Struggles continue for the MV Balmoral voyage, it has seen its fair share of trouble recently. Now, a gastro virus has broken out on board. Where will the cruise liner go from here?
The Balmoral departed from Southampton on its way to Maine, and in that time over 200 British passengers fell sick. Not a big deal, the cruise ship arrives to the U.S. from there continues on to one more stop. Well, it turns out to be a big deal as the CDC boards the ships and confirms an outbreak of the norovirus.
Fred Olsen Cruises who operates the cruise ship, report was initially made on the 29, of April. At the time of the report, only 7 passengers were sick. The vessel was carrying 919 passengers, when more than 252 British passengers came down with the virus, that’s around 27% of passengers. The passengers weren’t the only ones to fall ill to the virus, 8 crew members were diagnosed as well.
The CDC placed the ship passengers who were infected under quarantine for 24hrs, but the cruise liner has stated they will wait 48hrs, double the time to insure that all precautions are met. The cruise liner is desperate at this point, to insure passengers that it will improve sanitation conditions aboard the vessel.
The MV Balmoral is a 43,537-ton ship with a passenger capacity of 1,778. This vessel was on a 34-day voyage from U.K. to the U.S. Cruise Hive previously reported on a similar issue with a Disney cruise ship. Hopefully this doesn’t become the new norm of the summer cruise season!
