Norovirus outbreak leaves almost 100 passengers sick aboard cruise ship

Almost 100 people have fallen sick with norovirus during an outbreak on a Holland America cruise around the southern Caribbean.

Guests on the Rotterdam ship reported gastrointestinal symptoms during the round-trip from Fort Lauderdale.

Departing on 28 December, the journey included stops in Curaçao, Colombia, Costa Rica and Jamaica, per CruiseMapper.

According to the US’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), of 2,593 passengers and 1,005 crew onboard the vessel, 94 people reported being ill during the voyage.

Norovirus is a highly contagious virus that causes acute gastroenteritis, leading to sudden vomiting, diarrhoea, nausea, and stomach pain.

The CDC listed the impacted voyage dates as between 28 December and 9 January.

While the recovery time for most people with norovirus is one to three days, the virus is still contagious for a few days after symptoms fade.

In response to the outbreak, the crew increased cleaning and disinfection procedures, collected stool samples for testing, isolated ill passengers and consulted the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP).

VSP said it “remotely monitored the situation, including review of the ship's outbreak response and sanitation procedures”.

Holland America told USA TODAY that cases were “mostly mild and quickly resolved”.

The cruise line added: “The health of our guests and crew is a top priority, and consistent with CDC protocols, we conducted a comprehensive sanitisation of the ship when the cruise ended Friday in Fort Lauderdale.”

The Independent has contacted Holland America for comment.

In 2025, the CDC reported 23 separate outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships, 17 caused by norovirus.

Holland America’s Rotterdam also experienced an outbreak in March with 89 of 2,670 passengers reporting illness during a voyage.

Read more: Six simple ways to avoid illness on cruise ships