Lawyers question P&O over Oriana’s double gastric outbreak

Legal experts are putting pressure on P&O Cruises to give a full breakdown of its cleaning procedures following two consecutive outbreaks of gastric illness on board the Oriana.

Irwin Mitchell has been instructed by 32 passengers to pursue claims against P&O’s parent Carnival after they became ill on board a luxury Christmas cruise.

The law firm says passengers on the festive markets cruise from Southampton want to know why they weren’t warned of an outbreak on the previous cruise before they boarded, and what steps were taken to make the ship safe.

According to Suki Chhokar, a legal expert at Irwin Mitchell, P&O has already confirmed in a letter sent to passengers that "norovirus was present" during the previous cruise undertaken by the Oriana.

"Official guidelines for the management of norovirus infections on cruise ships state that a vessel affected by an outbreak should undergo a deep clean before setting sail again," said Chhokar.

"However, the reports we have heard from passengers have raised concerns that they were not made aware of any previous problems onboard the ship until after they actually boarded the ship and that the vessel set sail again for their voyage only two hours after the previous cruise – information which may have made them rethink their own stay on the vessel."

Among the passengers were Gail and Stephen Cowan, a retired couple in their 50s from Runcorn in Cheshire.

"My husband had a liver transplant a few years ago and now wears a colostomy bag, so we simply wouldn’t have taken the risk," said Gail Cowan. "We are so angry that we were simply not allowed to make that decision ourselves."

She said his symptoms were so violent that her husband was unable to keep down his usual post-transplant medication and his colostomy bag burst.

A spokesman for P&O Cruises said: "Norovirus is the most common cause of stomach bugs in England and Wales and according to the UK Health Protection Agency is second only in prevalence to the common cold.

"During the latter part of last year frequent outbreaks occurred in areas such as schools, hospitals, retirement homes, hotels and other places where people congregate, as was widely reported in the media.

"All our ships have stringent ongoing cleaning and hygiene policies in place as a part of normal on board operations and if an outbreak occurs it is normally because a passenger has brought the virus on board unwittingly.

"In such circumstances, as was unfortunately the case on Oriana last December, we then also implement comprehensive disinfection protocols, developed in conjunction with UK and international health authorities. We are aware of the interest of Irwin Mitchell in this matter but cannot comment on individual cases."