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100 ill on cruise: A cruise ship pulled into Florida after more than 100 people fell ill on board due to a stomach illness.
A Royal Caribbean navigates away from a shipyard in Turku on Oct. 29, 2010. (Roni Lehti/AFP/Getty Images)
A Royal Caribbean cruise ship where more than 100 people got sick returned back to the United States, the company said Friday.
While out at sea, 105 of the 1,991 guests and three of the 772 crew members got ill, reported CNN. The Vision of the Seas ship made it back to Port Everglades, Fla., during an 11-day cruise.
The company said those on board appeared to have contracted a stomach illness, possibly norovirus.
“At Royal Caribbean International we have high health standards for all our guests and crew,” Royal Caribbean said, according to the network “During the sailing, we conduct enhanced cleaning onboard the ship, to help prevent the spread of the illness.”
The Associated Press reported that those with the short-lived ailment were given over-the-counter medication on board the vessel.
The company also said that crew members boosted efforts to clean the vessel to prevent spreading the illness after the ship docked in Florida. The source of the illness was not confirmed, according to AP.
The ship is again scheduled to depart on Friday, the company said.
“Norovirus is a very contagious virus. You can get norovirus from an infected person, contaminated food or water, or by touching contaminated surfaces. The virus causes your stomach or intestines or both to get inflamed (acute gastroenteritis). This leads you to have stomach pain, nausea, and diarrhea and to throw up,” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control said.
In February, passengers on a Carnival Corp. cruise endured an ordeal after they were trapped for days at sea without power.
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