Passengers aboard Pacific Eden complain of outbreak of nasty stomach bug

THERE are two sides to P&O’s new cruise ship — the celebrity sipping champagne, and the diarrhoea a few floors down.

PASSENGERS on the recently-launched Pacific Eden have labelled it is a “floating disaster” with an outbreak of gastro affecting passengers as it returned to Sydney on Monday morning.

News.com.au understands that about 50 of the 1500 people on board were taken ill with norovirus as the ship made its way from Sydney to Cairns and back over Christmas. Some passengers are seeking a refund.

But one celebrity guest is still all smiles despite the vomit and diarrhoea happening on the floors below.

Former Home and Away actor and radio presenter Kate Ritchie, who was reportedly staying in the ship’s penthouse suite with her family, shared happy snaps of her holiday on social media.

She helped launch the Pacific Eden on Sydney Harbour last month and is the vessel’s “godmother”.

As the ship set off she posted a picture with the message “PACIFIC Eden. KR x”, while in another she thanked the ship — which she named via Twitter — for “having us”.

THANK YOU for having us Pacific Eden! KR x #godmother

Posted by Kate Ritchie on Sunday, December 27, 2015

She also shared images of her with husband Stuart Webb, as she sipped champagne, with the caption “I love holidays” and having dinner in one of the ship’s many restaurants.

After uploading this image below of the Pacific Eden, a follower reminded her to “keep the sanitiser going”.

PACIFIC Eden.. KR x

Posted by Kate Ritchie on Thursday, December 17, 2015

TAKE ME back to day one.. KR x

Posted by Kate Ritchie on Saturday, December 26, 2015

But not everyone had such a great time on the ship, which sailed out of Sydney on December 18 and visited Cairns and Hamilton Island.

A spokeswoman for P&O, which owns the ship, told news.com.au only a small number of the 1500 passengers aboard were ill over the duration of the 12-night cruise.

“As a further preventative measure we are carrying out increased cleaning of the ship and terminal during today’s turnaround,” she said.

“It takes only a small number of cases of the common stomach bug, Norovirus, for sanitation levels to be increased onboard.”

She also said the number ill was about the same rate as the general population at any time.

It’s understood there were at least 60 confirmed cases of the bug over the 12 day trip.

New South Wales woman Jaimie Abbott told the Newcastle Herald the trip was a “floating disaster” due to the number of people who had fallen ill.

She disputed P&O’s claims the number of sick passengers was in line with the general population, telling the newspaper the stomach bag outbreak was the “talk of the ship”.

My! What a very big pepper grinder you have.. 🙊🙊🙊 @pocruises #POCruises #pacificeden #godmother #angelos pic.twitter.com/VplUyMrW8A

— Kate Ritchie (@kateritchie01) December 27, 2015

Earlier this month 182 passengers out of the 3566 on board the luxury Royal Caribbean cruise ship Explorer of the Seas were struck down by a stomach bug.

The ship’s operator contacted South Eastern Sydney Local Health District before arriving in Sydney on December 16 at 6am. None of the passengers were taken to hospital.

Explorer of the Seas is Australia’s biggest cruise ship. It offers world-class dining, a surf simulator, ice skating, rock climbing and mini golf. The cruise ship weighs 138,000 tonnes and can accommodate more than 3000 passengers.

This month, 200 passengers were confined to their cabins aboard the Dawn Princess after it left Melbourne bound for New Zealand’s South Island.

Cruise operator Carnival Australia said the ship was subject to “stringent sanitation” measures.

And in September, another 100 passengers were struck down by the virus aboard Carnival cruise ship Sea Princess travelling from Singapore to Fremantle.

Originally published as Passengers aboard Pacific Eden complain of outbreak of nasty stomach bug