Passengers on a cruise from Southampton to Newcastle have been left disappointed after a diarrhoea outbreak caused it to be cancelled at the last minute.
Fred Olsen had been offering the trip for a discounted price of £99, less than the air and train fare for the same trip, but now cruisers will be offered the chance to go to Liverpool on the Bolette ship instead, following “reported cases of gastro-related illness on board”.
The company’s Balmoral ship was due to set sail this evening but was cancelled at lunchtime after it returned from a two-week voyage to see the Northern Lights in Norway with numerous passengers suffering from stomach problems.
Fred Olsen said it would now have to conduct a deep clean of the ship following the outbreak of illness.
A statement from the cruise operator read: “For the safety and comfort of our guests, we will be completing a deep clean upon our arrival into Southampton, which will cause delays to our planned departure time on this short cruise.
“In addition, sailing with no guests on board will enable this deep clean to be as effective as possible before new guests embark in Newcastle.”
Balmoral is due to sail again on Friday on a nine-day trip to Norway.
The cancelled journey was described as a “repositioning” meaning the ship was changing its home port and such trips are often offered at heavily discounted prices by cruise operators.
The £99 cabin cost included all meals and entertainment during the 35-hour voyage.
A Fred Olsen spokesman added: “All guests who were due to join us on this cruise have been offered the chance to transfer their booking to Bolette’s two-night spring mini cruise in April, or receive a full refund.”
The new trip will see passengers journey past the western tip of Cornwall, then north through the Irish Sea past Anglesey and on to the Mersey, after it leaves Southampton on April 17.
But this time it would have been cheaper for passengers to travel by train with a one-way rail ticket from Southampton to Liverpool on South Western Railway and Avanti West Coast via London on the same day costing £56.
There are no flights from Southampton to either Liverpool or nearby Manchester on the same day.
