Couple on crashed Britannia cruise describe 'hell-hole' replacement hotel

The couple from Hythe, near Southampton, said the whole holiday had been "tarnished"

A couple who had to leave a cruise ship that crashed during storms off the Spanish coast have described the hotel they were moved to as a "hell-hole".

Alan and Rosemary Biddulph were on the Britannia, owned by Southampton-based P&O Cruises, when it broke free from moorings and collided with a freight ship during bad weather on Sunday.

The pair were put up at a nearby resort but have complained of poor quality food and black mould on the walls.

P&O said it was "extremely sorry".

The company previously said the 321 passengers onboard would be returned to Southampton, or their starting point, by flight and transfer.

But flight disruption meant Mr and Mrs Biddulph, from Hythe and who were celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary when the cruise ship crashed, were sent to a hotel about 20 minutes away.

Mr Biddulph, 66, told the BBC the accommodation was a "hell-hole" and that they had asked to moved rooms twice.

"There was black, smelly mould behind the bed, there were loose floorboards, the rooms hadn't been cleaned, the doors were hanging off the walls and it was like a prison block," he said.

Mr Biddulph said there was "black mould" on the wall behind their bed at the Mallorca hotel

He said the food offered in the hotel was "not up to cruise standard". He also claimed to have spotted dirty underwear outside their room.

On Monday evening, the pair discovered they had been booked into the hotel for a second night.

P&O told the BBC it had sought to fly guests back to the UK as quickly as possible, but technical difficulties faced by air traffic control services meant it had been "challenging".

Mr Biddulph said: "We feel totally misled by P&O. They haven't been honest with us at all.

"I think if people had been told they were going to a hotel like this and not flying home, they would have refused to leave the ship."

Mr Biddulph claimed many people left the hotel to get food elsewhere

Mr and Mrs Biddulph said P&O had offered them refunds for the remaining nights of the holiday and 20% off another cruise if booked before 30 December.

But despite being customers for more than 20 years, the pair said they would "never travel with P&O again".

A P&O spokesperson said: "The hotel was the only available option that we could source to accommodate all the guests who left Britannia early.

"We are extremely sorry that a small number of guests have had problems with their room and we have been working tirelessly to resolve them."

Britannia departed Palma de Mallorca on Monday evening with the remaining passengers, missing the final port of Gibraltar, and was expected to reach Southampton on 1 September.

Those at the hotel in Mallorca have now been booked onto a flight which is scheduled to arrive into Birmingham on Wednesday afternoon.

The cruise company confirmed Britannia's next cruise would go ahead as planned.

Passengers on Britannia described how after it broke loose, the ship "floated away like a paper boat"

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