A COUPLE are suing a travel agent after falling ill on board a luxury cruise liner.
Peter and Anita Wormald contracted food poisoning while on board the 15-deck Independence of the Seas in the Mediterranean.
Mr Wormald says he lost more than 10lbs and took six weeks to recover after the £2,500 break in June.
His wife, a hairdresser who was celebrating her 50th birthday on board the 154,407 gross tons liner, is still experiencing problems.
Mr Wormald, a dental technician, described the bout of food poisoning as the most ‘horrendous experience’.
Now the couple from Hove Edge, Brighouse, are taking legal action against Ideal Cruising.
Mr Wormald, 57, said: “I feel so incensed by it all.
“We complained but they couldn’t give a brass monkey’s. I was floored by it for weeks after – I couldn’t even walk the dog because I was so poorly when I got home.
“The first night we had to send food back because it was cold – we know other passengers had to as well.”
The couple left Southampton in June for France, Portugal, Spain and Italy.
During the first few nights they sent food back several times and also saw curdled milk and yoghurts in faulty chiller cabinets.
But it was two days before the end of their two-week holiday when they were hit by severe diarrhoea, fever and headaches.
Mr Wormald became so ill he lost 10.5lbs in weight. He added: “The food wasn’t up to the standard we were expecting and it was such a disappointment because it spoiled what we hoped would be the perfect birthday celebration for Anita. On the last night we couldn’t say any final farewells because we were so unwell we couldn’t even leave our cabin.
“And it would appear we weren’t the only ones – a number of people we met also suffered from a similar illness.
“When we got home we went to our doctor and I had to spend a week off work as it still wasn’t clearing up.
“We had to cancel a birthday party we were organising for Anita with 40 friends because we were still feeling so bad.”
Tests showed the couple had both contracted campylobacter – a common form of food poisoning which was treated with antibiotics.
Mrs Wormald, added: “Peter has now recovered but it had a dreadful impact.
“I still have not recovered.”
The couple have enjoyed several cruises before but are wary now about booking another.
Rajbir Somel, the family solicitor from Irwin Mitchell, said: “Ideal Cruising have a duty to ensure they are sending customers on holidays where the highest hygiene and food safety standards are being maintained.
“We hope Ideal Cruising will now work with us to provide swift and fair compensation for our clients.”
A spokeswoman for Ideal Cruising said they were a travel agent for the ship, but would not comment while the legal action was ongoing.
