Cruise norovirus outbreak saw 519 cases at peak

P&O Cruises has been accused of downplaying the number of passengers and crew taken ill on board the Ventura

More than 500 people on board a cruise ship that departed Southampton were affected by a norovirus outbreak, the BBC has learned.

P&O Cruises has been accused of downplaying the number of passengers and crew taken ill on board the Ventura, which sailed on 11 May.

On 22 May the company said there were “currently 0.64%” of those on board with symptoms of the virus, but did not provide a figure for total cases.

Now a Freedom of Information request has shown at the outbreak's height there were 519 cases among about 4,200 total passengers and crew, or about 12.3%.

A P&O Cruises spokesperson said the 0.64% was a reflection of "those currently symptomatic and represented the efficacy of our protocols as numbers had declined significantly".

In May passengers on board the two-week cruise around the Canary Islands told the BBC the infection had been disrupting their holiday plans "for weeks".

A number of them said they had had to isolate in their cabins while the ship was deep-cleaned.

Holidaymakers due to board the Ventura to Spain and France on 25 May were also asked to arrived later to allow for an enhanced cleaning to be carried out.

Passengers with the stomach bug were asked to isolate in their cabins

The news prompted others to consider their cruise plans with the Ventura.

In June, a woman who wished to remain anonymous had told the BBC that she hesitated whether to travel on the July trip to Spain and Portugal with her sister and elderly mother.

"We are planning to go but very reluctant," she said.

"If we could cancel and get a refund we would, as would our friends as they have health problems."

Southampton City Council, which runs the port health authority, said it had been working with the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) "to offer assistance to the vessel on its return to Southampton".

UKHSA head of incidents and response Nastassya Chandra said that since May, "norovirus cases remained higher than expected but have started to decrease in recent weeks".

Passengers had been telling the BBC about their disrupted holidays because of the outbreak, others considered cancelling their plans

A P&O Cruises spokesperson said: "We work closely with relevant global and regional health authorities and we have approved, recognised and proven protocols that are in place throughout every cruise to uphold the health and wellbeing of all guests and crew onboard."

They did not comment on the total number of cases on board the Ventura.

A city council spokesperson said, in conjunction with UKHSA, the authority had met with P&O Cruises' parent company Carnival UK to discuss outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis (AGE) on board the Ventura that year.

They said it had been agreed that all affected should remain in isolation for 48 hours after their last symptoms, and the company would continue to encourage guests to report symptoms promptly.

Analysis

P&O Cruises sought to downplay the scale of the incidents on Ventura, even as passengers told us of the impact on their holidays.

Now we have some facts to support the passengers' claims.

On one cruise, departing Southampton on 11 May, Southampton City Council confirms it knew of more than 500 cases of sickness.

On other cruises the numbers were much smaller.

Large numbers of people crowded together in warm, confined spaces, provide ideal conditions for norovirus to thrive.

We report outbreaks on ships nearly every year. We point out that cruise companies have become skilled at deep-cleaning affected areas.

But they really don't like the negative publicity that follows each time that preventative work turns out to be insufficient.