Greater than 100 passengers who sailed on P&O Cruises’ P&O Ventura are suing the cruise line and its mum or dad firm, Carnival Company.
The claims, submitted Hudgell Solicitors on behalf of 115 affected friends, allege the passengers suffered diseases, lack of enjoyment, and monetary setbacks throughout cruises aboard the ship between April and June of 2024.
The diseases reportedly peaked throughout a voyage departing from Southampton, England, on Might 11, 2024, when 519 passengers have been confirmed to have taken unwell.
In line with Anne Thomson, senior litigation govt at Hudgell Solicitors primarily based in England, the claims search compensation for a variety of damages, together with medical bills, diminished trip worth, and time without work from work required to recuperate after returning residence.
“This authorized motion ought to come as no shock to Carnival as the issues with sickness outbreaks on the Ventura over the previous yr have been properly documented and extensively lined within the media,” mentioned Thomson. “They’re plain.”
Thomson added that friends have been even warned the evening earlier than their cruise about earlier outbreaks, but diseases continued to have an effect on massive numbers of vacationers on consecutive sailings.
She expressed hope that Carnival Company would handle the claims shortly, describing the state of affairs as a chance for the corporate to display its dedication to buyer care.
Carnival has six weeks to acknowledge the claims and an extra six months to analyze and reply.
Norovirus Outbreaks Aboard P&O Ships
The diseases aboard P&O Ventura included a large-scale outbreak of norovirus, a gastrointestinal sickness that disrupted a 14-night cruise that departed from Southampton on Might 11, 2024, to Portugal, Spain, and the Canary Islands.
P&O Cruises reported roughly 100 friends onboard the three,597-passenger ship with 1,200 crew members skilled signs of vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea.
Unwell cruisers have been requested to isolate of their rooms to keep away from additional unfold, with some passengers reporting delays in receiving medical help and others opting to chop their journeys brief and return residence early.
Whereas docked in Tenerife within the Canary Islands on Might 17, the crew performed an intensive cleansing session, throughout which passengers have been required to disembark for a number of hours.
Whereas the cruise line claimed lower than 1 p.c of its passengers have been sick, Southampton’s port well being authority, which reviewed the outbreak, discovered the quantity was truly greater than 12 p.c.
In reality, interviews with passengers who had sailed on P&O Ventura weeks previous to the outbreak revealed many had skilled abdomen diseases, with an outbreak affecting 92 passengers on a 10-day cruise from Southampton to Spain and Portugal that departed on April 20, 2024.
Upon completion of the Might 11 voyage, the next cruise from Southampton scheduled to depart on Might 25 was delayed so the crew might additional conduct a thorough deep clear to sanitize the ship.
At the moment, the cruise line warned passengers of the earlier outbreak by way of e mail, stating “We wished to advise you that over the past cruise we noticed signs of gastrointestinal sickness.”
Hudgell Solicitors declare that friends acquired sick on the next journey, regardless of the cleanup efforts.
P&O launched an announcement to the BBC that learn, “We’re sorry a few of our friends could have been affected and we can be responding to the letter of declare in the end.”
P&O Ventura was not the one ship experiencing a gastrointestinal outbreak on the time. Sixteen p.c of passengers on an April 26 voyage and 12 p.c on a Might 15 crusing aboard P&O Aurora additionally skilled associated signs.
The cruise line additionally witnessed an outbreak in September on P&O Arcadia. Every ship initially departed from Southampton.
