Compensation claims have been submitted on behalf of more than 100 people who were taken ill during holidays on the P&O Ventura cruise ship. Hudgell Solicitors are urging Carnival Corporation & plc, the owners of P&O Cruises, to take a ‘sensible and collaborative approach’ to resolving the claims given there were ‘repeated outbreaks onboard over consecutive months’.

Lawyers representing passengers who traveled on P&O's Ventura said there had been "repeated outbreaks" of illness onboard between April and June. About 519 holidaymakers developed norovirus symptoms in May after the ship departed Southampton for a two-week cruise around the Canary Islands. P&O Cruises apologized and said it would be "responding to the letter of claim".

Parent company Carnival was accused of downplaying the number of people taken ill during the sailing, claiming fewer than 1% of those onboard had reported symptoms. But Southampton's port health authority later revealed that, at the height of the outbreak, the number was more than 12%. Problems with the stomach bug had been going on for weeks, according to passengers on previous sailings.

Norovirus is a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhea, and the germs cannot be killed with alcohol hand gel. The spread appeared to begin around 20 April, with 92 people taken ill on Ventura's 10-day cruise around Spain and Portugal. It coincided with an "unseasonal rise" in norovirus cases across the UK, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

The married couple set sail for the Canary Islands on 11 May but were soon asked to isolate in their cabin when they became ill. Mr. Lunn said P&O had been "hiding the figures" when it came to how many people on board were ill. "They also deliberately wouldn't specify to us that it was norovirus - they used a phrase like gastro-intestinal problems," he added. Carnival has six weeks to acknowledge the claims, and then a further six months to investigate and respond.

A P&O spokesperson said, "We are sorry some of our guests may have been affected and we will be responding to the letter of claim in due course.” A norovirus outbreak was also seen on P&O's Aurora around the same time, new figures have revealed. More than 300 people -16% of passengers - were taken ill during its 19-night cruise to the Mediterranean, which departed Southampton on 26 April. And just under 12% of passengers reported symptoms on the following cruise - a three-night trip to Belgium on 15 May.

The case is likely to spark renewed conversations around the health and safety standards on cruise ships, with both passengers and advocacy groups calling for stricter regulations and more transparent communication during health-related incidents. As the investigation continues, the cruise line’s reputation could be at stake, with both legal and public relations challenges ahead.In the meantime, the affected passengers remain hopeful for a fair resolution, determined to ensure that the industry takes steps to prevent similar outbreaks in the future.