Balmoral's 3 night mini cruise cancelled

IMPORTANT INFORMATION – L1507, Cancellation of 3 night mini-cruise, ex Southampton 20 June 2015.

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines regret to announce the cancellation of the above 3 night mini-cruise due to depart this Saturday. All guests have been advised in writing and subject to postal delivery will, by now, be aware of the full refund or cruise transfer options available to them. If you were due to travel on this sailing and have any queries please do not hesitate to contact Guest Services on 0800 0355 145, Mon-Fri 0830-1800hrs. Please note this is the only cruise affected and L1508, Around The UK sailing 23 June will operate as scheduled.

Last updated: Wednesday, 17th June 2015 at 09:29.

Have they cancelled this cruise because they still have Norovirus onboard:confused:

I believe so - this was put on FB yesterday - guess they have to eradicate it completely....

I believe so - this was put on FB yesterday - guess they have to eradicate it completely....

If only they could, but don't seem able to. I have lost count now of how many cruises this has effected, must be the last five, I think.

If only they could, but don't seem able to. I have lost count now of how many cruises this has effected, must be the last five, I think.

Which, I guess is why they are having to take action for 3 days now!

If they cancel a cruise, do they also compensate the rail expenditure paid to travel to the port of departure. We are considering a December mini cruise and it is not just the cost of the cruise but can be over £100 in advance rail fares. A lot to lose if the cruise is cancelled.

I'm booked to go on the American Deep South cruise in September on the Balmoral and if it's full of norovirus then it will be my last cruise with the

company. :(

I'm booked to go on the American Deep South cruise in September on the Balmoral and if it's full of norovirus then it will be my last cruise with the

company. :(

You will find it difficult to find any cruise company that does not get norovirus, I have sailed on Balmoral on a 4 week cruise and there was no sign of it. Even if it is on the ship, it does not necessarily follow you will come down with it.

If they cancel a cruise, do they also compensate the rail expenditure paid to travel to the port of departure. We are considering a December mini cruise and it is not just the cost of the cruise but can be over £100 in advance rail fares. A lot to lose if the cruise is cancelled.

They are actually very generous in times of problems. Not sure if you remember when there was a fire on Boudicca earlier this year; they arranged for everyone to be flown home, gave them a full refund for the cost of their cruise & 50% off the cost of another. I suspect they would look at other costs as well from reports I have read over the years of the company.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31062898

They are actually very generous in times of problems. Not sure if you remember when there was a fire on Boudicca earlier this year; they arranged for everyone to be flown home, gave them a full refund for the cost of their cruise & 50% off the cost of another. I suspect they would look at other costs as well from reports I have read over the years of the company.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31062898

Thanks Julie. I am looking forward to our first Fred experience in August, and quite possibly will sort a mini cruise out.

Thanks Julie. I am looking forward to our first Fred experience in August, and quite possibly will sort a mini cruise out.

Will look forward to your reports of Braemar as we are sailing on her next year Gill. I know Cruising Linda loves Braemar!

Taking 3 days out seems a sensible precaution though I feel for those who have lost their holidays.

At least they are trying to do something about it.

We have seen noro out breaks on ships from many lines over the years. The truth is it is in hotels as well but on ships everyone boards and disembarks at once so it is much more noticeable.

Hope that those affected by the cancellation find something nice to do instead.

We can only hope that the three days is more effective than the extra day they took after the cruise before last. I find it hard to understand why Fred experiences this problem more than other cruise lines and why they seem unable to eradicate it when it does happen.

We can only hope that the three days is more effective than the extra day they took after the cruise before last. I find it hard to understand why Fred experiences this problem more than other cruise lines and why they seem unable to eradicate it when it does happen.

Are there any reliable figures to suggest that FO has more incidents than other lines?

I'm sure the 3 day break will eradicate it but how can anyone ensure that the passengers embarking for the following cruise will not bring it on board? Do they have a detailed screening for every embarking passenger.

We've been on Fred's ships when they have an outbreak and it's not pleasant (although we've been fortunate in not suffering ourselves) and, to say the least, it's a massive inconvenience. I've also seen instances of passengers not taking all the precautions, so what do they do about that?

wft

I think most of the figures only include the American lines but just keeping an eye on the cruise news websites indicates that Fred has more outbreaks than other lines and also seems unable to eradicate them from a ship after the first outbreak going on for cruise after cruise. I agree they cannot do anything about passengers boarding with a virus as they probably don't even know themselves, but I think it is a bit too much of a coincidence that an infected passenger has boarded the Blamoral for the last five cruises. It seems more likely that they are not getting rid of it with the cleaning processes used.

We were using an anti viral/anti baterial spray and I cannot understand why they persist in using an antibacterial only as they must know that this has no effect on norovirus.

I think most of the figures only include the American lines but just keeping an eye on the cruise news websites indicates that Fred has more outbreaks than other lines and also seems unable to eradicate them from a ship after the first outbreak going on for cruise after cruise. I agree they cannot do anything about passengers boarding with a virus as they probably don't even know themselves, but I think it is a bit too much of a coincidence that an infected passenger has boarded the Blamoral for the last five cruises. It seems more likely that they are not getting rid of it with the cleaning processes used.

 

We were using an anti viral/anti baterial spray and I cannot understand why they persist in using an antibacterial only as they must know that this has no effect on norovirus.

Totally agree. The anti viral foam gives added protection. We used it after washing hands and I firmly believe this is a first degree protection against norovirus.

Precautions have been taken throughout the current voyage but the Capt has told passengers in the last few days that there is another outbreak onboard. Crew are supervising toilets reminding passengers to wash hands, also supervising lifts and pressing buttons with gloved hands, hand rails continually being cleaned, salt and pepper in paper wraps, all food being served, lounge closed for 24 hours for deep clean - they are certainly doing everything they can. Feel very sorry for the passengers affected - also FO as they are definitely not being complacent.

This outbreak should have definetly being solved by now considering the first cruise badly affected was at the beginning of May and almost two months on this is still ongoing. What about the hundreds of people who has fallen ill so far, what about the thousand of people who had their holidays affected???? Isn't it about time this ship is taken off duty for a period of time sufficient to eradicate this virus once and for all???

If it is norovirus and it is spread person to person or from funisings etc. rather than the most likely method of tranmission of norovirus which is the faecal oral route. There could also be a carrier in the kitchens or problems with the water supply or food stocks.

This is a link to a post I made on another thread in May (#21)

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2206841&page=2#