Virus-hit Royal Caribbean cruise ship back at home port

BAYONNE, New Jersey

PASSENGERS staggered off a Royal Caribbean ship reeking of vomit and diarrhoea at its home port on Wednesday after their cruise was cut short by an apparent stomach bug that felled nearly 700 holiday-makers and crew.

Cheers erupted from the Explorer of the Seas as the vessel pulled into Bayonne, New Jersey, in New York Harbour. Passengers disembarking soon afterwards recalled the nightmare of falling ill during the Caribbean cruise, being quarantined in their rooms, and putting everything they touched into biohazard bags.