Events by Ship:
Illness Outbreaks by Ship:
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2009 |
| 16.6.09 | Diamond Princess | News 8 reports norovirus has caused several people to not be allowed to leave their rooms for fear of spreading the virus. One passengers says the captain told them the highly contagious stomach illness norovirus is on board and people are cleaning the ship, hoping it will get better. She says, the group was told hundreds of people had norovirus. She says most people are being served food in their rooms to prevent others from getting sick at the buffet. Princess Cruises released a statement saying, "We have a small number of passengers with symptoms of norovirus -- nothing unusual or escalated." They also say people who are sick have been asked to stay in their rooms. Last fall, sources say 400 British passengers were quarantined in China after norovirus spread aboard the Diamond Princess. |
| 27.5.09 | Coral Princess | The Anchorage Daily News reports a gastrointestinal illness outbreak on Sunday sickened 108 of its 2,000 passengers and seven crew members. The ship arrived in Whittier on Monday shortly after noon and was scrubbed down before taking on a new load of passengers that evening. The CDC subsequently reported 121 of 2001 (6.05) passengers and 7 0f 914 (0.77%) crew report ill. From a passenger: The first shipboard announcement was on the 23rd. Announcements suggested people use the toilets in their cabins, and to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds. Only change to shipboard routine we saw was at the buffet line: waiters served food to each person as they walked by, rather than allowing people to take their own food. Routines in the regular dining rooms remained unchanged. A man in the cabin next to us said his wife was quarantined to her cabin and would disembark through a different route than the other passengers. |
| 20.5.09 | Sea Princess | Grimsby Telegraph reports a norovirus outbreak on a cruise ending in Montego Bay (thus it will not be reported to the CDC). According to the newspaper, the day the cruise was to end the captain announced there was an outbreak of Norovirus, An elderly couple celebrating their golden wedding anniversary were struck with the illness and moved by the cruise line to the Altamont Hotel in Montego Bay, decribed by the husband as "cheap and small, situated on the Hip Strip, with police patrolling up and down the promenade in pairs." They say they were not allowed to leave the hotel for 48 hours, and claim to have received no information from the Princess Cruises, which organised the trip. Eventually, 10 more couples who were affected by the outbreak joined the pair in the hotel. Princess Cruises confirmed the norovirus outbreak. |
| 6.5.09 | Island Princess | The ship reported 7 of 894 (0.56%) crew and 100 of 1954 (5.12%) passengers had reported ill with gastrointestinal illness on a 14 day cruise ending May 7. |
| 20.3.09 | Island Princess | From a passenger: A friend and I are currently on the 10-day Panama cruise out of Fort Lauderdale, FL, and suspect a norovirus outbreak. As of yesterday, passengers are not allowed to serve themselves in the buffet and dinner rolls in the restaurants are served by waiters, not in baskets where passengers help themselves. Staff are everywhere with antiseptic spray, wiping down everything all day long. |
| 11.2.09 |
Coral Princess |
The ship reported 10 of 885 (1.13%) crew and 164 of 1996 (8.22%) passengers had reported ill with gastrointestinal illness on a 10 day Caribbean/Panama Canal cruise (Fort Lauderdale return) that February 3 and ends February 13. UPDATE February 13: Numbers have been revised to 19 of 885 (2.1%) crew and 252 of 1996 (12.6%) passengers. |
| 19.1.09 |
Tahitian Princess | A blogger onboard reports: At approximately 4.30 PM there was an announcement by the Captain over the speaker system on the ship, broadcasting not only in the public areas but also into the cabins (this indicated something of great importance) to say that there had been an outbreak of the 'Norwalk Virus' on board and that a number of people had been confined to their cabins and the remainder of us should take extra care with hand washing etc., in order to eradicate the problem. NOTE: Because the ship is cruising to South America, the number of passengers becoming ill will not be reported to or by the Centres for Disease Control. However, it has been reported that 86 passengers were ill. |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2008 |
| 23.12.08 |
Emerald Princess |
Posters
at Cruise Critic report an elevated number of illnesses (~50)
attributed to norovirus, but the number does may not appear to be high
enough (3% of passengers) to be considered an outbreak. |
| 18.11.08 |
Sun Princess |
From a passenger: I
have recently cruised from Sydney to Sydney on a 28 day Tahitian Pearls
cruise to South Pacific Islands, Cook Islands, Tonga, Tahiti &
Fiji. From day 2 of the cruise many of the passengers and crew
people began getting very sick. Flu like symptoms.
Very bad throat and cough, it was a Respiratory Infection/Influenza
1. Every day the medical centre on the ship had many people
seeking medical help. When passengers asked the medical team on the
ship what they should do - they told them to get off the ship ASAP! the
medical staff appeared to be overwhelmed and unprepared to deal with
the scale of the outbreak. The Captain even got the Respiratory
Infection. I was prepared as I had a supply of antibiotics from my
doctor prior to going on the cruise. We witnessed two coffins
being taken off the ship in full view of passengers at Papeete and
being loaded into the ambulance. Our holiday was spoiled as we tried as
best as possible to isolate ourselves. For 26 days of the 28 day cruise
most of the passengers continued to get around the ship with little
concern for spreading the coughs & sneezes! The
Norovirus outbreak was also a problem passengers were told not to use
the public toilet facilities - to use their cabin facilities - that may
have worked except that on many occasions we had no water in our
cabins. The worrying thing is that the illnesses where taken to each of
the islands we visited, unfortunately the islanders do not have access
to our medical services. The ship should have been quarantined in the
first week when these illnesses turned into an epidemic! |
| 5.11.08 |
Diamond Princess | The
Sun (UK)
and Shanghai
Daily reports up to 400 passengers hit with
a vomiting bug were confined to
cabins (quarantined) for 48 hours by officials at Shanghai in China.
Health and safety bosses were on the verge of forbidding the ship from
even docking. But they eventually decided to let 2,000 healthy
passengers ashore. However, other people, including 13 crew members,
were holed up in their rooms to prevent the highly contagious norovirus
spreading.The bug hit the ship on Sunday evening as it sailed from
Japan. |
| 24.10.08 |
Caribbean Princess | CBC reports that 105 passengers and 3 crew have been sickened by a bug believed to be norovirus. The ship docked today at Halifax, Nova Scotia. Princess Cruises said in a written statement that extra sanitation procedures were put into practice as soon as a higher-than-usual number of sick passengers was reported. Ill passengers are isolated in their cabins until they are non-contagious. Yesterday a crew member was taken off the ship in Saint John and transferred by ambulance to hospital for an unknown illness -- it is unknown whether his illness is related to this outbreak of what appears to be norovirus. UPDATE: The CDC reported October 27 that 172 of 3081 passengers (5.58%) and 13 of 1161 crew members (1.12%) reported ill on the cruise. |
| 16.6.08 | Dawn Princess | The ship reported 4 (0.48%) crew and 68 (3.15%) passengers had reported ill with gastrointestinal illness on a 10 day cruise to/from San Francisco. |
| 27.5.08 |
Sun Princess |
A
passenger reports there was a large outbreak of gastrointestinal
illness on the cruise from Freemantle (Australia) to Vietnam/Asia.
Exact numbers have not been reported and are not required by the CDC to
be reported given that the cruise does not include any US ports. |
| 1.5.08 | Diamond Princess | The ship reported 5 (0.45%) crew and 92 (3.37%) passengers had reported ill on a 14 day cruise to/from Los Angeles. |
| 9.3.08 |
Sun Princess | The cruise ending today (14 day Sydney to New Zealand return) reportedly had an outbreak of norovirus affecting approximately 100 passengers. According to a passenger, The increased sanitisation program that was put in place made things unpleasant; instead of relaxing on board you were constantly on guard not to touch the banisters, walking the stairs instead of using the lifts, avoiding contact with any other passenger, waiting in long queues for food because services were disrupted, having to walk around with hand sanitisation gel etc. Staff attitudes were also affected -- deck hands were used as sanitisation crews and were putting in many hours extra, and Wait staffs had to do much more as well, like putting salt and pepper on food, as all salt and pepper pots had been removed. All SPA baths were closed; so were the laundry facilities (which made things unpleasant as under clothes had to be washed in the staterooms and after 14 days at sea fresh clothes were becoming a problem). |
| 13.1.08 |
Dawn Princess | A passengers writes that "many, many passengers" came down with gastrointestinal illness during the seven day cruise from San Diego to the Mexican Riviera. The CDC has not reported an outbreak. which requires 3% or more of passengers to report illness to the infirmary -- in the case of this ship there would need to be 60 passengers reporting ill to meet the CDC threshold. NOTE: A passenger on the cruise embarking January 20 also reports a large number of passengers with gastrointestinal illness during the cruise. CDC reports 6 (0.69%) crew and 101 (4.84%) passengers had reported ill |
| 10.1.08 |
Pacific Princess | The ship reported 3 of 369 (0.81%) crew and 33 of 642 (5.14%) passengers had reported ill on a cruise that began December 15 in Tahiti and which disembarked at Ft. Lauderdale January 10. UPDATE: The numbers have been revised to 6 of 369 (1.63%) crew and 50 of 642 (7.70%) passengers reporting ill |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2007 |
| 26.12.07 |
The ship reported 22 of 1211 (1.82%) crew and 156 of 3209 (4.86%) passengers had reported ill on a 10 day eastern Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale. | |
| 8.12.07 |
Passengers that there is an outbreak of grastrointstinal
illness on the current cruise. The ship went from organe alert to red
alert on December 7 and the conditions remain the same today. The ship
is on an 18 day cruise from Civitavecchia to Fort Lauderdale (Dec 3 -
20). |
|
| 6.6.07 | Pacific Princess |
The ship reported that 5 (1.30%) crew and 20 (3.14%) passengers had reported ill on a 10 day cruise from Honolulu (27 May - 6 June). |
| 8.4.07 |
Caribbean Princess |
The
CDC reports that 117 people came down with what appeared to be
norovirus on the cruise ending today -- six people were still in
isolation when the cruise ended. The breakdown of crew vs.
passengers
reporting ill was not provided -- instead the illness was minimized by
saying that "about 2.5 percent of those onboard" (reportedly 4500
passengers and crew) had reported ill. If the distribution
between
crew and passengers is as it usually is, the percentage is closer to 4
percent of passengers. |
| 22.3.07 |
Regal Princess |
The ship reported that 8 of 860 crew (0.9%) and 69 of 1504
passengers (4.6%) have reported ill on a 12 day cruise from Lima (Peru)
to San Juan. The cruise ends March 25. This is the
first cruise since the ship left drydock following its scraping bottom
on a Mexican Riviera cruises (see February 20). |
| 17.3.07 | Sea Princess |
The ship reported that 5 (0.57%) crew and 82 (4.07%) passengers had reported ill on a 14 day cruise to/from Fort Lauderdale (3 - 17 March). |
| 8.2.07 |
Island Princess |
The ship reported that 37 of 916 4.04%)
crew and 179 of 1936 (9.25%) passengers
had
reported ill on a 15 day Hawaii cruise to/from
Los Angeles (26 Jan - 10 Feb). Symptons
were
consistent with gastrointestinal illness (e.g., norovirus). One
passenger suggests the number of ill passengers was 2 or more times the
numbers given by the CDC -- here are his
comments. |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2006 |
| 20.12.06 |
Regal Princess | The ship reported that 5 of 678 crew and 75 of 1479 (4.81%) passengers had reported ill on the 7 - 27 December Panama Canal cruise from San Juan. Symptons were consistent with gastrointestinal illness (e.g., norovirus) |
| 10.12.06 |
Sun Princess | The ship reported that 7 of 862 (0.81%) crew and 112 of 2013 (5.56%) passengers had reported ill on the 30 November - 10 December Caribbean cruise from Fort Lauderdale. Symptons were consistent with gastrointestinal illness (e.g., norovirus) |
| 5.11.06 |
Island Princess | The ship reported that 11 of 905 (1.22%) crew and 109 of 1959 (5.56%) passengers had reported ill on the 21 October - 5 November cruise to Hawai'i, leaving from and returning to Los Angeles. Symptoms were consistent with gastrointestinal illness (e.g., norovirus). |
| 9.9.06 |
Diamond Princess | Just got off the Diamond Princess cruise to Alaska - 9/2 - 9/9/06 .. ship was delayed on 9/2/06 by three hours due to the norovirus on the previous cruise. Before boarding we were given "Precaution Health Advisory Norovirus" letters - from Dr Grant Tarling, warning us of the illness and the precautionary measures we should take. We received another "Health Advisory Update" letter on Thursday, 9/7/06 stating that over the last 24 hours they had "noticed an increase in new cases strongly suggestive of Norovirus" and requested our continued support with their recommended health precautions. The CDC reports 4 of 1120 crew (0.36%) and 127 of 2643 passengers (4.81%) were reported as ill. |
| 27.8.06 |
Diamond Princess | From a passenger: Norovirus was reported on Aug 27 and the ship's Doctor sent out several memos. Capt also mentioned hygienic precautions in at least one noontime report from the bridge. Cruise director also came down with it and spent 2 days in his cabin. Each dining room had a list of cabin numbers in quarantine. You had to give your cabin number to enter the dining room. I got a peek at the list and there were three pages of probably 20 entries per page. Would estimate minimum of 60 cases that were reported. Suspect there were many others who were sick but did not report because they did not want to be quarantined. |
| 24.8.06 |
Diamond Princess | From a passenger on the cruise embarking August 19: Spike in GI incidence Thursday morning Aug. 24, 2006 (day 5)after being in port in Skagway day before. At noon hour staff in Horizon Court began serving all food & bread baskets no longer on table in dining room. Captain made an annoucement late afternoon advising of increased precautions & encouraging all pasenegers to use hand sanitizers. Masked, gloved crew members observed removing cabin linens into sealed plastic bags. Numbers affected unknown. |
| 6.6.06 |
Pacific Princess | A passenger reports at Cruise Critic on an outbreak of gastrointestinal illness affecting more than 40 passengers (5.88% of the 680 onboard). The outbreak appeared to be kept under control through usual measures such as closing buffets and public areas and requiring use of sanitizers. The ship is cruising southeast Asia. |
| 31.5.06 |
Sea Princess | The
ship will skip Lisbon and end its current cruise a day early because of
a norovirus outbreak. (The ship anchored
at Vigo but passengers were no allowed to disembark.) Many fell sick within 24 hours of
embarkation;
there had been a similar outbreak on the previous cruise. The
Mirror
reports that 215 passengers and 15 crew had fallen sick on the current
cruise and there were similar numbers the cruise before. (Here's
a collection
of media reports.) |
| 29.5.06 |
Coral Princess | As
passengers boarded they were asked to sign a statement indicating they
had been notified that norovirus was onboard. An unknown number
of
passenger were ill the previous cruise and the cruise ending June 5. |
| April 06 |
Sea Princess |
From a passenger: My wife and I both got the Norwalk virus on the second 14 day cruise on the Sea Princess in April, 2006. Helen got it first and than me. They really had a big break-out but really tried to cover it up. I asked the doctor how many cases they had on board and he told me a few. When he was preparing a shot for me in the outer room, I noticed a computer listing(listed all the cases by cabin and date,etc.) on his desk. IT WAS NOT JUST A FEW-the list looked(I glanced it for about 3-4 minutes) to be about 40/page and covered about 10 pages!!!! The doctor did not notice that I saw it but he did turn it over when he came back into his office. The crew was told to say nothing to us but our cabin attendant told us they had hundreds of sick passengers and crew. I should have suspected something was really wrong when they were cleaning everything all over the ship. |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2005 |
| 30.11.05 |
Diamond Princess | The Brisbane Courier-Mail reports that doctors are "battling to contain a highly contagious gastrointestinal virus among almost 4000 passengers and crew on the luxury cruise liner." The ship is on a 16-day cruise which began in Beijing on November 20. Passengers were given a health advisory about norovirus when they boarded the fully-booked ship; by day 4 they were advised that 37 cases have been reported and instructed to practice good personal hygiene. The number of ill was revised to 58 (of 2650 passengers) on November 30. A passenger aboard the previous cruise (November 8 -- Bankok to Beijing) reports that a number of people had norovirus symptoms -- "there was never an official notice but it was common knowledge ." |
| 14.5.05 | Dawn Princess | The CDC reports that 76 of 1974 passengers (3.9%) and 9 of 864 crew members (1.0%) reported ill during the April 29 - May 14 cruise ending in San Francisco. |
| 14.5.05 |
Sun Princess | The CDC reports that 121of 2000 passengers (6.05%) and 4 of 852 crew members (.47%) reported ill during the May 9 - 16 cruise ending in Whittier, AK. |
| 23.3.05 |
Royal Princess | The CDC reports that 41 of 1163 passengers (3.27%) and 15 of 541crew members (2.77%) reported ill during the March 7 - March 24 cruise ending in Fort Lauderdale. |
| 18.1.05 | Sun Princess | The CDC reports that 93 of 2,035 passengers (4.57%) and 5 of 865 crew members (.58%) reported ill with norovirus during the Jan 8 - 18 cruise beginning and ending in Fort Lauderdale. Plans were to have the ship "fogged" before the next cruise. |
| 14.1.05 |
Diamond Princess | Several passengers posted messages at Cruise Critic
indicating
a significant number (a busload) of passengers experienced symptoms
consistent with norovirus during the cruise Jan 7 - 14 (ending in Los
Angeles). |
| 7.1.05 | Coral Princess | A passenger reports that there was an increased number of passengers and crew with gastrointestinal illness and estimates between 40 and 100 passengers and 25 to 30 crew members have been affected. The CDC reported 84 of 2116 (3.97%) passengers and 31 of 913 crew (3.4%) reported ill on this cruise to/from San Juan. |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2004 |
| 19.12.04 |
Golden Princess | A passenger reports there was a significant outbreak of illness (hundreds of passengers affected) on the Caribbean cruise, December 12 - 19. According to CDC: the ship reported that an unusual number of passengers and some crew members were experiencing GI illness. The ship’s medical staff reported that 84 of 2742 (3.06%) passengers and 15 of 1100 (1.36%) crew members were ill. Predominant symptoms are diarrhea and vomiting. The cruise ends in San Juan on December 19. |
| 2.11.04 | Sun Princess | The ten-day cruise was struck with an outbreak of illness. According to one passenger: I was confined (quarenteened) to my cabin for 5 days with the Norwalk Virus. I got it 4 days into the sailing and at the 1st port we arrived at. I never left the ship. We were later told that the service in the dining room was so poor because everyone was sick. Then we heard from the entertainer that she had the flu and a fever and was the whole crew was given a vaccine(flu shot). Representatives of the CDC boarded the ship, but no information has yet been released. |
| 20.9.04 | Sun Princess | The ship will go through a "super-sanitization" for any
traces of Norwalk-like virus when its arrives at Vancouver today.
101 passengers and 14 crew were reported ill by September 17. The
cruise left Whittier September 13. |
| 17.9.04 |
Regal Princess | I received the following from a passenger onboard the ship: The captain has just announced that there are sick people on board and that we need to wash our hands especially after we use the restroom ... They have isolated the people who are sick and are in high alert and started the sterilization process to stop the virus before it gets worse. It must just be starting. The cruise began in New York on Sept. 11 and ended in Montreal Sept. 21. On September 21, the ship’s medical staff reported that 47 of 1537 (3.06%) passengers and 7 of 680 (1.03%) crew members were ill. The predominant symptoms were diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and nausea. |
| 13.9.04 | Sun Princess | Princess Cruises reported that that 145 of 1998 (7.26%) passengers and 5 of 855 (.58%) crew members were ill. The predominant symptoms were diarrhea and vomitting.. The ship's voyage will ended on September 13, 2004, in Whittier, AK (sailing dates: September 6 - 13). |
| 28.7.04 | Pacific Princess | Princess Cruise Line reported that that 22 of 614 (3.58%) passengers and 4 of 383 (1.04%) crew members were ill. The predominant symptom is diarrhea. The ship's voyage will end on August 17, 2004, in Honolulu, HI (sailing dates: July 25-August 17). They will arrive in U.S. port (Saipan) on August 1. CDC numbers: 57 pax (9.22%) and 10 crew (2.52%). |
| 10.6.04 |
Island
Princess |
For
a second week in a row, passengers were struck with
illness consistent witn norovirous. On June
9, the ship
reported that 66 passengers and 19 crew had reported illness consistent
with norovirus. The cruise began in
Whittier and will end June 12 in
Vancouver. |
| 4.6.04 |
Island
Princess |
375
passengers and 49 crew were reportedly stricken with
norovirus. The seven-day cruise began in Vancouver on May 29 and
ended a day early in Whittier on June 4. |
| 24.3.04 |
Royal
Princess |
On
March 22, the ship reported that 46 passengers and 12
crew had reported illness consistent with norovirus. The cruise
ran from March 9 - 25. |
| 22.1.04 |
Coral
Princess |
136
passengers (6.49%) and 20 crew members (2.19%) on Panama Canal cruise
reportedly came down with a gastronintestinal illness caused by
norovirus. |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2003 |
| 28.8.03 |
Regal
Princess |
There
was an outbreak of Norwalk-like virus on the ship
on Aug 19th, the day after it left Copenhagen. A total of 301
passengers and 45 crew were reportedly ill during the planned 16 day
cruise. The cruise ended two days early
in NYC (Sept 2) after missing planned stops in Greenland and
Newfoundland. While the cruise line suggests that a passenger
brought the virus with them when they boarded in Copenhagen, a
psasenger on the previous cruise reports that there had been "...several days of
overflowing toilets in the public restrooms, as well
as in the passengers cabins occured. Carpets were changed, plastic
over carpet in several areas seemed the norm. Several crew members
fell ill including our assistant waiter who was quarentined for days."
There were purportedly plumbing problems on several earlier
cruises as well. A report from onboard
indicates
that
as of September 7th, there have been no illnesses and all
of the crew is back on duty. |
| 9.8.03 |
Star
Princess |
107
passengers and 14 crew members were afflicted by Norwalk-like virus on
cruise between Seattle and Alaska. Departure of next cruise delayed
several hours for disinfecting of the ship. |
| 2.2.03 |
Sun
Princess |
265
passengers and 29 crew came down with a gastrointestinal
illness during the ship's voyage from Los Angeles to Hawaii (Jan. 25 -
Feb. 1). It is suspected to be Norwalk-like virus. After
new cases continued to appear, Princess decided to cut the cruise short
(ending it on February 4th in Honolulu) and to fly passengers back to
the mainland from Hawaii. The ship will be sanitized on its five
day voyage back to Los Angeles (arriving February 9th). |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2002 |
| 1-8.6.02 |
Ocean
Princess |
Outbreak
of gastrointestinal illness caused by Norwalk-like
virus effects 88 passengers and 39 crew. See
CDC for more information. |
| 24.5 - 1.6.02 | Ocean Princess | Outbreak of gastrointestinal illness caused by Norwalk-like virus effects 40 passengers and 12 crew. See CDC for more information. |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2001 and earlier |
| Aug.98 |
Regal Princess |
Princess cancelled a cruise in order to clean the ship after
430 passengers became ill on three successive Alaska cruises (Norwalk
virus). |
| Apr.97 |
Royal Princess |
Illness (E. coli) outbreak reported by CDC -- details unknown |
| Feb.97 |
Regal Princess |
Illness outbreak reported by CDC -- details unknown |
| Mar.96 |
Royal Princess |
Illness (E. coli) outbreak reported by CDC -- details unknown |