Nearly 90 People Sick in Holland America Norovirus Outbreak: CDC

Holland America Line reported the outbreak to the CDC on Jan. 8.

A Holland America Line cruise ship, in this file photo. Dustin Safranek/Ketchikan Daily News via AP

Nearly 90 people became sick in a norovirus outbreak on a Holland America Line cruise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a Jan. 9 update, the first such outbreak reported on a cruise ship in 2026.

Of the 2,593 guests on board the cruise line’s Rotterdam ship, 81 passengers were confirmed to be sick, according to the CDC. Eight crew members out of 1,005 were also sickened with the virus, it added.

The main symptoms reported during the Holland America Line outbreak to the CDC were diarrhea and vomiting, the agency said.

Cruise ships are mandated to report gastrointestinal illness cases to the CDC, the agency says on its website. Holland America Line reported the outbreak to the CDC on Jan. 8, according to the agency’s update.

The ship departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Dec. 28, 2025, and is slated to return to Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 18 after multiple stops around the Caribbean Sea, according to CruiseMapper.

A spokesperson for the cruise operator said in a statement provided to media outlets that cases of the virus were mostly mild and had quickly resolved.

“The health of our guests and crew is a top priority and consistent with CDC protocols, we conducted a comprehensive sanitization of the ship when the cruise ended Friday in Fort Lauderdale,” the spokesperson said.

The CDC also confirmed that Holland America would be increasing its “cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan,” collecting samples, isolating passengers and crew members, and communicating with the CDC about its procedures.

The CDC’s vessel sanitation program “is remotely monitoring the situation, including review of the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation procedures,” it said.

A transmission electron micrograph shows norovirus particles, in this file photo. Charles D. Humphrey/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

During 2025, the CDC reported 23 gastrointestinal illness outbreaks on cruise ships. Seventeen of those were caused by norovirus, the CDC said.

Norovirus is the leading cause of food-borne illness in the United States, responsible for 58 percent of foodborne illnesses acquired in the country each year, according to the CDC. On average, there are around 900 deaths, mainly in adults aged 65 and older, 109,000 hospitalizations, 465,000 emergency room visits, and 19 million to 21 million illnesses in the United States each year, it said.

Along with vomiting and diarrhea, other frequently reported symptoms include nausea, stomach pains, aches, headache, and fever.

Generally, people with norovirus will experience symptoms around 12 to 48 hours after they are exposed to the virus. Most people recover within one and three days. Young children, older people, and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk from the virus, with dehydration from vomiting and diarrhea the top concern.

Other than cruise ships, norovirus is also known to spread quickly in schools, colleges, childcare centers, and in other shared spaces with surfaces that people touch frequently, the agency says.

In late December, the CDC reported that 104 passengers and crew members on a Celebrity Cruises ship, the Celebrity Eclipse, were sickened in an outbreak. The cause of that outbreak is unknown.

That ship departed Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 20 and returned to the Florida city on Dec. 28, according to the CDC.