Nearly 500 holidaymakers were offered refunds yesterday after a cruise to the Norwegian fjords was cancelled because of an outbreak of winter vomiting disease on board the ship they were due to sail on.
The MV Van Gogh was due to leave on a seven-day trip to Norway on Sunday night, but travellers were turned away at the dock after an outbreak of norovirus, which causes diarrhoea and projectile vomiting. A spokesman for Travelscope Holidays said the bug was probably brought on board by a passenger on the previous trip.
Two elderly passengers were removed from the ship on stretchers and taken to Colchester hospital when it docked in Harwich, Essex, on Sunday. Both people, who were in their 80s, have since been discharged. The illness struck down 70 passengers and 15 of the crew on the ship's previous voyage, also a Norwegian cruise.
The MV Van Gogh was held in port because so many of the crew were ill that they would have been unable to cope with an emergency, the coastguard agency said.
The ship is now undergoing a "deep-clean" disinfection, while the crew are being monitored for signs of relapse. Norovirus spreads rapidly in confined spaces such as cruise ships, schools, or hospitals. It is transmitted through physical contact, by eating contaminated food or water, or touching a contaminated surface.
A coastguard spokesman said: "This virus is quite easily passed on. It remains on the upholstery, so the ship needs to be cleaned from top to bottom. Cruising people are not normally in the first flush of health and perhaps it affects them more than others."
Cruising holidays are becoming increasingly popular, with passenger numbers in Britain expected to reach 1.25 million this year. But outbreaks of illness could blight the industry's boom. Similar viral outbreaks affected the P&O ship Oriana in January and the Aurora in 2003.
Travelscope is offering refunds to holidaymakers who paid between £400 and £1,400 for a seven-day trip to Norway. The company is still considering what compensation to offer. Passengers on the previous cruise will not be compensated. Travelscope spokesman Tim Knight said: "We would not normally offer compensation for people who fall sick."
The virus was discovered on the second day of the ship's previous journey.
In a statement, Travelscope said: "Approximately 70 passengers on a cruise to the Norwegian Fjords on board the MV Van Gogh were affected by a gastrointestinal virus. At the time, there were 750 passengers and crew on board.
"All those who were affected were treated on board, although two passengers were taken to hospital on the ship's return to the UK. We are very sorry that the holidays of some passengers were affected by this virus, the exact nature of which is being investigated."
The 15,420-tonne MV Van Gogh, which was built in 1975, had an extensive refit in 1999. It has 250 cabins, a fitness centre with a sauna and a seawater swimming pool. It is owned by the Netherlands-based Club Cruise, and was due to visit Bergen, Flam, Gudvangen and Rosendal in Norway.
The ship is expected to resume its programme with its next scheduled departure, a 10-night cruise to Norway and the Shetlands which departs on June 3.
