A mother-of-two says she was forced to hide in her room with her children on a horror cruise filled with drunken louts.
Lauren Musselwhite, 42, from Portsmouth, paid £3,000 for the two-week voyage around the Spanish coast on the MSC Cruises Virtuosa on July 12 with her children George, 17, and Freddie, 14.
But the teacher, who has been on 30 previous cruises and said she had loved them all, claims she was forced to cut short ‘the most appalling holiday’.
The family disembarked in Valencia, five days before the end of the trip, after experiencing constant waves of rowdy drunk youths, persistent swearing and yobbish behaviour.
She claims they did not like the food and children were left largely relying on crepes for over a week, while there was vomit, black soot and what appeared to be mucus in the swimming pools.
The experienced cruiser said she had to make her way through hordes of topless revellers on her way to dinner – before sheltering in her cabin immediately after to avoid further carnage.
It was the same trip where another family, Iain and Sally Wright, alongside their two children and Mrs Wright’s mother, said they had to take refuge in their cabin after the ‘family-friendly’ cruise was ruined by inebriated travellers who turned the ship into a ‘club’.
But while the family from Sunderland endured the entire voyage, which also included stops in Galicia, Seville, Granada, Alicante, Barcelona and Valencia, Ms Musselwhite said she was left with no choice but to disembark early, despite having to shell out a further £400 to return luggage to the UK.
A mother-of-two says she was forced to hide in her room with her children on a horror cruise filled with drunken louts
The family disembarked in Valencia, five days before the end of the trip, after experiencing constant waves of rowdy drunk youths, persistent swearing and yobbish behaviour
The family from Portsmouth had paid £3,000 for the two-week voyage around the Spanish coast on the MSC Cruises Virtuosa (pictured)
She told the Daily Mail: ‘It all just went wrong from night one, to be honest.
‘There was a load of drunk people everywhere on the stairs up to dinner. I thought I’m not having this.
‘There were people arguing, there were people swearing. When you went to get some food in the buffet there were people with no clothes on, on FaceTime on their phone swearing.
‘Nobody was there enforcing any kind of basic rules or manners that you would expect from a cruise.
‘The restaurant manager said if people were aggressive or fighting, then we can call security, but not if they’re just drunk and having a good time.
‘As soon as we’d had our food from the buffet in the evening we went back to the room and we stayed in our room all night.
‘I said look I can’t deal with this for two weeks.
‘I don’t wan to say the ship was like Butlins. Because I genuinely feel that was probably an insult to Butlins.’
Iain and Sally Wright also took their children Jack, 11, and Molly, 8, on the cruise, paying £8,000 for the two week trip
Molly Wright, 8, was left covered in soot after it ‘rained’ from the ship’s funnels. Mr Wright claimed other guests also said they were covered in it
Soot had rained from one of the ships funnels, spraying guests including 11-year-old Jack Wright
MSC Cruises said they were ‘reviewing the issues’ that Ms Musselwhite experienced and they ‘remain committed to maintaining high standards.’
Meanwhile, the Wright family said they tried to leave the cruise halfway through when in Majorca after they hid in their rooms to avoid the ‘horrible’ atmosphere of constant swearing, which Mr Wright, 41, an author, claimed was ‘worse than a Wetherspoons’.
One intoxicated guest even threw up next to the family’s table while they were playing Scrabble. Mr Wright claims it took an hour for staff to clean up the ‘smelly mess’.
While eight-year-old Molly suffered an allergic reaction after swimming in a pool covered in black soot.
Ms Musselwhite said she also saw vomit and mucus in the pools, which stopped the family from going swimming.
‘There was sick down by the side of one of the pools we were at,’ she said.
‘In another there was a whole manner of things floating in that pool. It looked like green, like snot, clumps of it though.
‘These things were not being cleaned up straight away. It was just grim if I’m honest.
‘Anyway, we didn’t really use the pools after that.’
Soot had rained from one of the ships funnels, spraying guests, while Molly ‘suffered with itching for 24 hours’ and had to go see a doctor.
The Wright family sheltered in their rooms to avoid the ‘horrible’ atmosphere of ‘constant swearing’ which was ‘worse than a Wetherspoons’
James Messham, 60, (pictured), described as a ‘proper gent’ and a ‘salt of the earth’ gentleman’ died following an altercation on the cruise ship in May.
Traitors’ stay Harry Clark and girlfriend Anna Maynard were among the passengers enjoying the two-night cruise when Mr Messham died
‘We were told it “happens sometimes when we pull away from a port” by staff, Mr Wright said.
Ms Musselwhite added: ‘I saw another family who got covered in. I saw people at reception complaining because they were covered in this black stuff, but fortunately we weren’t.’
The teacher said she had unsuccesfully asked to pay for an upgrade while on the trip, and also knew of other families who left early.
A spokesperson for MSC Cruises said: ‘We are sorry to hear about Ms Musselwhite’s experience during her recent sailing.
‘We take all feedback seriously and are currently reviewing the issues that have been brought to our attention. We remain committed to maintaining high standards across all areas of our guest experience and will be looking into the matter further to ensure appropriate follow-up where necessary.’
The same cruise ship saw a 60-year-old ‘killed’ on a ‘stag do’ after a major brawl broke out just two hours after it left Southampton for Belgium in May.
The cruise ship was still in British waters when a brawl described as being like something from the ‘Wild West’ took place on board.
Chilling footage shows crowds partying on the cruise liner just hours before the 60-year-old was ‘killed’ on a ‘stag do night’ on the ship
In the hours before, high-spirited crowds filled the mega ship – with music blaring from the speakers and football playing from a large poolside screen
James Messham described as a ‘proper gent’ and a ‘salt of the earth’ gentleman who would help ‘anyone day or night’, died following the altercation.
Two men were later arrested in connection with the death.
It later emerged that the Traitors’ winner Harry Clark and his girlfriend were among the passengers enjoying the two-night cruise. He was said to be ‘very shocked and saddened’ by the incident and was ‘thinking of the individual’s family and friends’.
In the hours before, high-spirited crowds filled the mega ship – with music blaring from the speakers and football playing from a large poolside screen.
Eerie footage taken by a mother onboard the cruise shows oblivious crowds dancing away to ‘Hey Baby’ by DJ Ötzi with drinks in hand, while others sunbathe on loungers or go for a dip in the pool.
One passenger described scenes of drunken brawls erupting almost immediately after boarding the two-night return voyage – claiming the cruise was ‘full of stag and hen dos’.
