What is the most common cause of diarrhea on cruise ships?

Cruise ships are often associated with norovirus because of the enclosed spaces, close living quarters, communal dining and high turnover of passengers, experts note. That said, outbreaks of acute gastrointestinal illnesses are relatively infrequent on cruise ships compared to settings on land, the CDC notes.



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You can get norovirus from an infected person, from 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.

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Respiratory Illnesses. Respiratory illnesses are the most common medical complaint on cruise ships.

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Cruise ships in particular have many of the conditions that make people susceptible to norovirus—close quarters, enclosed spaces, communal dining, and high turnover of passengers. “The virus is often associated with cruise travel simply because health officials are required to track illnesses on ships,” Shah said.

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How likely are you to get gastro on a cruise ship? CLIA claims that incidents of norovirus are actually quite rare on cruise ships. In the USA, the risk of getting norovirus each year is about 1 in 15; a cruise passenger has about a 1 in 5,500 risk of getting laboratory-confirmed norovirus during a shipboard outbreak.

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How can you avoid catching gastro on cruise ships?
  1. wash your hands well and frequently, especially before eating.
  2. don't rely on hand sanitisers (hand washing is always better)
  3. don't share food, drinks or eating utensils.
  4. don't touch food with your hands.
  5. reduce unnecessary contact with communal surfaces.


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Food poisoning. Or maybe it's norovirus, a contagious virus that often keeps you at the toilet for several days. Some people know it as the ?cruise ship virus? because it's often the cause of over 90% of diarrhea outbreaks on cruise ships, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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P&O Cruises also reported an outbreak on its Arcadia cruise ship this year. The CDC's tally of norovirus outbreaks so far confirmed on cruise ships in 2023 is already higher than any annual outbreak tallies since 2012, when the health agency recorded 16 outbreaks.

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More than 300 sickened on Ruby Princess cruise ship, CDC says. Hundreds of passengers and crew members fell ill while on board a Princess Cruises ship, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. In total, 284 of 2,881 passengers on the Ruby Princess reported being sick during the voyage between Feb.

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The cause of most cruise line norovirus outbreaks is contaminated food or water. The way it spreads is through physical contact. With over 3,000 people in close quarters aboard these ships, obviously, the disease spreads quickly. There is no real treatment for norovirus infections.

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Among the bacterial pathogens that cause respiratory infections on cruise ships, the most common infections reported have been due to Legionella species (Fig. 2).

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During the Trip. Wash your hands with soap and water, not just hand sanitizer. While hand sanitizer can kill some germs, it does not work well against norovirus. Wash your hands with soap and water thoroughly and frequently for at least 20 seconds.

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The main treatment for diarrhea is fluid replacement, advises Wise. For children, there are ready-made electrolyte solutions such as Pedialyte. Most cruise ships sail with a physician onboard.

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Twenty-five crew members and 152 of the 2,144 passengers onboard the May 15 to May 25, 2023 voyage of the Celebrity Summit reported norovirus symptoms, according to a notice issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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How Common is it to Get Sick on a Cruise? 15% of people have reported feeling seasick while onboard. In our experience we can add an other 10% of passengers that will suffer from other illness, such as colds, flu and hangovers.

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After you return home from a cruise, it's normal to feel like you're still at sea for a short time. You may lay down to sleep or stand in the shower and feel like the floor is moving and your body is swaying, rocking and bobbing. Within a day or so, your land legs likely will return and the symptoms will disappear.

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There isn't a cure for norovirus. Treatment for the infection focuses on relieving your symptoms, which will go away in one to three days. You can manage your symptoms by: Drinking plenty of liquids, especially liquids that contain electrolytes.

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