MORE than 200 passengers aboard a luxury cruise ship have been struck down by a vomiting bug.

The outbreak comes only days after 70 passengers and

15 crew became ill with a stomach virus on another ship. The Van Gogh was detained at Harwich docks in Essex on Sunday.

The Sea Princess left Southampton on Saturday with 2,258 passengers, more than 1,700 of whom were British. The 77,000-tonne vessel was scheduled to cruise for a week to the Mediterranean.

But less than 24 hours into their journey holidaymakers began to fall ill with chronic vomiting and diarrhoea. The virus, believed to be the highly contagious norovirus, has now affected more than 200 on board.

Those who fell ill from the virus were confined to their cabins to try to prevent it spreading. Extra medical staff were sent to the ship to help to cope with those who were ill yesterday. The outbreak has been so widespread that the ship’s captain announced yesterday that the cruise would end a day early.

A spokeswoman for the American-based Carnival Corporation, which owns Princess Cruises, the owner of Sea Princess, said that the ship would return to Southampton on Friday, missing her final destination of Lisbon, to allow a thorough disinfection before she sets sail again with new passengers.

The spokeswoman said that only 15 people remained affected by the virus. She said: “In light of the reduced length and missing the visit to Lisbon on this cruise, Princess is offering all passengers a refund of 30 per cent.

“In addition, in recognition that passengers on this cruise have not been able to fully enjoy the usual Princess experience, they will receive a £150 per person voucher towards a future cruise with Princess.”

The spokeswoman added: “Room service is provided to affected passengers and every effort is made to make them as comfortable as possible.”

But some passengers have complained that their dream holiday was ruined. A Mr P. Wilson, writing on a BBC website, said that passengers were devastated that the ship had been blighted by the infection. “The reaction is that passengers are up in arms at the offer and that Princess are totally responsible for the sanitation.”

Norovirus, a stomach bug, usually lasts between 24 to 48 hours. It was to blame for an illness that affected 600 passengers on board P&O’s Aurora cruise liner in 2003.

The Van Gogh was given the all-clear yesterday. About 500 passengers due to sail on a seven-day trip to Norway on Sunday night were turned away after she was detained. Travelscope, the tour operator, said they would be offered refunds.

Sea Princess was formerly called Adonia. Last year Goldie Hawn, the actress, was due take part in the renaming ceremony at Southampton docks, but was confined to her hotel room with a stomach bug.

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