Princess Cruises has canceled the remainder of a 15-day Hawaii
sailing after an outbreak of the gastrointestinal illness that has
plagued the industry for months hit more than 250 passengers on the
Sun Princess.
The ship was in Honolulu last week after 265 passengers or 13
percent of the 2,029 on board and 29 crew reported symptoms of a
Norwalk-like virus during the course of the cruise that left Los
Angeles Jan. 25.
The ship had made all of its scheduled port calls, said company
spokeswoman Tori Benson, but with five days of transit back to Los
Angeles left in the voyage, Princess decided canceling would be the
best way to prevent further illness.
“When people are enclosed in that environment with that many sea
days without medical services beyond what’s available on the ship,
we thought this would be prudent,” Benson said.
In addition to cleaning efforts already underway, six members of
a mobile sanitizing team specially trained in using disinfectant
agents will help scrub the vessel from stem to stern during the
return voyage, she said.
All passengers well enough to travel were flown home or to Los
Angeles, Benson said. The company said in a statement it was taking
special precautions developed with federal and state health
officials for the transportation and care of the 30 passengers
still recovering from the virus.
Passengers will receive a complete refund for the five canceled
days of their cruise, and a $500 credit per cabin toward a future
sailing.
The next cruise was expected to depart Los Angeles on schedule
Feb. 9. The next Hawaii cruise begins March 11.
