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Last Updated: Saturday, 14 May, 2005, 14:09 GMT 15:09 UK
Cruise halted by broken toilets
About 1,000 cruise passengers have had to abandon their holiday because the ship's toilets are failing to flush.

The Thomson Celebration set sail from Southampton on its 14-day cruise of the Mediterranean seven days ago.

Engineers failed to mend the plumbing, and 600 of the passengers have been flown home from Portugal to Bournemouth and Gatwick airports.

The ship, which is 21 years old, joined the Thomson brand this month. The ship will return to Southampton on Monday.

The problem really came to light a couple of days into the cruise when people realised they couldn't flush their loos properly
Rachel O'Reilly
from Thomson

Passengers paid �1,000 each for the voyage to France, Portugal and Spain.

The company has promised them a complete refund and 25% off their next booking.

About 500 passengers who have toilets that work have stayed on board the ship, which is due to dock in Southampton on Monday morning.

Rachel O'Reilly, head of public relations at Thomson, said: "It's incredibly disappointing for the passengers on board and we have apologised to everyone.

"The problem really came to light a couple of days into the cruise when people realised they couldn't flush their loos properly, not every cabin. About 250 cabins were affected.

"We did manage to fix it but unfortunately the system broke down again a couple of days later.

"In Lisbon we took the decision that we had to cancel the cruise for the comfort of every passenger on board."




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