'Bug ship' response 'too slow'

Up to 500 passengers were hit by the illness

One of the passengers struck down with a bug onboard the virus-hit cruise ship has criticised the speed of the response to the outbreak.

Andrew Williams, 43, was taking a £600 trip with a friend on the Aurora - run by P&O cruises - from Southampton to the Mediterranean when the illness struck.

According to Mr Williams, a web designer from Llandeilo, public areas were not sealed off quickly enough to help prevent the bug spreading.

He is considering legal action after the ship returns to Southampton on Thursday.

Mr Williams told BBC News Online the illness struck very suddenly.

"The first half of the cruise was fine. We sailed from Southampton to Parma then Parma to Sicily.

It's cast a pall over the whole holiday Andrew Williams

"We got to Sicily, went ashore, and I felt fine, then out of the blue started vomiting in the street," he said.

"The illness came upon me really suddenly. I felt really weak.

"I slept in the cabin for about 24 hours straight through. It was like having flu."

Mr Williams' gripe with P&O was that according to him, they did not respond quickly enough after people became ill.

"They kept the public toilets open despite obvious signs that people had been ill," he said.

'Ghost ship'

He also claimed reports that the buffet was shut immediately were incorrect.

"The buffet was certainly open until about five days after the outbreak started, and then they started having staff serving instead."

Following the bug's outbreak, he described the Aurora as a "ghost ship", adding: "This wasn't the holiday I was expecting.

"The atmosphere aboard has been pretty awful with the walking wounded.

"It's cast a pall over the whole holiday.

"I will be contacting my solicitor when I get home."

P&O Cruises said in a press statement they were "operating comprehensive sanitisation procedures" to control the outbreak.