By Daniel Brock
dbrock@scbiznews.com
Published March 16, 2010

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a no-sail recommendation for the Charleston-based cruise ship on which nearly 1,000 people have gotten sick in the last month.

Celebrity Cruises officials, who earlier on Monday announced that the Celebrity Mercury would be cutting its current voyage short by a day because of another outbreak of gastrointestinal illness on board the ship, said in a statement yesterday evening that the Mercury would be staying in port until Sunday for “extensive and thorough sanitizing.”

The four-day recommendation will push the departure of the Mercury’s March 19-29 voyage back two days. It marks the third consecutive trip for the Mercury to be delayed for sanitation procedures. The ship had an outbreak of norovirus on its Feb. 15-Feb. 26 voyage, and passengers have faced similar problems on two subsequent cruises.

Officials reported that 342 of 1,829 passengers on board the ship have fallen ill on the current voyage, and CDC officials want ample time to pinpoint the problem.

Previous coverage:
Port, cruise line officials say virus won’t hurt business
Voyage cut short as illness flares up on cruise ship

The cruise line announced that it is offering a refund to those who choose not to make the Mercury’s next trip. Passengers who cancel will also receive a credit worth 15% of their fare for a future voyage, according to a USA Today report.

That’s a reverse from Celebrity’s previous stance of standing by its normal refund policy. Passengers on the current voyage who spoke to the Business Journal before departing expressed concerns about the ship’s sanitation, but said they felt they had to go since they couldn’t get their money back.

"I would like to apologize for the inconvenience these modified itineraries will cause our guests," said Daniel Hanrahan, president and chief executive officer of Celebrity Cruises, in yesterday’s statement. "I have made this decision to end the current sailing early and delay the next sailing because we want to maintain our high health standards onboard our ships, while providing our guests with the best cruise experience possible.  The extra time we are taking to sanitize the ship will help prevent any additional guests from becoming ill."

Enhanced cleaning of the Mercury, which is presently being done by the ship’s crew, will continue until it arrives to Charleston, the company said. Once it gets here, it — along the State Port Authority’s passenger terminal — will undergo days-long cleaning under the watch of the CDC.

The Mercury is expected to arrive early Thursday morning, and the cruise line will pay for current passengers’ hotel rooms in Charleston that night.

Passengers that decide to go on the Mercury’s next voyage, March 19-29, will receive on-board credits for the two days they lost and be refunded any remaining sum at the end of the trip, according to the USA Today report.

The CDC said it is testing samples from the Feb. 26-March 8 trip to see if the same illness affected both voyages.

Boarding for the Mercury’s next voyage is now anticipated to take place on Sunday. Due to the delayed departure, adjustments were made to the itinerary. The Mercury will now depart Charleston on March 21; be at sea Monday; visit Key West, Fla. on Tuesday; Cozumel, Mexico, on Wednesday; Costa Maya, Mexico, on Thursday; at sea on Friday; Nassau, Bahamas, on Saturday; and at sea on Sunday.