Sea Princess cruise ship docks at Brisbane after 200 people get gastro

MORE than 200 people on a cruise ship holiday spent their Christmas and New Year’s hugging the toilet bowl after a mass gastro outbreak.

The Sea Princess docked at Brisbane this morning. Picture: Mark Cranitch

TWO days into a fortnight-week long cruise ship holiday, hundreds of people on the Sea Princess were hit with gastro.

The ship, which is part of the Princess Cruises fleet, docked in Brisbane this morning after leaving before Christmas from the same port.

The ship completed its round-trip to Brisbane with a stop at New Zealand for Christmas.

Passengers that were supposed to head out on the Sea Princess today have had their departure delayed until 6pm today due to comprehensive cleaning on-board.

Queensland Health confirmed to ABC News its on-board testing found traces of norovirus, an unpleasant virus that can bring on nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach cramping as well as low-grade fever, chills, a headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness.

“Around 200 people were believed to have been infected with the virus,” a spokesman told ABC News.

“Appropriate sanitation procedures and outbreak control measures have been implemented and the vessel is expected to undergo further comprehensive cleaning while in Brisbane.”

Around 200 passengers aboard the Sea Princess were hit by the gastro bug. Picture: Mark Cranitch

Helen Perry, a 57-year-old woman from Queensland, was one of the hundreds to fall ill after contracting Norovirus.

Ms Perry told the Daily Mail that despite “fastidious handwashing” she became sick just after the ship left Wellington, New Zealand.

To stop it spreading, she locked herself in her cabin for close to three days.

“Who knows when I caught it but I do suspect it was a woman ... she was green around the gills and coughing,’ Ms Perry told the publication.

“She was probably out and about when she should have been in isolation.”

Ms Perry also said staff sanitised her room twice a day and she was given flat soft drink and crackers when she was well enough.

“I didn’t leave isolation until I had been un-symptomatic for a full day. After that I was very weak for a day,” she said.

Michael Connolly, a Sea Princess passenger from Gladstone, told the Courier Mailefforts were made to stop the virus spreading as early as their second day on the ship.

“It was handled really well,” he said.

“On day two we weren’t able to help ourselves to the buffet. The staff were serving and handling the food themselves so the virus couldn’t spread.”

The Sea Princess is the fourth Australian cruise ship to be hit with gastro in the last 12 months.

In August, its sister ship the Sun Princess docked in Brisbane with 91 people suffering from norovirus.

In December, the 5800-capacity Ovation of the Seas docked in Hobart with 200 people suffering from gastro and last February more than 140 passengers were hit with the same virus after one passenger claimed it was “rampant before we got on”.

Despite the numerous outbreak, Princess Cruises defended the safety and hygiene of its own fleet.

“There is a 750 times greater chance of experiencing norovirus on shore than while travelling on a cruise ship,” a Princess Cruises spokesman told AAP.

Shine Lawyers told news.com.au it is currently investigating at least eight cruise ships involving several gastro outbreaks on the Sun Princess cruiseliner.

The Sea Princess can hold close to 3000 people, made up of 2000 guests and 910 crew meaning less than 10 per cent contracted the virus.

The ship was refurbished in 2017 and includes a casino, pools, sporting facilities and numerous restaurants.