An elderly couple have slammed promises made by the organisers of MSC Virtuosa cruise ship as "lulling them into a false sense of security".
James and Irene White, aged 73 and 72, from Up Holland, tested positive for the virus at Wigan Hospital on September 8 2021, after disembarking the MSC Virtuosa in Liverpool the day before.
James believes they caught the virus during the week-long voyage and said the covid-safe measures shown in MSC Cruise's advert "lulled them into a false sense of security."
READ MORE: Man and woman named following investigations into 'pop up' brothels
He said: "We were told there would only be a small number of passengers, that there would be social distancing between the tables and that all food would be served by staff instead of self service.
"There was no distancing of the tables and it was self-service for food until Southampton when the buffet was suddenly shut down.
"We didn't see any deep cleaning and we were never told there was an outbreak on the cruise."
After arriving back in Liverpool, Irene started having difficulty breathing and was taken to Wigan Hospital by ambulance on September 8.
Whilst at the hospital she was given oxygen and although she has now recovered, James described the experience as "horrendous".
The couple's daughter Sharon Woods believes the cruise should not have allowed other passengers to board after positive cases were identified on the ship.
Sharon, whose 80-year-old father-in-law Peter also tested positive for covid-19 shortly after being a passenger on the trip, said: "It was evident that there was COVID on the ship when passengers disembarked yet they still allowed people including my family members to get on board.
"To me that was morally wrong. My parents were lambs to the slaughter."
Southampton City Council has confirmed that health officials made an unannounced check on the vessel on September 4, part way through the voyage.
A spokesperson for Southampton Port Health said: "MSC Virtuosa reported confirmed cases of COVID-19 on board [in line with standard maritime declaration procedure]. As a result, a Port Health Officer boarded the vessel on arrival into Southampton.
"This visit was not requested by the vessel. An inspection of the vessel was subsequently undertaken and advice to strengthen their controls on board was provided [including] the buffet no longer being self service."
A spokesperson for MSC Cruises told The ECHO: "We are sorry to hear that Mr and Mrs White, and Mr Woods, received positive test results upon their return home after their cruise with us.
"When we saw a dramatic increase in COVID rates ashore in the UK towards the end of August, we quickly introduced additional mandatory testing mid cruise for all guests regardless of vaccination status and more frequent testing for crew.
"These additional measures meant we saw a small increase in suspect cases identified and duly reported to the relevant authorities, but the proportion seen onboard our vessels remained well below the national average ashore in the UK.
"Any changes onboard including for instance the temporary reopening of our buffet would have been done carefully in alignment with regulations from local authorities considering the prevailing covid rates ashore at that moment in time.
"These additional measures and the escalating covid risk ashore were addressed in a letter to all guests on September 7."
