Golden Wedding Couple launch Cruise Claim after Dream Celebration Ruined by Illness Outbreak on Cruise Ship
26/05/2010
Illness on Cruise Ship
A couple's Golden wedding celebrations were ruined by gastric illness after the cruise ship where they were celebrating their anniversary was allowed to set sail just hours after returning from a voyage where several passengers had fallen ill on board. They are now demanding answers after they and other passengers fell ill with severe gastric illness on their two week cruise in May.
The couple was forced to spend their big day in their cabin after they were struck down by the illness, which quickly spread on board the cruise liner. They are amongst 26 passengers who are currently pursuing cruise claims against the owners of the luxury cruise ship, the Grand Princess, after their dream holidays were ruined by the outbreak.
The group's cruise claims are currently being investigated by travel law experts from law firm Irwin Mitchell, who have called for an explanation as to why the luxury liner was allowed to sail again just hours after a serious outbreak on the liner during the previous voyage. The travel law experts say that tighter regulations need to be introduced to avoid future illness outbreaks.
The law firm's specialist solicitors also questioned the decision to allow the cruise ship to set sail for a second time, just 11 hours after it returned from the voyage where another outbreak occurred, causing illness amongst hundreds of passengers who had to be confined to their cabins for more than 48 hours.
Passengers returning from the second voyage said that the illness outbreak was so bad during the trip they were given daily updates and that staff even closed down the buffet restaurant in a bid to contain the virus.
Dawn and Ian Kitchen had taken the cruise, on May 8th, as part of their 50th wedding celebrations, and say they were not told of any problems until they reached their cabins which contained a letter explaining that there had been a Norovirus outbreak on board the ship.
Despite assuring passengers that the ship had been deep cleaned, people started falling ill once the voyage had begun.
Ian Kitchen, 69, and his wife, Dawn, had planned a day of celebrations but when Dawn fell ill the couple was forced to spend the day in the cabin.
Mr. Kitchen explained. "This was a one-off, something we'll never be able to do again, and I’m very upset and angry that our Golden Wedding anniversary was ruined like this."
"We had looked forward to this for months and had planned to spend a very special day on board to celebrate 50 years together. It was heart-breaking when we ended up spending it confined to our cabin, with my wife unable to go anywhere or do anything.
"We feel very let down and disgusted by their attitude. Their view was that they didn't care and it was as if it was our fault, but they knew there was a problem before we even left Southampton."
He added: "What should have been a trip of a lifetime was ruined and we’ll never be able to replace that. We want to know why that ship was allowed to sail so quickly after coming back with so many people having fallen ill on it."
Another couple, Douglas and Andrea Baguley, also had their cruise trip ruined after Douglas fell ill on board the liner. The couple, from Maidstone in Kent, said they were 'appalled' by the problems on their dream holiday and they too were confined to their cabins after Mr. Baguley visited the nurse.
Mr. Baguley, 54, said: "This certainly wasn't what we planned when we decided to take this trip. You expect a relaxing two-week holiday, not daily updates on who else has fallen ill and the desperate attempts of the captain and crew to contain it.
"The simple fact is that Princess Cruises let down us and every other passenger on board that ship. We were disgusted when we found out that they’d sailed just hours after the last cruise came back, despite all the problems they'd had on that cruise.
"We should have been warned and given the choice to cancel or switch to another ship. Instead, all we got was a letter in our cabin and a nightmare holiday. We’re appalled at the disregard they appear to have had for our safety."
The Head of Irwin Mitchell’s travel law team, Clive Garner, said that specialist solicitors were now acting on behalf of customers who had been unfortunate to travel on one of the voyages where illness had broken out on board the Grand Princess; returning on May 8th or May 22nd. Passengers suffered from severe gastric illness including diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach cramps, lethargy and weight loss.
Mr. Garner has spoken out about his concerns for hygiene levels on board the cruise ship, which was allowed to set sail once again on a seven day voyage just hours after returning to Southampton.
Mr. Garner said: "The fact that this liner has been allowed to set sail for a second time so quickly is astounding given the reports of such widespread illness on the preceding two cruises."
"Assuming for one moment that the cause of the illnesses was Norovirus, as opposed to Salmonella or other bacterial illness typically caused by poor food hygiene standards, I would have expected a thorough deep cleaning of the whole ship before it was allowed to take on board more passengers. For maximum effect, this would normally have taken at least two days.
"I struggle to see how a fully effective deep clean of such a large ship could be achieved in a few short hours and, if a deep clean is not carried out properly, then it is of limited use in preventing further infections. New passengers joining the ship will be walking into an environment where there is a significant risk of a further outbreak of illness.
"It is too early to determine if this has happened here but the apparent speed of the deep clean of the Grand Princess is remarkable and our clients have a right to know whether more could and should have been done to make the ship safe before it sailed."
He added: "Over the past couple of years, Irwin Mitchell has represented thousands of cruise ship passengers and guests at hotels around the world who have fallen ill. Time after time we find that these outbreaks of illness, many of which leave our clients with long term symptoms, could have been prevented by following basic hygiene procedures.
"We think it’s time that we saw tougher regulations to ensure deep cleaning of ships is undertaken effectively before re-sailing. We also want to see stricter rules to ensure that ships cannot take on board new passengers until there is a high degree of certainty that the ship and its crew are free from infection and that those coming on board will be safe and not exposed to the continuing risk of illness.
"As well as the careful disinfection of all surfaces on board the ship, each member of the crew should be thoroughly screened to ensure they are not at risk of contaminating others. There also needs to be early provision of key factual information to prospective passengers about any recent outbreaks of illness and the risk to them so that they can make an informed decision about whether to go ahead with their planned cruise or not.
"Illness outbreaks need to be managed more effectively and passenger protection must always come before commercial considerations."
He continued: "We are also concerned about whether passengers were given full and frank information about the scale of the previous problems before boarding and the risks they may be taking by joining the present cruise. Passengers have a right to make an informed decision about whether they want to proceed with their holiday arrangements. As well as reducing the risk of illness, it is a Cruise Line's duty to give full and frank disclosure of risks as soon as they are aware of them."
"The ship's owners may think their liner is a palace at sea but what we're hearing from desperately upset people calling us doesn't sound much like a palace to me. It sounds like a serious problem which the crew haven’t been able to deal with and the end result is a large number of seriously ill passengers who feel badly let down.
"We've had numerous calls from passengers on both cruises who are glad to be home but are furious about their illnesses and the fact that their holidays were ruined. We expect to hear from many more, sadly."
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