‘Tis the season for the spreading of germs, but passengers aboard a 10-night Caribbean cruise certainly didn’t expect the spread of norovirus ahead of their holidays.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed one such outbreak aboard Holland America Line’s 1,964-passenger Zuiderdam.
The 82,305-gross-ton ship is on a voyage that departed from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on December 4, 2024.
At press time, December 13, 2024, the CDC reported 74 passengers of the 1,923 onboard – less than 4 percent of guests – along with four of the ship’s 757 crew members, have fallen ill, experiencing symptoms that include diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, headache, and fever.
The number of ill passengers has been climbing since the ship’s medical team first reported the outbreak to the CDC on December 11, 2024, while the vessel was spending a day in Aruba.
According to the CDC, norovirus is highly contagious and “the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea, and foodborne illness in the United States.”
The vessel is currently on its second sea day as it returns to Florida on December 14 from the Caribbean, where passengers visited Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas; Grand Turk in the Turks and Caicos; Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic; Kralendijik in Bonaire; Willemstad in Curacao; and Oranjestad in Aruba.
The cruise line implemented its outbreak prevention and response plan, which included isolating affected individuals and ramping up cleaning and disinfection efforts to limit the spread of the virus.
In a statement to USA Today, a Holland America spokesperson said, “We initiated enhanced sanitation protocols in conjunction with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to minimize further transmission.”
The cruise line also said the outbreak will affect Zuiderdam’s next voyage, originally set to depart at 3 p.m. on December 14.
Passengers scheduled to set off on that 7-day itinerary to the Eastern Caribbean have been informed of a delayed embarkation due to additional sanitization measures Holland America Line will make between cruises.
How Norovirus Can Spread and Be Prevented
While norovirus is highly contagious, the CDC has only reported 12 outbreaks on US-based cruise ships in 2024 – with hundreds of voyages and thousands of passengers largely able to enjoy a healthy vacation.
Still, this is not Holland America Line’s first outbreak of the year. In March 2024, its Koningsdam ship, carrying 2,522 passengers, had 98 guests and 12 crew members falling victim to the virus on a Hawaiian and French Polynesian journey.
In fact, passengers can “still spread norovirus for up to 2 weeks or more after you feel better,” which is why an outbreak on a ship can be so disastrous.
Earlier in 2024, P&O Cruises’ P&O Ventura experienced an outbreak that, despite heavy cleaning procedures between sailings, continued to plague the 3,597-passenger ship for months.
The ship’s largest outbreak, which affected over 500 guests, took place during a 14-night sailing from England in May 2024. It was discovered that a previous 10-day April voyage had nearly 100 passengers reporting illness, indicating the virus was not eradicated before the subsequent journey.
For cruisers worried about contracting norovirus, the CDC recommends washing hands “well and often,” cleaning and disinfecting surfaces, washing fruits and vegetables and cooking shellfish thoroughly, and washing laundry in hot water.
