Cunard's Queen Mary 2 is in the news with reports that over 150 passengers have been stricken with norovirus as the cruise ship sails on a 12night itinerary in the Caribbean from New York.
A cruise ship due to arrive in Hampshire is undergoing extra cleaning following an outbreak of the norovirus winter vomiting bug. Cunard‘s Queen Mary 2 currently has 19 confirmed cases of the illness on board, the company has said. The liner is due back in Southampton on 10 January. It comes after hundreds of passengers contracted the bug on P&O’s Oriana during a Baltic cruise which arrived in Southampton on 14 December.
According to BBC News, the affected passengers on Queen Mary 2, which is currently cruising the Caribbean, have been confined to their cabins and “enhanced sanitation protocols” are being carried out, Cunard has said. “The safety and comfort of passengers and crew is always our number one priority,” a spokesperson for the company added.
The ship departed New York on Saturday and there are 2,613 passengers on board. It will begin a 72-day world voyage to Australia from Southampton on 10 January.
P&O Cruises apologised to 417 passengers on Oriana who suffered diarrhoea and vomiting during a 10-day Baltic cruise earlier in the month. It was the second bout of the diarrhoea and vomiting bug in successive voyages on the ship, which carries up to 1,843 passengers. Ten cases were also confirmed on P&O’s Azura which arrived in Southampton on 15 December following an 11-night tour of Iberia.
Cunard’s statement on illness aboard Queen Mary 2
“There has been an incidence of a mild gastrointestinal illness among the passengers on Queen Mary 2. This illness is suspected to be Norovirus, which is highly contagious and typically transmitted from person to person.
Norovirus is common throughout the UK, Europe and North America and has affected a number of schools, hospitals, nursing homes and children’s day care centres this winter.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has stated that Norovirus activity across the UK this season is 83 per cent higher than the same period last year. This has been well documented in the media recently.
Queen Mary 2 is currently on a 12-night Caribbean cruise which departed from New York on Saturday December 22. There are 2613 passengers on board, the number of passengers with active symptoms today is nine.
Enhanced sanitation protocols have been employed to help minimize transmission to other passengers. These comprehensive disinfection protocols have been developed by Cunard Line in conjunction with UK and U.S. public health authorities.
The safety and comfort of passengers and crew is always our number one priority. As is currently standard procedure across our fleet, all the ship’s passengers were provided with a precautionary health notice advising of widespread Norovirus activity and the health measures to avoid contraction and spread, both on board and whilst ashore”.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
