Passengers allowed to leave norovirus-hit cruise ship

By Neil Lancefield, Press Association Transport Correspondent

A norovirus-hit cruise ship carrying mainly passengers from Ireland and the UK has had a French lockdown order lifted.

All 1,701 people onboard Ambition were prevented from disembarking for more than 24 hours after it docked in Bordeaux on Tuesday, as one person died and dozens became ill with a vomiting virus.

Local authorities allowed asymptomatic people to disembark from Wednesday afternoon, while those who had been infected were ordered to remain onboard in isolation.

Norovirus is a highly contagious form of gastroenteritis that causes vomiting and diarrhoea.

The person who died was a 92-year-old British man who suffered a heart attack.

His death appeared to be unrelated to the norovirus outbreak, health authorities said.

Essex-based operator Ambassador Cruise Line said on Wednesday that 48 passengers and one crew member had “active cases of gastrointestinal illness”.

There were a total of 1,187 passengers and 514 crew members onboard.

Samples from those who were ill were tested at a local hospital in Bordeaux.

One passenger, Seos Guilidhe, 52, from Belfast, told news agency AFP he was “playing bingo” during the lockdown, and “it is not as bad as it was during Covid”.

He added that people were “going about as normal”.

The ship set sail from Belfast on May 8 and called at Liverpool a day later, for a 14-night voyage to France and Spain.

Cases of gastroenteritis rose following the embarkation of passengers in Liverpool.

Ambassador Cruise Line said in a statement: “We would like to reassure guests that we take any illnesses aboard our fleet extremely seriously.

“Enhanced sanitation and prevention protocols were immediately implemented across the ship in line with established public health procedures following the
initial reports of illness.

“The comprehensive health and safety measures introduced include increased cleaning and disinfection measures in public areas, assisted service in selected dining venues and ongoing guidance to guests regarding hand hygiene, including regular hand washing, use of hand sanitisers and the prompt reporting of any symptoms to the onboard medical team.”

A spokesman for the cruise line said there was no link with the outbreak of hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship.