Carnival's Princess Cruises reported a gastrointestinal illness outbreak on one of its ships with over 80 sick people onboard.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Coral Princess had 69 ill passengers onboard the February 21, 2025 voyage. 13 crew members were also unwell, bringing the total affected on the 91,627 gross registered ton (GRT) ship to 82.
The outbreak was reported to the CDC on March 7, 2025. 3.62% of passengers and 1.45% of crew members reported gastrointestinal symptoms. There were 1,906 guests and 895 crew onboard.
While onboard, infected guests primarily suffered from diarrhea and vomiting. The CDC listed norovirus as the causative agent. The highly contagious virus spreads easily through contaminated water, food, and surfaces.
In response to the norovirus outbreak, Princess implemented enhanced cleaning protocols, collected stool specimens for testing, and isolated ill passengers and crew.
Coral Princess was on a 16-night Panama Canal cruise that departed from Los Angeles, California, and sailed to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, and Aruba, before arriving in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on March 9.
The second norovirus outbreak on Coral Princess in 2025
Coral Princess reported its first norovirus outbreak in January. 148 people, both passengers and crew, were sick. Like the recent voyage, the predominant symptoms were diarrhea and vomiting.
Since then, three other cruise ships reported norovirus outbreaks: Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas, Holland America Line's Rotterdam, and HAL's Eurodam.
Eurodam's outbreak was the worst, with nearly 8% of all guests onboard reporting gastrointestinal symptoms. Additionally, 17 out of 834 crew members were sick.
9th gastrointestinal cruise ship outbreak in 2025
Compared to January, February, and March 2024, this year is seeing an increase in norovirus cases on cruise ships, with just three reported during the same period last year aboard Celebrity Constellation, Queen Victoria, and Holland America Line's Koningsdam.
With a little over two weeks left in the first quarter of 2025, it might sound alarming to see the seemingly constant cruise norovirus outbreaks in the news. However, norovirus is also on the rise in the United States.
From August 1, 2024, to January 15, 2025, NoroSTAT-participating states, including North Carolina, Michigan, Oregon, and New Mexico, reported 1,078 norovirus outbreaks to the CDC. Those same states reported just 557 outbreaks during the same period the year before.
Last week, the MU Health Care emergency department saw over 60 patients with norovirus-like symptoms, such as vomiting and nausea, as reported by KOMU 8.
Tampa Bay Times also shared that the virus is hitting Florida hard. Like most of the south, Florida had higher norovirus levels than previous years as of Jan. 31.
“It’s a tough illness to have to deal with,” said Dr. Maria Garcia, an emergency medicine physician at Baptist Health South Florida.
Cruise ship outbreaks have affected vessels sailing for Sea Cloud Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Holland America Line, Viking Ocean Cruises, Princess Cruises, and Royal Caribbean. This means that, as of March 12, 2025, lines like Carnival, Celebrity, and Norwegian have been spared so far.
The CDC publishes cruise ship outbreaks on its website when they meet the following criteria:
- The ship must be under VSP (Vessel Sanitation Program) jurisdiction on cruises including both U.S. and foreign ports
- The specific voyage has 3% or more of passengers or crew reporting gastrointestinal symptoms to the ship's medical staff
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Growing up, she had the privilege of traveling frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas her freshman year of high school. She wanted to pursue a career that highlighted her passion for travel and strengths as a writer.
