Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Hit with Norovirus Outbreak

We never want to hear bad news about cruise lines or cruise ships, but this certainly has been the year for some not-so-great news on board.

©Royal Caribbean

At the end of June, a child fell overboard on the Disney Dream but was fortunately saved with no major injuries. What we’ve seen time and time again this year on other cruise lines, though, is outbreaks of sickness, and now, there’s ANOTHER one that’s just been reported.

The last outbreak reported was aboard the Regent Seven Seas Cruises in May when norovirus spread across the ship. Now, that same fate has befallen Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas on its July 4th–July 11th sailing.

©Royal Caribbean

The outbreak was reported on the final day on the cruise, July 11th, but the numbers are from the cruise as a whole. 134 of 3,914 passengers reported being sick, which is 3.4%. As for crew, 0.6% reported being sick, which is 7 of 1,266. The causative agent is unknown at this time, but the main symptoms were diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps.

©Royal Caribbean

In response to the outbreak, Royal Caribbean reported performing the following procedures to help mitigate the spread:

Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures
Collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases to test
Isolated sick passengers and crew
Consulted with VSP about the ship’s sanitation cleaning procedures and reporting ill cases

Royal Caribbean Cruises

If you’re traveling and want to do all you can to mitigate the chance of getting sick with norovirus, it’s important to know how it spreads. Unlike many contagious colds and flus, norovirus doesn’t spread via spit droplets primarily — instead it requires coming into contact with something contaminated with vomit or stool. We know, we know, sounds disgusting, but that could be something as simple as someone not washing their hands after using the restroom, then touching handrails, buffet utensils, or going into a pool (especially for children). Therefore, the easiest way to keep yourself healthy is to wash your hands thoroughly with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before putting your hands anywhere near your eyes, mouth, or nose.