Holidaymakers are seeking legal action against P&O after being left seriously ill during a dream Canary Islands cruise which left 200 'confined' to their cabins. The group of passengers suffered vomiting and diarrhoea after boarding luxury ship MV Ventura in April. Their ordeal follows reports of hundreds of others being forced to isolate following a reported outbreak of norovirus on the same ship just a month before.
But after being assured the ship had been fully cleaned, many reported falling ill within days of their 'special' trip with a nasty stomach bug. One ended up being hooked up to a heart monitor after suffering chest pains and they are among a number of people now considering legal action against P&O. Nurse Jessica Bird, 27, and her gran Cynthia Davies, 86, were among those who paid for a 10-day cruise that would include stops in Santander and Lisbon.
They boarded the ship at Southampton on April 20 but six days later Jessica started suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea. She alerted staff to her concerns for her gran, who had mobility problems, who was moved to a different cabin. Jessica’s condition quickly deteriorated and she was quarantined and attached to a drip.
The ship’s doctor also hooked her up to an ECG monitor for her heart at Jessica complained of chest pains. She remained ill for the remainder of the trip and was forced to take three days off work when she returned home. Meanwhile Cynthia started feeling ill the day after she returned to her home.