More than 200 people aboard Cunard Line’s flagship Queen Mary 2 ended their month-long Caribbean cruise in isolation after falling ill with vomiting and diarrhoea, the result of a norovirus outbreak, a highly contagious stomach bug.
Departing Southampton on 8 March, the ship picked up additional passengers in New York before heading south to the Caribbean. The first cases were reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ten days into the cruise when symptoms first began appearing.
The virus affected almost a tenth of the 2,538 passengers as well as 17 crew members. In response, Cunard implemented enhanced cleaning and disinfection measures and collected stool samples for testing, in accordance with CDC guidelines.
‘VSP (Vessel Sanitation Program) is remotely monitoring the situation, including a review of the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation procedures,’ the CDC said in a statement.
Infected passengers and crew were isolated from the rest of the guests. In a statement, Cunard confirmed they were ‘continuing to closely monitor the guests and, as a precaution, have completed a comprehensive deep clean of the ship and immediately activated our enhanced health and safety protocols, which are proving to be effective’.
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The Queen Mary 2 returned to the UK on 6 April and has since embarked on a new seven-day voyage to the Norwegian fjords.
This is not the first norovirus outbreak on cruise ships this year. Another outbreak recently affected passengers on Holland America Line’s Rotterdam, which saw 89 passengers and 4 crew members fall ill with norovirus in early March. The same ship reported another outbreak in February, when 107 guests and 12 crew members were infected.
Cruise lines are required to report gastrointestinal illnesses to the VSP when 3% or more of passengers or crew become infected.
Norovirus is the leading cause of gastroenteritis in the U.S. and spreads easily in enclosed environments like cruise ships. ‘It can take as few as 10 virus particles to cause an infection,’ explained Dr Amber Charoen, a gastroenterologist with Gastro Health in Kennewick, Washington, in an interview with Fox News. ‘It spreads through contaminated food, vomit, stool, surfaces, and person-to-person contact.’
Because of the confined indoor spaces and crowding onboard, the virus spreads quickly and is difficult to control. There is no specific treatment – hydration is essential – and prevention is the best defence.
To reduce risk, experts recommend frequent handwashing with soap and water, washing fruits and vegetables, and laundering clothes and bedding in hot water. While symptoms typically resolve within two to three days, individuals can remain contagious for up to two weeks after.
The CDC has recorded 12 outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships so far in 2025, compared to 18 in all of 2024.
