Greater than 100 passengers and crew members fell sick during a norovirus outbreak on the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, in response to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC said that 102 passengers and 13 crew members reported becoming unwell throughout the voyage, which took place from April 28 to May 11.
In response to the norovirus outbreak, Princess Cruises and the crew aboard the ship reported increased cleansing and disinfection procedures in response to its outbreak prevention and response plan and isolated unwell passengers and crew, the agency said.
The Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP), which helps the cruise ship industry prevent and control the introduction and spread of gastrointestinal illnesses on ships, is conducting a field response for an environmental assessment and outbreak investigation to help the ship in controlling the spread.
Norovirus is very contagious and thrives in places where people gather in close quarters, making cruise ships at risk of outbreaks. There have been two norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships thus far this 12 months, the CDC reports.
Get each day National news
Get each day Canada news delivered to your inbox so you will never miss the day’s top stories.
In line with the CDC, norovirus might be contracted from an infected person, contaminated food or water or by touching contaminated surfaces. The virus causes inflammation of the stomach or intestines, which ends up in stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea and vomiting.
Norovirus illness might be serious, especially for young children and older adults, but it surely is different from the hantavirus, which recently sickened passengers on the MV Hondius cruise ship.
Hantavirus often spreads by inhalation of contaminated rodent droppings and, in rare cases, might be transmitted from individual to individual, in response to the World Health Organization. Symptoms often show between one and eight weeks after exposure.
A complete of three,116 passengers and 1,131 crew members are on the Caribbean Princess cruise ship, the CDC reports. The vessel left Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on April 28 and is predicted to reach in Florida on Monday.
“Princess Cruises can confirm that a limited number of people reported mild gastrointestinal illness throughout the April 28 Caribbean Princess voyage from Port Everglades,” Princess Cruises said in an announcement on Friday.
“We quickly disinfected every area of the ship and added extra sanitizing throughout the voyage,” the cruise line added.
Global News has reached out to Princess Cruises for further comment, but has not received a response.
The outbreak on the Caribbean Princess comes greater than a month after one other norovirus outbreak was reported on the cruise line’s Star Princess ship.
In March, the CDC reported that 141 passengers and 52 crew members reported becoming unwell with norovirus on the Star Princess cruise ship. The ship left Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and made stops within the Caribbean, Honduras, Belize and the Mexican Riviera.
Last April, 240 people had fallen sick on the Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 following a norovirus outbreak.
The CDC said in an outbreak report that 224 of the ship’s 2,538 passengers had fallen unwell from the virus, in addition to an extra 17 staff members.
The vessel departed Southampton within the U.K. on March 8, 2025, for an almost month-long cruise to Recent York after which through the Caribbean, making various stops along the island chain. It was due back in Southampton on April 6, 2025.
In line with the CDC, passengers experienced vomiting and diarrhea throughout the outbreak. The health agency said Cunard had stepped up its cleansing and disinfection protocols, and that sick passengers and crew were being quarantined.
— with files from Global News
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.