A British cruise vessel operated by Ambassador Cruise Line was ordered confined to the Port of Bordeaux on Tuesday evening after French health authorities identified an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness among those aboard. Regional officials suspended disembarkation and restricted the ship’s port interactions based on recommendations from local health agencies. The ship, named Ambition, was midway through a 14-night voyage that originated from Belfast and Liverpool and included planned stops in northern Spain and along France’s Atlantic coast.
Approximately 50 passengers displayed symptoms consistent with acute digestive infection, with the ship’s captain alerting French authorities to the situation. Those affected received treatment from the vessel’s medical staff and were isolated in their cabins. A medical team was dispatched to conduct testing, with samples sent to a Bordeaux hospital for analysis. The cruise operator reported that 48 passengers and one crew member showed gastrointestinal symptoms as of late morning on Wednesday, with cases appearing to increase following passenger boarding on May 9 in Liverpool.
French health officials issued a statement explicitly rejecting any connection between the Ambition outbreak and a separate hantavirus incident aboard another vessel. The hantavirus situation aboard the MV Hondius last month resulted in three deaths and multiple confirmed and suspected cases across several countries. The statement characterized the two situations as unrelated health events.
Ambassador Cruise Line, a British operator founded in 2021 that primarily targets passengers over 50, canceled all shore excursions at Bordeaux and offered affected passengers full refunds. The company also reported that a 92-year-old male passenger died on Sunday, though he had not reported symptoms consistent with the gastroenteritis outbreak, and his cause of death remained pending coroner determination. Updates on testing results were expected later in the day.
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