Cruise Illness Claims Made After Outbreak on Mediterranean Cruise
02/03/2010
Leading travel law firm Irwin Mitchell has called for an investigation after 70 guests on board the Island Escape cruise ship approached them to make a cruise illness compensation claim.
Solicitors from the firm are calling for a thorough investigation and review into hygiene standards after passengers, who travelled on the ship since January 2010, reported illnesses including diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, stomach cramps, weight loss and lethargy. Further cases of Norovirus were later confirmed, with two additional passengers referred to hospital.
“We had complaints about the Island Escape cruise liner in 2008 and there were reports of illness in 2009 so to see large numbers of people coming to us again this year is very disturbing,” said Mark Watts from the holiday claims team at Irwin Mitchell.
“Over the years we have represented hundreds of cruise ship passengers who have fallen ill during cruises in different parts of the world, and most of them could have avoided suffering illness if adequate steps to prevent the spread of illness had been taken by the cruise lines they were travelling with.
“Strict safety and hygiene procedures must be followed on board all cruise ships including quarantining those with illness symptoms, increasing cleaning and disinfection measures on board, warning all passengers to take special care with hygiene and a range of other measures to reduce the risk of infection.”
Passengers aboard the Island Escape have also complained about the extremely poor quality of the ship which has been referred to as “very shabby and grubby”.
Watts added: “We urge all cruise line and tour operators to ensure that all relevant steps are taken to prevent further illness among passengers on their ships.”
Case Study
Miss Jill Nettleship, 47, and Mr Robert Fox, 48, from Sheffield were struck down with severe gastric illness when travelling with Mr Fox’s elderly parents on board the Island Escape.
They were both seen by the ship’s onboard doctor before being hospitalised in Tenerife for three days. They have contacted their doctor since arriving back in UK and continue to suffer from symptoms. Their stay in hospital meant that Mr Fox’s parents were forced to continue their holiday alone.
Miss Nettleship said: “Due to their age, Robert’s parents lack confidence in going on holiday alone, and they had even considered giving up going on holiday. Robert and I thought we would all go together so that we could take care of them. However, our trip turned into a nightmare when we had to leave the ship and were put in hospital for three days. Robert’s mum and dad ended up having to travel home by themselves, and they were in tears about this. It was so distressing for them.
“When you go on a cruise, you expect to good standards of health and hygiene, and you assume that the holiday will be a once in a lifetime experience. It certainly wasn’t the holiday we were expecting.”
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