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Cruise ship with troubled past arrives in Saint John

A cruise ship that's made headlines for a number of problems was in port in Saint John on Tuesday.

The Anthem of the Seas has been called "cursed" by the U.K.-based Daily Mail, but passengers say they have had good experiences so far.

Joe Ilacqua, from Fenton, Michigan, said aside from being a bit crowded, things have been fine on this trip.

"On the whole, it's great entertainment, the food is good, the crew is excellent," he said.

"It's just at times it seems like too many people."

- Cruise ship damaged by hurricane-force winds forced to turn around again

His issue is more with the size of the boat rather than potential illness.

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And he isn't worried about weather at all. "We know they had a couple rough voyages previous to this," he said, "but here, the weather has been beautiful, every single day.

"We had some rain in Boston, but other than that, the weather has been magnificent, just like it is in New Brunswick."

Plagued by incidents

Since her maiden voyage in 2015, the Anthem of the Seas has had a large number of incidents in its short life.

The ship had an outbreak of norovirus in 2015, which affected 125 passengers and 16 crew members.

Earlier this summer, a child died in hospital after being found unresponsive in an on-board pool.

In February, the ship was rocked by a class two hurricane, causing widespread damage to the ship's interior and four minor injuries.

And just weeks ago, tropical storm Hermine caused dishes to fly on board.

'You always take that chance'

Mary Crawford has heard of all the trouble, but she doesn't put much stock in it, especially the weather-related issues.

She researches all the ships before she chooses a cruise and prefers trying newer ships and checking out the different cruise lines.

As a frequent cruiser, she knows that there are risks inherent in the vacation.

"You can't control the weather," she said, "and [when] you cruise during hurricane season, you always take that chance."

With almost 4,200 passengers, the Anthem of the Seas is the largest ship to visit Saint John.

It heads to Halifax next, then back to New York to finish this trip. It'll be back in the city later this month.