CDC Reports Norovirus Outbreak on Caribbean Princess as Cruise Illness Cases Continue
A norovirus outbreak aboard Princess Cruises’ Caribbean Princess has sickened more than 100 passengers and crew members during a Caribbean voyage, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program reported that 102 of 3,116 passengers, or 3.3%, and 13 of 1,131 crew members, or 1.2%, became ill during the ship’s April 28–May 11 voyage. The agency listed the main symptoms as diarrhea and vomiting and identified the causative agent as norovirus.
Princess Cruises and the ship’s crew reported increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures, isolating sick passengers and crew, collecting stool specimens for testing, and consulting with CDC officials about sanitation procedures and illness reporting. CDC said VSP is conducting a field response for an environmental assessment and outbreak investigation.
The outbreak adds to a continuing pattern of gastrointestinal illness reports on cruise ships under CDC jurisdiction. CDC’s 2026 list includes the Caribbean Princess outbreak, a March norovirus outbreak aboard Princess Cruises’ Star Princess, an E. coli outbreak aboard Oceania Cruises’ Insignia, and an E. coli outbreak aboard Regent Seven Seas’ Seven Seas Mariner.
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CDC posts cruise ship gastrointestinal outbreaks when a ship under VSP jurisdiction meets certain criteria, including voyages with both U.S. and foreign ports and at least 3% of passengers or crew reporting symptoms to medical staff. Cruise ships are required to report these cases to CDC.
The public-health consequence is straightforward: norovirus can spread quickly in shared spaces. CDC says people can get norovirus from sick people and from contaminated food, water, or surfaces. People are most contagious while symptomatic and for several days after feeling better.
For travelers, the story is less about avoiding cruises altogether and more about understanding the risk. Repeated outbreaks put pressure on cruise lines to show that isolation, cleaning, reporting, and turnaround disinfection procedures are strong enough to contain illness before it spreads further.
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