TAMPA, Fla. – A Royal Caribbean cruise ship visiting the Caribbean Islands is full of sick passengers, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the CDC, nearly 100 people aboard the company’s Radiance of the Seas cruise ship are being forced to isolate themselves after becoming sick with a gastrointestinal illness.
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What we know:
According to Cruisemapper, the ship left Tampa’s downtown dock on Saturday, Feb. 1, setting out for a seven-day voyage due to return to Tampa on Saturday, Feb. 8.
The Port Tampa Bay cruise terminal stands ahead of Hurricane Irma in Tampa. Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The CDC reported Wednesday that 91 passengers and crew members reported symptoms, including diarrhea and vomiting.
According to officials, two of the 91 people who have reported being sick are crew members.
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The CDC says Royal Caribbean is required to report cases of passenger-related medical illnesses, and the company has taken the following steps since the outbreak:
- Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan
- Collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases for testing
- Isolated ill passengers and crew
- Consulted with VSP about sanitation cleaning procedures and reporting ill cases
The CDC says this is the sixth illness outbreak on a cruise ship in 2025 and has provided additional tips for ‘healthy cruising’ here.
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What we don’t know:
The CDC doesn’t know the exact cause of the outbreak.
They speculate that it could be norovirus, which they describe as a common cause of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships, but they say they are unable to confirm that until they receive stool or vomitus samples from the sick passengers.
Royal Caribbean Group’s statement
The other side:
In a statement to FOX 13 News, a Royal Caribbean Group spokesperson said “enhanced measures have been implemented onboard in an abundance of caution to protect the health and comfort of all our guests and crew.”
The company also states on their website that they provide “limited professional medical services through licensed (international or domestic) physicians and nurses” and that “all Royal Caribbean Group ships have shipboard medical facilities” that are “equipped to meet or exceed guidelines established by the American College of Emergency Physicians Cruise Ship & Maritime Medicine Section.”
The Source: This story was written with information provided by the CDC and Royal Caribbean International.
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