Caribbean Cruise Ship Cuts Short Voyage for Sanitization

Royal Caribbean International (RCI) cruise line has ended the 'Explorer of the Sea's' 10-day trip in the Caribbean early after hundreds of passengers and crew members were sickened with a gastrointestinal illness, thought to be an outbreak of highly contagious norovirius. RCI's statement reads:

"Explorer of the Seas will return home from its 10-day cruise two days early, on Wednesday, Jan. 29, when we will perform a thorough “barrier” sanitization program on the entire ship to make certain that any remaining traces of the illness are eliminated. It will be the third aggressive sanitizing procedure the ship has undertaken since we became aware of the issue, and will additionally provide a window of more than 24 hours where there are no persons aboard the ship, which is a significant help. Guests scheduled for the next cruise on Explorer of the Seas can be confident that all possible measures will have been taken to prevent further problems.

At this point, it appears that reported illnesses among guests and crew peaked during the first few days of the cruise – though, as is common with many illnesses, some additional cases are to be expected over the course of the week. Our doctors tell us symptoms are consistent with that of norovirus, but that they are awaiting the results of tests to confirm that diagnosis.  Our response included flying additional medical personnel and equipment to meet the ship, and conducting additional sanitizing procedures at two of the ship’s stops.

In the end, however, the number of cases was still higher than any of us want to see. We will be cooperating with authorities and conducting our own internal assessments to make sure we are doing all we can to promote the health and safety of our guests and crew."