- Melanie Mann, 67, and her partner, 77, sailed on the Norwegian Dawn last month
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A British tourist has described how she was mugged, stranded on a ship and put into quarantine with severe sickness during a ‘nightmare’ cruise holiday.
Melanie Mann, 67, and her partner Richard Bartlam, 77, sailed on the Norwegian Dawn ship from South Africa to Mauritius last month.
The couple from Leicestershire forked out £8,200 for the dream holiday, but it ended up being marred by illness, a violent robbery and delays, with Melanie saying it was ‘the worst holiday I’ve ever had’.
They had been set to spend two nights in a luxury hotel on the Indian Ocean island before their ship was barred from docking by Mauritian authorities, who tested passengers for cholera before they gave the ship the all-clear.
When the vessel was eventually allowed to dock, the holidaymakers had just six hours at their resort before they were rushed to the airport to fly home.
The trip began in Cape Town, where the couple stayed for two days before embarking on their cruise.
After leaving their hotel, a gang of thieves attacked Melanie, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair some of the time.
‘Just 100 yards from the hotel I was mugged and my gold chain with citrine pendant pulled from my neck, and I fell over,’ Melanie said, adding: ‘My partner, in trying to grab the man, fell over too.’
The traumatised couple were helped by locals before calling the police. They spent the next two hours at the police station.
While they hoped that embarking on the cruise would see their holiday improve, things continued to go downhill for the couple.
Melanie came down with diarrhoea from the third day of the voyage and remained ill throughout the trip.
She said that she and Richard were confined to their cabin for 48 hours and had their key cards taken away from them.
While she is not certain what the illness was, Melanie said she suspects it was either gastroenteritis or food poisoning.
‘The final disaster,’ Melanie said, was that they missed out on the last part of their holiday because they were prevented from disembarking on the scheduled day.
She said that many of those on board were ‘fed up’ and that there had been long queues at customer services as people tried to work out ‘what was going on’.
‘We couldn’t stay for the planned two days in Mauritius and instead had just six hours at the resort before we were taken to the airport for our flight home,’ Melanie said.
Melanie and Richard were among 2,200 passengers and 1,000 crew on the cruise liner which Mauritian authorities temporarily barred from docking ‘to avoid any health risks’.
At least 15 people on the ship were reported to have been put into isolation with a stomach illness, which authorities initially feared was cholera but later confirmed was gastroenteritis.
The ship’s operator NCL said in a statement at the time: ‘Upon Norwegian Dawn’s arrival to Port Louis Mauritius on Feb. 25, 2024, there were a small number of guests experiencing mild symptoms of a stomach-related illness.
‘Despite previous reports and speculations, there were no confirmed cases nor any evidence of cholera on board the vessel.
‘Although only six guests were being monitored due to mild symptoms of a stomach-related illness, the government of Mauritius required testing in an overabundance of caution, thereby delaying the ship’s original disembarkation.’
The company has been contacted for comment.