Dozens of passengers aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship caught a stomach bug on its last trip. The cruise ship arrived in Tauranga on Jan 15 and marked the end of a voyage that began in Australia.

Workers are frantically sanitising the ship before the next group of passengers comes aboard. The ship is scheduled to leave from Auckland on Jan 15. However, check-in time has been delayed for the thorough cleaning and decontamination.

About 60 people from among the 3,500 of the ship's passengers and crew fell ill after contracting norovirus. The virus is highly contagious with symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea, headaches and lethargy.

A passenger who asked not to be named told the Herald that he is seriously considering not going on his scheduled trip. He is due to leave for Sydney aboard the cruise ship for two weeks. The anonymous passenger said his partner is not in the best of health. They were looking forward to the spending time together in the cruise ship.

Despite his reservations, the passenger said there was no chance of a refund and the trip already cost him "thousands of dollars."

According to passengers who arrived in Tauranga, 50 of the ship's cabins have been locked down because of the norovirus outbreak. One passenger from that trip commented the crew were wiping things with a rag and carried spray cans.

Chuck Chidichimo, a tourist from Chicago, told reporters that when the ship's captain announced there was a virus going around the ship, it had "scared the s*** out of us."

Health experts warned that norovirus can be transmitted when a person comes in contact with food or water infected with fecal matter. The same goes for touching contaminated surfaces and person-to-person contact.

No refunds, no compensation claims

David Jones, a spokesperson for Princess Cruises, stated that the ship has doubled its efforts to sanitise contaminated areas to reduce the impact. Mr Jones added that no refunds would be offered to passengers who do not want to go on with their trip since the company believes there is a "low risk" of contracting norovirus. Those who contracted the stomach bug were not given compensation as well.

Travel agent iCruise remarked that some queries about cruise ships were about the risk of contracting an illness or if there was information about a recent outbreak.

House of Travel's Brent Thomas believes people will always be concerned about getting sick while on holiday, but only a "small number" of voyages were affected.

Following the news of a norovirus outbreak in the cruise ship, Auckland Regional Public Health Service Medical of Health Officer Simon Baker remarked that an investigation will only be launched when the outbreak was deemed significant or if the cruise liner made a request.

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