Cruise ship man wants to come home (From Echo)

Cruise ship man wants to come home

4:00pm Friday 10th July 2009 in

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A HISTORIAN has spoken about conditions onboard the Marco Polo cruise ship, which is at the centre of an outbreak of the winter vomiting bug norovirus.

Andrew Summers, 61, from Hadleigh, is one of 800 holidaymakers stuck on the liner along with his wife Glenis.

Mr Summers, co author of the local historical book The Essex Hundred has not contracted the bug, however his wife is unwell.

The couple decided to stay onboard the ship, which has been berthed at Invergordon on the Cromarty Firth in Scotland, since Monday, instead of getting the train home.

The liner is due to return to Tilbury – the port from where it departed six days ago – on Saturday morning.

Speaking to the Echo from the ship Mr Summers, said: “This certainly hasn’t been the best cruise experience I’ve ever had.

“I’m feeling OK, however my wife is feeling a bit poorly.

“We all have our own private cabins so we have been told to stay in them.

“Those who aren’t unwell were allowed out for a while to look around the town yesterday, but it’s getting a bit boring on here.

“There are 800 people on board so as you can imagine some people are handling the situation better than others.”

Some passengers onboard the Marco Polo – which was destined for a relaxing cruise around the British Isles – have complained about a lack of information on the virus.Passengers who were fit were given the option of returning home on a chartered train yesterday.

Mr Summers said: “Like a lot of people I just want to come home as quickly as possible.

“We are looking forward to getting back to Tilbury. The whole trip has been ruined,”