A YAVERLAND couple are among passengers threatening holiday giant Thomson with legal action over its "Fawlty Towers" cruise liner.
Terry and Janet Robinson, both 62, claim their get-away-from-it-all Christmas and new year holiday aboard Island Escape was worse than the chaotic comedic hotel.
But Thomson strongly defended its liner.
A spokesman said: "The vast majority of guests who sailed onboard Island Escape rated the ship very highly in customer satisfaction surveys.
"We are very confident that guests due to travel onboard the Island Escape in the future will experience the excellent levels of quality and standards they expect from an Island Cruises ship."
While dozens of the passengers claimed they caught norovirus or other gastric complaints while on board, Mr and Mrs Robinson complained about the "down at heel, grubby" ship.
The Robinsons said they complained to the travel firm but when they received no reply joined 70 other passengers seeking compensation through travel litigators Irwin Mitchell.
The law firm says strict hygiene precautions were needed aboard ships to reduce the risk of infection.
It said Island Escape passengers complained about the extremely poor quality of the ship, referring to it as "shabby and grubby".
Retired building society manager Mr Robinson and his wife, a former travel agent, paid £2,500 for their two-week cruise, in the wake of the death of Mrs Robinson’s mother.
The couple, from Meadow Way, cited a catalogue of errors and poor conditions.
The Thomson spokesman refuted complaints about low standards, poor food and shabby state of the ship.
He said: "We closely monitor all the ships in our fleet to ensure that the strictest health, safety, hygiene and comfort levels our customers expect are maintained."
Reporter: richardw@iwcpmail.co.uk