Cruise passengers struck down by bug
A luxury cruise ship returned to Sydney today with 140 of its passengers complaining they were struck down by a stomach virus.
P&O, which operates the Pacific Sky cruise liner, said the passengers themselves could be to blame for the outbreak of norovirus, which is spread through food and water and through close contact with infected people.
The symptoms of the virus are diarrhoea, stomach pain and vomiting for 24 to 48 hours.
“Some passengers, when they’re on holiday, are not as vigilant as we would like in terms of personal hygiene,” P&O Cruises spokesman Gavin Smith said.
The company said it would consider refunds or credits for future cruises on a case-by-case basis following the outbreak on the 11-day Pacific cruise.
It was not immediately clear how many passengers were on board the ship during the outbreak or if the cruise was cut short. According to P&O’s Web site, the Pacific Sky can carry 1,550 passengers.
The company could not be reached today for further comment.
Passenger Kevin O’Brien told Australia’s Seven Network television that some passengers were quarantined in their cabins and complained they had not been fed.
“A lot of them weren’t happy at all with the way in which they were treated,” he said. “They felt isolated, neglected and treated basically like lepers.”
A team of cleaners supervised by health officials scrubbed down the ship before it set off on a new cruise.
