A holiday in paradise quickly turned into a nightmare for an Australian family after they claimed their room was infested with bedbugs.
Monica Robertson, her husband and their two children were onboard P&O’s Pacific Encounter to celebrate her mum’s 70th birthday.
They were looking forward to spending time together as a family – however, unfortunately, they also ended up spending the three-day vacation with some unwanted visitors.
‘I could feel things crawling on me in the bed,’ MSsRobertson recalled.
‘(I) peeled back the sheets and that’s where we saw quite a number of bugs in the bed with us.’
Monica Robertson, her husband and their two children were onboard P&O’s Pacific Encounter to celebrate her mum’s 70th birthday
The family’s holiday quickly soured when they discovered their beds were infested with bedbugs, leaving them with blistering red bites
Ms Robertson claims she first spotted one of the creepy crawlies in the bathroom, with all four travellers quickly ending up covered in blistering red welts.
‘(It was a) very very intense itching … almost (a) burning like sensation’, Ms Robertson told A Current Affair.
‘They were telling us it wasn’t bedbugs. And perhaps he’d been bitten, you know, outside on the deck whilst he’d been up there.’
‘(We) got back to port. We were able then to Google what we were dealing with,’ Robertson said.
‘Low and behold, it was saying bedbugs.’
Staff onboard reportedly found a dead bug in their bed and took it away for testing.
The family was told they could see the onboard doctor to treat their bites at their own expense.
A complaint was lodged with P&O, which insisted there was no evidence of bed bugs during room searches and cleans.
‘I don’t know where they got that from because we were clearly giving them bugs throughout our stay that they could look at,’ Ms Robertson added.
The family claims they were never offered another room despite providing staff with live evidence – instead, a $377 refund or $750 in future cruise credit.
The family claims they were never offered another room despite providing staff with live evidence (pictured: some of the creepy crawlies captured in a glass)
Ms Robertson said they have lost thousands of dollars, along with a number of items that needed to be disposed of upon arrival back in Brisbane to ensure the bugs didn’t spread to their home.
‘(We) left everything on the lawn,’ she recalled.
‘I had to sift through and decide what we could keep and what needed to be basically disposed off.’
‘The majority of things that couldn’t be washed I had to throw away.’
P&O Cruises Australia said it has ‘strict and robust health protocols’ on its ships, with ‘rigorous cleaning processes’
A pest report confirmed no infestation was found in the family’s home.
P&O Cruises Australia said it has ‘strict and robust health protocols’ on its ships.
‘Just like hotels, we have rigorous cleaning processes in place to address and resolve any issues that may arise.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted P&O for comment.
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