British holidaymakers are among 2,200 passengers stranded on board the Norwegian Dawn cruise ship after Mauritian authorities banned it from docking due to a possible cholera outbreak.
About the same number of tourists were unable to board the ship and had to queue at the port before being put up in hotels when it became clear that the ship would not be able to dock.
The 12-day cruise had departed from South Africa via Mozambique and was scheduled to dock in Port Louis on Sunday but arrived a day early after missing a stop on Reunion Island.
A Briton due to take his cruise at the weekend said he had tried to cancel his trip and was considering booking expensive flights back to the UK because he was “afraid of getting on a contaminated ship”.
'[I am] “I'm not on the ship but I'm waiting to get on board and didn't want to… There was complete chaos on land,” he told Web, saying he had received no updates and the situation was a “complete mess” .
Passengers remained stuck on the ship after Mauritian authorities refused to allow the ship to dock “to avoid any health risks.”
About the same number of tourists were unable to board the ship and had to queue at the port before being accommodated in hotels
Holidaymakers imagined themselves standing in line at the port on Sunday. The ship was not allowed to dock on Saturday and cruise customers were accommodated in hotels
The Dutch holidaymaker Esther Verdaas with her husband and daughters
The 12-day cruise departed from South Africa via Mozambique and was scheduled to dock in Port Louis on Sunday. It now lies off the coast of Mauritius
The 59-year-old tourist said his partner “now refuses to get on the ship no matter what happens” and said they were considering flights home worth £1,600.
He said this would mean they would lose any possible refund for the trip but that they would still like to return home.
The ship has a crew of around 1,000, and of the more than 3,000 people on board, at least 15 people – 14 passengers and one crew member – are said to be in isolation with symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.
A passenger on board took a photo of a tanker near the ship, which is off the Mauritian coast.
A group of journalists had been scheduled to leave for a press tour on the ship on Sunday before learning that cholera was suspected on board, USA Today reports.
A mother of two on the ship told Dutch newspaper BN DeStem that passengers had been told there could be cholera on board and that if confirmed they would face quarantine for up to 10 days.
“You can imagine that the atmosphere among the passengers is not pleasant,” said Dutch holidaymaker Esther Verdaas.
“Flights are being missed, people have lost money on hotels booked in Mauritius.” The guests are angry, rebellious, sad. These are of course luxury problems. But what I find difficult is that so much is unclear. Can we go home? When? How? Where can we get tickets?'
The view from the ship off the coast of Mauritius, shared by a passenger on board
Norwegian Dawn's planned itinerary. It was supposed to travel from South Africa to Mauritius
Ms Verdaas explained that “the misery began” when they were due to dock in Réunion on Saturday but were refused by the authorities there.
“That meant a long extra day of aimless drifting on the open sea,” said the tourist, who is traveling with her husband and two daughters.
A passenger on the ship wrote on Facebook today: “We are not given an explanation as to why we are stuck outside Mauritius, but the theory is that we had an outbreak.” [gastro intestinal] Problems, most likely due to food poisoning.'
Another tourist on the ship said today that passengers were “fed up” and that there were “limited options” to deal with being stuck at sea.
Significant cholera outbreaks have occurred in southern Africa in recent months, with at least 188,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths recorded in seven countries since January 2023.
“The decision not to allow the cruise ship access to the quay was taken to avoid any health risks,” the Mauritius Port Authority said.
“The health and safety of passengers and the country as a whole are the authorities’ top priority,” it added, without specifying the nature of the health risk.
A spokesman for the US-headquartered Norwegian cruise line said in a statement that some passengers experienced mild symptoms of stomach illness during the ship's voyage to South Africa on February 13.
Once in Port Louis, the ship's management worked with Mauritian authorities to ensure precautionary measures were taken and everyone on board was OK, the spokesman said.
The Port Authority said its test results would be released in 48 hours.
The Norwegian Dawn, carrying about 2,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members, is drifting off the coast after Mauritian authorities decided to block it “to avoid any health risks” (file image)
The ship has 2,184 passengers and 1,026 crew members. Of these, about 2,000 passengers would have disembarked in Port Louis after completing their cruise, while another 2,279 new passengers were expected to board the ship, the port authority said.
“Passengers who were scheduled to board the 'Norwegian Dawn' today and begin their cruise from Mauritius will not be able to do so due to possible health risks,” it said.
Those who disembarked or joined the cruise will now do so on February 27, the Norwegian Cruise Line spokesman said.
Web has contacted Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd for comment.