On March 7th, a norovirus outbreak occurred on Holland America Line’s (HAL) Rotterdam bringing the total number of gastrointestinal (GI) outbreaks on cruise ships this year to ten. A total of eighty-nine (89) passengers and four (4) crew members were reported ill during the voyage on the Rotterdam.
HAL Leads Cruise Lines in Outbreaks
This was the fourth (4th) norovirus outbreak on HAL cruises this year. HAL had one outbreak on the Eurodam, infecting 179 passengers and crew members, one outbreak on the Volendam, infecting 104 passengers and crew members, and two (2) on the Rotterdam, infecting a combined total of 278 passengers and crew members.
The latest outbreak on the Rotterdam brings the total number of passengers and crew members infected on HAL cruise ships to 561.
Coral Princess has multiple Outbreaks to Start 2025
Princess Cruises is the only other cruise line with more than one GI outbreak so far this year. The Carnival Corporation owned cruise line has had (2) norovirus outbreaks on the Coral Princess.
The first outbreak was on the ship’s 1/20/2025-2/5/2025 voyage, and it infected a total of 148 passengers and crew members. The second outbreak was on the ship’s 2/21/2025- 3/9/2025 voyage, and it infected 82 passengers and crew members.
CDC and Norovirus
Both the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have concluded that the most common cause of norovirus outbreaks is from contaminated food and/or water. It is also possible to contract the virus by touching surfaces or objects contaminated with the virus. The virus can also be released into the air by an infected person. Read: Norovirus Spreads by Air on Cruise Ships.
A guest can wash their hands and use hand sanitizers all day long but still become ill if the food is prepared by an infected galley hand. Recent federal studies show that sick employees are behind a majority of food contamination and food borne illness outbreaks in the United States. And of course, once a guest becomes infected and begins puking. other passengers who inhale the norovirus molecules can become ill as well.
Norovirus can strike anywhere that is crowded and people congregate, such as nursing homes, schools, restaurants, hospitals and similar places. The virus is prevalent on cruise ships because of the large numbers of people living and eating in close proximity. Cruises are basically floating communities with limited space and high volume of food handling.
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Image credit: HAL’s Rotterdam – Cavernia CC BY-SA 4.0 commons / wikimedia; norovirus – Graham Beards at English Wikipedia CC BY 3.0 commons / wikimedia.