absolute priority.’

A two-week cruise on Ventura around the Canaries starts from around £1,129.

When the ship was launched, it was one of the largest cruise ships on the British market, with 1,550 cabins.

Southampton City Council was contacted for a comment.

Are you on board Ventura? Please contact noora.mykkanen@metro.co.uk to share your experience.

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