More than 100 passengers and crew members aboard the Caribbean Princess have fallen ill during the ship’s current 13-night Southern Caribbean voyage, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The outbreak was reported by the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program on May 7 after the number of gastrointestinal illness cases passed the reporting threshold required for cruise ships.
According to the CDC, 102 of the 3,116 passengers onboard, or 3.3 percent, reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness during the voyage. In addition, 13 of the ship’s 1,131 crew members, or 1.2 percent of the crew onboard, also became sick.
The cruise began in Fort Lauderdale on April 28 and is scheduled to end in Port Canaveral on May 11. The ship is continuing its itinerary as planned, including calls to Amber Cove and Nassau.
In response to the outbreak, Princess Cruises and the crew onboard introduced enhanced cleaning and disinfection procedures under the company’s outbreak prevention plan. The crew also isolated ill passengers and crew members, collected stool samples for testing, and worked closely with the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program regarding sanitation procedures and illness reporting.
Health officials are testing samples to confirm whether norovirus is responsible for the outbreak, one of the most common causes of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships.
Once the voyage ends, the ship and terminal are expected to undergo a deep cleaning process before the next group of guests boards the vessel.
