Lawyers have submitted compensation claims for 115 passengers who were taken unwell on-board P&O Cruises' Ventura earlier this year.

Hudgell Solicitors is acting on behalf of the holidaymakers who travelled on Ventura on numerous occasions, largely between April and June 2024.

Passengers experienced bouts of sickness and vomiting, with one pair of cruise passengers who travelled on Ventura in May likening the experience to something out of “The Exorcist”.

Anne Thomson, of Hudgell Solicitors, says claims have been submitted to Carnival Corporation & plc, the parent company of P&O Cruises, seeking compensation for illness, pain and loss of amenity, for the diminished value of holidays, loss of enjoyment, and any other losses suffered, such as time required off work when still ill after returning home.

Carnival, based on Harbour Parade in Southampton, will now have six weeks to acknowledge the claims being made against it, and then a further six months to investigate matters and respond.

READ MORE: Passengers demand refunds after norovirus outbreak on board

In a statement, the solicitor said: “This legal action should come as no surprise to Carnival as the problems with illness outbreaks on the Ventura over the past year have been well documented, they are undeniable.

“Illness was rife on board during many cruises, ruining hundreds of holidays.

“Of course, we understand and accept that illness outbreaks can happen on individual cruise sailings, but here we had a situation where it happened on consecutive sailings over a number of months.

“We even had the situation where holidaymakers were being contacted the night before their holidays to warn them that there had been illness outbreaks on the previous cruise, only for the same thing to happen again, with hundreds taken ill and confined to their cabins.”

She added: “Given there were repeated outbreaks onboard over consecutive months, we hope Carnival come back to us quickly and take a sensible and collaborative approach to resolving these claims in a way which reflects the fact that so many people had their holidays ruined by illness.”

READ MORE: 1,000 cases of norovirus across 11 sailings of P&O Ventura, figures reveal

In a statement, a spokesperson for P&O Cruises said: “Whilst we do not comment on individual cases, we are aware that some guests have unfortunately reported gastrointestinal symptoms recently.

“Gastrointestinal related illnesses are very common in England and Wales and predominantly spread by person-to-person transmission in environments such as hotels, schools and restaurants.

“We work with global, national and regional public health authorities on proven protocols across our ships in order to protect the health and wellbeing of all on board.”