Over 70 passengers and crew members aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that left San Diego on Sept. 19 fell ill following a norovirus outbreak.
At least 71 passengers and one staffer aboard the Serenade of the Seas were sickened with the disease, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed in a statement posted to their website. The norovirus outbreak was reported Sunday to the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP).
“In response to the outbreak, Royal Caribbean International and the crew aboard the ship reported the following actions: [i]ncreased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan, [c]ollected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases for testing, [i]solated ill passengers and crew [and] [c]onsulted with VSP about sanitation cleaning procedures and reporting ill cases,” the agency said.
More than 70 sickened in norovirus outbreak on Royal Caribbean cruise https://t.co/g6ey4Cdrv3 pic.twitter.com/ApieHUX1Ik
— New York Post (@nypost) September 30, 2025
“VSP is remotely monitoring the situation, including review of the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation procedures,” the CDC continued.
The predominant symptoms reported aboard the ship were diarrhea and vomiting. Approaching four percent of the ship’s 1,874 passengers were sick with the disease, the agency said. (RELATED: Tropical Storm Imelda Strengthens Into Hurricane Ahead Of Potential Rare Merge With Humberto)
Florida International University Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Aileen Marty explained that the disease is a common one when speaking with WSVN.
“It’s going to make you nauseous, it’s going to give you vomiting, give you diarrhea for a few days and in it of itself, is not that bad, but if you get dehydrated from losing all those fluids, it can very serious,” Marty told the outlet.
She also explained that norovirus spreads very quickly in environments like cruise ships due to close contact.
“If the hygiene is not incredibly strict, it’s very easy that if one person brings this very contagious, hard-to-clean-off virus on board, that many people will get sick,” Marty said. “The vast majority of times cruise ships are safe, but when you’re on a cruise ship, you should absolutely follow all their rules and regulations about hygiene.”
A Royal Caribbean spokesperson issued a statement to the outlet. “The health and safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit are our top priority. To maintain an environment that supports the highest levels of health and safety aboard our ships we implement rigorous cleaning procedures, many of which far exceed public health guidelines,” they said.
The 13-night cruise is set to end Thursday in Miami, the New York Post reported.