A recent norovirus outbreak on a Holland America cruise ship has left 152 passengers and over a dozen crew members sick with symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea, as reported by health officials.
Out of the 2,614 passengers on board the MS Rotterdam, nearly 6% reported being affected by the illness during the 12-day voyage through the Panama Canal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Along with the passengers, 17 crew members out of the 969 personnel on board also fell ill.
A spokesperson for the cruise ship mentioned, “During its current voyage, a number of guests onboard Rotterdam reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness. The cases were mostly mild and quickly resolved. We initiated enhanced sanitation protocols in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to minimize further transmission, including continuous disinfection of the ship.”
The affected passengers and crew experienced gastrointestinal symptoms while on the MS Rotterdam, which departed from Fort Lauderdale in Florida on Feb. 2, as per the health agency.
The cruise liner has taken measures to isolate the affected individuals, enhance cleaning and disinfection procedures, and collect stool samples for further testing in order to contain the outbreak.
The ship is scheduled to return to Florida on Friday after making stops in various destinations, including Jamaica, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and the Bahamas, as per CruiseMapper.
The CDC’s vessel sanitation program was notified of the outbreak on Feb. 7.
This incident marks the seventh reported cruise ship sickness in 2025, following last year’s record-breaking number of outbreaks. Norovirus has been associated with three other outbreaks since the beginning of the year, as reported by the CDC.
Just a week before this outbreak, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship traveling from Tampa to the Western Caribbean had 160 passengers and 8 crew members experiencing similar gastrointestinal symptoms. The cause of the outbreak is still under investigation.
