Norovirus cuts short Caribbean Princess cruise

While the world is focused on Coronavirus (COVID-19), the bane of the cruise industry, Norovirus continues to haunt.

On 02 February 2020, the Caribbean Princess with 3035 passengers on board departed Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) for a two week sojourn into the warm waters of the Caribbean.

But the stomach bug, norovirus, had infected more than 10 percent of the passengers (345) and two percent of the crew (26), and the government of Trinidad and Tobago had refused entry of the ship to its port. Princess cruises decided to curtail the cruise and returned to Port Everglades a few days early (13 February).

Norovirus stay away! Norovirus is most common in the winter. Take steps to protect yourself and your family from #norovirus. https://t.co/OKXvDSXuMI pic.twitter.com/0lGOHDcnjk

— CDC (@CDCgov) November 22, 2019

Which from this lay person’s perspective makes sense as the ships infirmary isn’t staffed to handle hundreds of cases of any disease, let alone Norovirus which carries with it the symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.

CDC Vessel Sanitation Program

The CDC advises that a VSP investigation team met the vessel upon its return, and is assisting in investigating the outbreak and monitoring the ships response to the incident.

CDC continues how the ship has taken the following actions:

• Increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan.
• Making daily Captain’s announcements and distributing written health advisories to passengers.
• Sending daily reports of gastrointestinal illness cases to VSP.
• Collecting stool specimens from passenger and/or crew gastrointestinal illness cases and sending specimens for testing.

Princess Cruise

This is a highly unusual development and we share the disappointment of our guests,” reads a statement from Princess Cruises. “However, the health and safety of our guests and crew is our top priority, and in working with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it was decided out of an abundance of caution, in this specific instance, to discontinue the cruise.”

Princess Cruises advises that all passengers have received a 50 percent refund for the cruise and a voucher for 50 percent off a future cruise based on their current cruise pricing.

NOTE: The author is a share holder in Carnival Corporation, the parent company of Princess Cruises.

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