Chaos at Sea: Gastro outbreak hits Royal Caribbean cruise, over 90 quarantined

Over 90 passengers and crew members aboard Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas came down with a gastrointestinal illness, causing diarrhoea and vomiting. Following the outbreak, the individuals who fell sick were asked to quarantine for 24 to 36 vessels in order to control the spread of the disease aboard the cruise. 

The vessel set sail from Tampa Florida on February 1 for a weeklong journey around the western Caribbean. According to the information, the ship came back on Saturday after making stops in Cozumel, Roatan Islands, Belize and Costa Maya. 

 The report was confirmed by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which said that the outbreak of a gastrointestinal illness was reported to the centre's vessel sanitation program on Tuesday. 

The CDC said that it is not yet clear what caused the illness and reported that there was a total of 2,164 and 910 crew members on the cruise ship. Of this, 89 passengers and two crew members fell ill, added the centre saying that everyone who was sick were isolated and crew members were collecting stool specimens from them for further testing.  

Passenger claims sickness spread within 24 hours of boarding vessel 

A 57-year-old passenger named Janet Kruse of the Chicago suburbs who was on the Radiance of the Seas with her dance group Dance with Janet after coming back home on Saturday reported that although she did not fell ill but 10% of her group around 120 people aged 50 to 80 did.  

She added that the first person in her group came down with the virus on Sunday within 24 hours of being aboard the cruise. The second person from her group was sick by the time of dinner, she claimed.  

“Another member of the dance group heard an announcement Sunday afternoon that already more people than the usual were reporting to be sick so the vessel was planning to take measures in a bid to keep things cleaner and to keep the passengers as well as they could for the duration of the voyage,” said Kruse. 

Crew increased disinfection procedures to control virus  

The Royal Caribbean reported that to keep the sickness from spreading, the crew members on the ship increased cleaning as well as disinfection procedures.  

Kruse said that by Monday, the vessel had already taken measures to stop the spread of the bug while CDC also claimed that they are remotely monitoring the situation which includes an overall review of the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation procedures.  

Passengers who fell sick aboard the cruise were also asked to quarantine for 24 to 36 hours and while they were stuck in their cabins, they were offered complimentary food and medication, said Kruse. They also got letters at the end of the trip stating the cruise line would compensate them for the time spent in quarantine.  

Kruse also lauded the staff for not panicking and controlling the situation very well. “It was very seamless, there was no panic,” she said.