A second Holland America Line ship has now reported what is believed to be a norovirus outbreak, the fourth report of a gastrointestinal illness from a cruise ship so far in 2025.
The most recent outbreak has been reported aboard Rotterdam on the ship’s current sailing, a 12-night roundtrip “Panama Canal Sunfarer” itinerary from Fort Lauderdale.
The ship departed on Sunday, February 2, and has already visited Half Moon Cay, Aruba, Colombia, the Panama Canal, and Costa Rica.
Along the way, however, a total of 119 individuals aboard the ship have now reported vomiting and diarrhea. Of those reports, 107 are among the passengers – a total of 4.1% of the 2,614 travelers aboard the ship.
The remaining 12 cases reported are among the ship’s 969 crew members, a total of 1.2% of the crew currently serving onboard Rotterdam.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) requires that any ship operating within US jurisdiction – sailing to or from a US port, even as a port visit – must report any outbreak once cases equal more than 3% of either guests or crew members.
In response to the cases onboard, the crew of Rotterdam increased cleaning and sanitation procedures, as well as isolated both guests and crew members reporting symptoms.
Specimens have also been collected for confirmation testing, which has confirmed norovirus as the causative agent.
There has been no impact on Rotterdam‘s itinerary and the ship remains on course for her final port visit of the voyage, a stop in Montego Bay, Jamaica on Wednesday, February 12. The ship will return to Fort Lauderdale on Friday, February 14.
It is possible that additional cleaning and sanitizing will take place either in Jamaica or once guests have all debarked in Fort Lauderdale. This might have a slight impact on embarkation timing, and Holland America Line will reach out to notify guests should that be necessary.
The ship’s next sailing, a 9-night itinerary to Curacao, Aruba, and Half Moon Cay, should not be impacted. Guests onboard may notice additional cleaning measures still underway, however, but all activities and events should move forward as planned.
Why So Many Outbreaks?
The current norovirus outbreak onboard Rotterdam is the fourth report of norovirus aboard a cruise ship so far in 2025, and the seventh outbreak of any gastrointestinal illness reported this year.
The previous norovirus outbreaks have been aboard Holland America Line’s Volendam, Viking Cruises’ Viking Mars, and Princess Cruises’ Coral Princess. Thus far, the report from Coral Princess has been the largest, with 145 total cases – 6.7% of guests and 2.1% of crew members.
According to the CDC, norovirus is the most common cause of vomiting and diarrhea in the US, with roughly 2,500 outbreaks reported annually.
The disease is easily passed through contaminated food, water, or surfaces. This makes it especially easy to spread anywhere there are groups of people, such as schools and restaurants.
On cruise ships, even with extra cleaning measures already in place as part of daily protocols, outbreaks can still occur.
That so many outbreaks have already occurred in 2025 – there haven’t been this many in January/February since 2019 – might indicate a new strain of norovirus has emerged.
The CDC notes that “in years when there is a new strain of the virus, there can be 50% more norovirus illness.”
Guests can protect themselves by thoroughly washing their hands after using the restroom and before eating, avoiding using common serving utensils, and minimizing touching shared surfaces such as railings and elevator buttons.
Travelers who do exhibit symptoms should always report their illness to the onboard medical center so it can be treated appropriately.
