The Caribbean Princess cruise ship which has a Gastrointestinal outbreak onboard is heading back to the homeport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Caribbean Princess Heads Back Home Due to Outbreak
The Princess cruise ship is heading straight back to Port Everglades in Florida due to a Gastrointestinal outbreak onboard which is the second time in two cruises. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there are a total of 186 out of 3,039 passengers who had the sickness and 15 out of 1,162 crew members. They have symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.
As a result of the bug onboard the ship has not made her scheduled port of call in Aruba today and is instead sailing directly back to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It is important to know that this isn’t the deadly coronavirus (COVID-19) which is causing fear across the industry.
Gastrointestinal sickness which is often called Norovirus can easily spread onboard cruise ships and is also a common virus found on land. Those who have the virus do recover as it’s not deadly.
To deal with the outbreak on the Caribbean Princess there has been intense cleaning, especially at the end of the previous voyage which ended on February 16. The crew has been sanitizing areas around the vessel and the cruise line has implemented its outbreak prevention response plan.
Also Read: Carnival Crew Member Tested for Coronavirus, Ship Denied at Caribbean Port
Officials will also be boarding the ship to investigate the outbreak and to make sure it does not spread, especially for the next voyage. Health authorities are being constantly updated on the situation onboard.
The ship is currently sailing a 14-day cruise which departed Fort Lauderdale on February 16, 2020. There not be any further ports of calls and she’s sailing back to Florida. The next voyage is scheduled to depart Florida on March 1 for a 10-day cruise. The time until then will allow intense cleaning and sanitation.
The Caribbean Princess is 113,000 gross tons with a guest capacity of over 3,000 at double occupancy. She entered service in 2004. You can read our news post about the previous voyage which also had a similar outbreak.
