This week, the vacation of several passengers on board the Boudicca cruise ship was ruined with they came down with a suspected norovirus. This isn't the first time that the ship was hit with the virus, leaving many to believe that it's cursed.
The ship was carrying 828 passengers and 348 crew members during a 13-night trip to the Canary Islands. A cruise that should have been beautiful and relaxing turned out to be a disaster for 170 passengers who came down the the virus aboard the Boudicca, a Fred Olsen Cruise Lines ship.
The norovirus left several inflicted with symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea. This virus is highly contagious, causing those infected to be quarantined during the trip. Staff nurses went around to visit and treat the passengers, many of them elderly. Half of the facilities on the ship were shut down in order to keep the virus from spreading to other people.
An 80-year-old woman was also taken off the ship after suffering a heart attack in Madeira. It is not known if this event was related to the outbreak.
The ship docked in Greenock, Scotland on Sunday, May 20. Sick passengers were greeted and treated by members of the U.K.'s National Health Service and ambulance crews.
Some passengers paid up to £2,000 for the trip. As compensation, they were offered a £150 discount on their next cruise. Not surprisingly, none of the passengers accepted this offer.
After docking, the Boudicca underwent an intensive fumigation and The Port Health team spent 30 minutes examining the ship before giving it clearance. The ship then departed for a 21-night Adriatic cruise 90 minutes later than scheduled.
The Boudicca is believed to be cursed, as it was also hit with the virus three times within three weeks in 2010. On one of these occasions, so many passengers were sick that the voyage had to be but short and the ship returned to port.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
