FRENCH AUTHORITIES HAVE confined more than 1,700 passengers and crew on a cruise ship docked in Bordeaux after a passenger died from a suspected norovirus, officials said.
The Ambassador Cruise Line ship the Ambition – with a majority of the 1,233 passengers from Britain or Ireland – arrived in the western port of Bordeaux on Tuesday.
One 90-year-old passenger on the ship had died and about 50 people have shown symptoms of norovirus, health officials said.
Norovirus is one of the most common causes of gastroenteritis, or stomach bugs. It’s also called the ‘winter vomiting bug’, because it’s more common in winter, but you can catch it at any time of the year.
It causes vomiting and diarrhoea and spreads easily in public places like hospitals, nursing homes and schools. According to the HSE, it usually clears up by itself in a few days.
The ship, which left the Shetland Islands on 6 May, stopped in Belfast in Northern Ireland, Liverpool in Britain, and Brest in France before reaching Bordeaux, from where it was scheduled to depart for Spain.
With reporting from © AFP 2026