There’s an elephant in the ship’s atrium that some cocktail-sipping guests are trying not to see: In April, 11 passengers on the MV Hondius tested positive for hantavirus. Three died and 125 passengers and crew from 23 countries were eventually repatriated from Spain’s Canary Islands on government-chartered flights. That was a low moment for the cruise industry, but not an isolated one.In May, around 1700 passengers and crew on Ambassador’s Ambition were forced to quarantine in Bordeaux after a norovirus outbreak infected 50 passengers. Last October, an 80-year-old died on Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef when her cruise ship left her behind. And in Hawaii, hundreds of passengers were stranded ashore in July when a tsunami warning forced their ship to make a rapid departure without them.Anna McCooe is The Australian Financial Review’s senior travel writer.Subscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe.Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber?
What to do when your cruise goes wrong
Expect the unexpected, from fuel surcharges to missed departures and sickness. If you run into troubled waters, what can you do?
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