Fourth Outbreak of 2025 Strikes Viking Cruises Ship

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January is turning out to be a hotbed of gastrointestinal illnesses aboard cruise ships, as another outbreak has been reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The latest ship impacted is Viking Mars, one of Viking Cruises’ newer ships, currently homeported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The illness outbreak is not reported on Viking Mars‘ current cruise, but on her most recent voyage – a 14-night roundtrip Panama Canal and Central America voyage with calls in Jamaica, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize, and Mexico. The ship set sail on Friday, January 10, 2025, and returned to Fort Lauderdale on Friday, January 24.

Along the way, a total of 62 passengers and 9 crew members reported diarrhea and vomiting severe enough to warrant alerting the ship’s medical center. This equates to 7% of the vessel’s 887 passengers onboard, as well as 2% of the 465 crew members.

CDC regulations require that any ships with more than 3% of passengers or crew members reporting illness must disclose the outbreak if they are within the CDC’s jurisdiction. This includes any ships homeported from US ports as well as those visiting US ports of call.

The causative agent for the illness aboard Viking Mars has not yet been identified. The most common cause of the reported symptoms is generally norovirus, but could also be different agents such as salmonella or e. coli.

To be clear, it is not necessary that all reports of illness onboard are made simultaneously. During Viking Mars‘ two-week voyage, these reports may have been made at any time. Typically, such symptoms resolve within 2-3 days with only minimal treatment.

Once the symptoms were noticed aboard Viking Mars, the onboard team took immediate action to mitigate any spread, including isolating ill passengers and crew members and increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures. These are standard responses to any such outbreak. Testing will confirm the causative agent.

There was no delay to Viking Mars‘ return to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale. Similarly, there was no change to the ship’s departure or itinerary for her next sailing, an identical 14-night Panama Canal and Central America sailing.

The 47,842-gross-ton ship will remain homeported from Fort Lauderdale through March, at which time she will move to the Mediterranean to offer sailings from Barcelona, Civitavecchia/Rome, Venice, Athens, and Istanbul through early summer. In mid-June, Viking Mars will begin offering 7-night Iceland cruises roundtrip from Reykjavik.

Busy January for Illness Outbreaks

This year is off to a fast start for illness outbreaks reported to the CDC. The outbreak aboard Viking Mars is the fourth outbreak so far in 2025, following Sea Cloud Cruises’ Sea Cloud Spirit, Silversea Cruises’ Silver Ray, and Holland America Line’s Volendam.

For comparison, in 2024 there were only two cruise ship outbreaks reported in January, while in 2023, there were three. All five of those incidents were confirmed as norovirus.

CDC Sign
CDC Sign (Photo Credit: Tada Images)

According to the CDC, norovirus is the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea in the US, with more than 2,500 outbreaks reported each year. In 2024, just 14 such outbreaks occurred on cruise ships.

The busiest months of the year for norovirus outbreaks are from November to April, when more people are inside and in close contact with one another. This allows for easier spread through contaminated surfaces.

Cruise travelers can best protect themselves with frequent and thorough handwashing, especially before eating and after using the restroom. Avoiding touching common surfaces, including railings, elevator buttons, and buffet serving utensils, are other good ways to protect oneself onboard.

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Melissa Mayntz
Melissa Mayntz
Melissa has been offering her expertise on cruises since 2017 and reporting on cruise news since 2021. her work has been featured in newspapers, blogs, and websites on a wide range of subjects, but cruises remain her favorite topic to cover. She has been on more than 40 voyages to the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, and more, and always has at least one more sailing booked on the horizon.

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