Fred Olsen hit by sickness again

For the fourth time in five years, a Fred Olsen liner has been bedevilled by an outbreak of sickness.

This time it’s Boudicca, where nearly 200 people were quarantined in their cabins after developing gastro-enteritis, a vomiting bug. When she docked on Friday in Portsmouth, after a cruise to the Canary Islands, the 1152 guests were able to leave the ship, including those who had been ill. And it’s not the first time Boudicca’s had a sickness outbreak – only a couple of months ago passengers endured a bout of norovirus.

Balmoral’s had her problems too, in September this year 70 cruise passengers suffered a virus outbreak when the ship was visiting the Isle of Sky and back in February, nearly 200 people developed norovirus and had to be kept in isolation. And in the summer of 2007 Black Watch passengers were quarantined in Sweden after an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease during which six British holidaymakers were treated for the potentially fatal, and highly contagious, condition. It’s not clear whether there are particular reasons that Fred Olsen is hard hit by these forms of infectious illness, which could be due to hygiene or perhaps to the older demographic of the cruise line’s passengers who may be unusually susceptible to viruses. A spokesperson confirmed the latest outbreak but did not speculate on why the line currently seems to be a bit of a black spot for infectious diseases.