Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas has reported a gastrointestinal sickness outbreak on its present crusing with almost 100 sick visitors onboard.
In line with the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC), Radiance of the Seas reported 89 sick visitors onboard its present voyage. Moreover, two crew members are reportedly sick with gastrointestinal signs onboard.
The outbreak was reported to the CDC on February 4, 2025, with 4.1% passengers and 0.2% crew members reporting signs of the sickness. There are presently 2,164 visitors onboard and 910 crew members on the vessel.
Radiance of the Seas is considered one of Royal Caribbean’s smallest vessels, accommodating round 2,500 passengers at most capability and measuring 90,090 gross tons.
Most visitors on Radiance of the Seas are displaying signs of diarrhea and vomiting – two of the predominant signs for gastrointestinal sickness. Different frequent signs embody muscle aches, complications, stomach cramps, or fever.
Radiance of the Seas is presently crusing on a 7-night itinerary to the Western Caribbean. The ship departed from Tampa, Florida on Saturday, February 1, 2025. The itinerary contains stops in Cozumel (Mexico), Roatan (Honduras), Belize Metropolis (Belize), and Costa Maya (Mexico). Radiance of the Seas is scheduled to return to Tampa, Florida on February 8, 2025.
Together with these particulars, the CDC included a number of steps taken by crew members aboard Radiance of the Seas in response to the outbreak. First, the cruise line elevated cleansing and disinfection on the ship, based mostly on Royal Caribbean’s outbreak prevention and response protocol.
As well as, the cruise line has collected stool specimens from the gastrointestinal sickness instances for use for testing. This can assist establish the reason for the outbreak, which may very well be norovirus. In poor health passengers and crew members have additionally been remoted to cut back potential sickness unfold.
Royal Caribbean is consulting with VSP to handle the outbreak, which is the Vessel Sanitation Program run by the CDC. Primarily based on the report, VSP is monitoring the scenario and reviewing Radiance of the Seas’ sanitation procedures and outbreak response.
Is that this an outbreak of norovirus?
At the moment, it’s unclear if the gastrointestinal sickness outbreak is brought on by norovirus. The CDC doesn’t checklist a causative agent for the outbreak, which is outlined as the particular organism answerable for the event of the illness.
Nonetheless, the CDC states, “Norovirus is commonly a reason behind gastrointestinal sickness outbreaks on cruise ships, however we do not at all times know the reason for the outbreak once we start an investigation.”
“Discovering the agent that brought on an outbreak (causative agent) can take time. When an outbreak happens, individuals whose signs met the case definition are requested to supply stool or vomitus samples. These samples are examined to find out the causative agent. On this outbreak, samples are pending confirmatory testing,” continues the CDC.
Cruise ships are required to report instances of gastrointestinal sicknesses to the CDC. The federal government company states, “Reporting gastrointestinal sickness is essential. When passengers and crew inform the medical heart onboard about their signs, it helps GI sickness outbreaks get detected shortly. This enables steps to be taken to restrict the unfold of sickness.”
Outbreaks of norovirus are on the rise throughout the U.S.
Norovirus instances have been surging over the latest weeks in america based mostly on CDC knowledge. The whole variety of outbreaks reported within the 2024–2025 season exceeds the vary recorded throughout the identical interval within the 2012–2020 and 2021–2024 seasons.
The CDC reported 91 suspected or confirmed norovirus outbreaks in america for the primary week of December 2024. That is the very best quantity recorded for that week since 2012. Outbreaks of norovirus are commonest from November to April with thousands and thousands of individuals getting sick annually.
Nobody is aware of for certain why norovirus instances are surging this season. YaleMedicine states the present pressure was as soon as unusual in america, which means many individuals lack immunity to the particular pressure circulating. Instances usually surge within the winter months when individuals are likely to congregate inside, notably across the vacation season.
(Variety of Suspected or Confirmed Norovirus Outbreaks Reported by NoroSTAT-Collaborating States Per Week, 2012–2025)
Norovirus isn’t respiratory, which means it doesn’t unfold by sneezing or coughing. As an alternative, norovirus spreads by contaminated meals, water or surfaces, making it extremely contagious. Due to this, correct handwashing with cleaning soap and water is one of the simplest ways to stop the unfold. Most hand sanitizers don’t work properly towards the virus.
Radiance of the Seas is the sixth vessel to report an outbreak of gastrointestinal sickness, in response to knowledge offered by the CDC. The next ships have reported outbreaks in 2025, together with the recognized causation agent.
• Royal Caribbean Worldwide: Radiance of the Seas (2/1–2/8/2025) – Unknown
• Princess Cruises: Coral Princess (1/20–2/5/2025) – Norovirus
• Viking Ocean Cruises: Viking Mars (1/10–1/24/2025) – Unknown
• Holland America Line: Volendam (1/4–1/25/2025) – Norovirus
• Silversea Cruises: Silver Ray (1/4–1/20/2025) – E. coli
• Sea Cloud Cruises: Sea Cloud Spirit (1/4–1/10/2025) – Presumed Ciguatera
In distinction, 18 outbreaks on cruise ships have been reported to the CDC in 2024. Though norovirus is commonly referred to as the “cruise ship illness,” only one% of reported outbreaks are related to cruise ships. Outbreaks are extra frequent on school campuses, hospitals, and nursing houses the place individuals are residing in shut quarters.
What’s Royal Caribbean’s protocol?
All cruise strains are required to have sturdy protocols to handle sickness outbreaks. Royal Caribbean’s well being protocols are enacted as soon as a sure proportion of visitors report signs.
In an announcement to USA At present, Royal Caribbean acknowledged, “Enhanced measures have been applied onboard in an abundance of warning to guard the well being and luxury of all our visitors and crew.”
These protocols embody the next:
- Stopping self-service in buffets if the onboard fee exceeds 1.5%
- Enhanced acute GI coaching for onboard medical groups
- Switching to PDI SaniCloth Prime hospital-grade disinfectant wipes
- Enhanced crew coaching on what to do when experiencing acute GI signs and how you can keep away from cross-contamination in meals and beverage service areas
