Saga Cruise Ship Denied Port Entry After Norovirus Outbreak

Saga Cruises becomes another cruise line to be hit with a norovirus outbreak. When passengers aboard the Spirit of Discovery cruise ship fell ill with the virus, the ship was denied docking at its original destination of Gibraltar and will instead be docking in Southampton on Wednesday.

“We have a number of individuals suffering from a gastrointestinal illness on-board Spirit of Discovery, following her recent cruise to Italy,” Saga had said in a statement. “Due to the possibility that this could be caused by the Winter Vomiting Bug, the second most frequently reported illness after the common cold, the Port of Gibraltar took the decision not to allow passengers to leave the ship. As a result, she continued with her journey back to Southampton which was our next port of call concluding this cruise.

“Our high hygiene standards and well-practiced procedures mean that the illness has remained contained,” the statement continued. “The health of our customers is of paramount importance to us and we shall continue to take all appropriate steps to ensure their well-being.”

Of the ship’s 870 passengers, 89 were discovered to have norovirus. Norovirus is a gastrointestinal illness and its symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting and fever. Symptoms typically last up to three days. It is not believed that the norovirus outbreak is related to the current coronavirus-outbreak” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>coronavirus outbreak.