It has not been a pleasant year for more than 600 guests aboard Holland America Line ships, with six separate gastrointestinal illness outbreaks reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in just four months.
Two new outbreaks have been reported in just the past few days, aboard Zuiderdam and Eurodam. While this is Zuiderdam‘s first outbreak of 2025, Eurodam had a previous outbreak just two months ago.
Zuiderdam has reported 55 guests out of 1,149 currently onboard with diarrhea, along with 14 of the ship’s 751 crew members. These totals are 4.8% of guests and 1.9% of crew members.
Meanwhile, aboard Eurodam, 64 guests out of 2,038 (3.1%) and 12 crew members out of 830 (1.5%) have reported diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps.
Cruise ships operating within US jurisdiction – calling at US ports or sailing to or from US homeports – must report any outbreaks to the CDC when more than 3% of either guests or crew members report such symptoms.
Zuiderdam is currently sailing a 125-night Grand World Voyage that departed Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on January 4.
The ship has since passed through the Panama Canal, sailed along the Pacific coast of South America, crossed the Pacific to French Polynesia, visited New Zealand and Australia, continued on to Indonesia, Singapore, India, Thailand, and Africa, moved up the Dark Continent’s Atlantic coast to the Mediterranean, and is now heading for San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Frankly, having just 55 guests reporting such illness symptoms in more than three months is quite extraordinary, but regulations must be followed.
The causative agent aboard Zuiderdam has not been identified, though testing is undoubtedly underway to determine if there is a specific cause.
Because the illnesses are cumulative throughout the entire voyage, it is possible that different cases have been weeks – even months, with such a long world cruise – apart. Different impacted guests may be suffering from a variety of causes of very similar symptoms.
The situation aboard Eurodam is significantly different, as the current sailing is much shorter. The ship departed Fort Lauderdale on April 12 on a one-way repositioning cruise to Vancouver, Canada, in preparation for the Alaska season.
Along the way, Eurodam has visited port in Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, and California, as well as passed through the Panama Canal. She will arrive in Vancouver on Friday, May 2.
Norovirus has already been identified as the causative agent aboard Eurodam, the same as the ship’s earlier outbreak in February. The two outbreaks are not likely related, however, with so much time between the required reports.
Onboard each ship, enhanced cleaning measures are being taken to minimize any further spread of the illnesses, and guests and crew members reporting symptoms are being isolated.
Why Are So Many Holland America Line Ships Affected?
While the new outbreaks are not related – either to previous outbreaks or each other – the sheer number of outbreaks on Holland America Line ships might be concerning.
In addition to these outbreaks – Zuiderdam and two aboard Eurodam – Rotterdam has also seen two outbreaks in 2025, one in March and one in February. Volendam is the other ship impacted with an outbreak reported in January.
Other than Zuiderdam where the cause is still unknown, all outbreaks have been confirmed as norovirus.
Across all cruise lines reporting to the CDC, a total of 16 outbreaks have been reported in 2025. Of those, one is presumed ciguatera, one is E. coli, two are yet unknown, and all the rest are norovirus.
According to the CDC, norovirus is the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea in the US, with more than 2,500 outbreaks reported annually. The disease is most prevalent from November to April.
Looking at cruise ship outbreaks from November 2024 through April 2025, a total of 20 norovirus outbreaks have been reported. Zuiderdam, Rotterdam, and Eurodam all reported outbreaks in late 2024.
Read Also: 10 Reasons Why Cruise Ships Are Not Floating Petri Dishes
So, should Holland America Line guests be concerned? When all of the cruise line’s 2025 outbreaks are added together, 5.2% of guests (and 1.6% of crew members) on impacted ships have been affected with the less-than-pleasant symptoms.
This means that 94.8% of travelers have had smooth sailing on their various voyages – better odds than any casino games!
