Over 100 People Got Sick on a Celebrity Cruise, th...

A Christmas cruise could be an incredible getaway not solely to get pleasure from all of the facilities and leisure of a typical cruise, but additionally to expertise the magic of the vacation season in a novel and memorable method with out all of the seasonal stress.

For a lot of company aboard Superstar Eclipse‘s Christmas Day cruise, nevertheless, the voyage has been memorable for all of the incorrect causes. Nobody likes to be sick over trip, and to be sick with a abdomen bug on a vacation crusing is even worse.

The illness outbreak has been reported to the US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC), because it concerned sufficient company and crew members to cross the three% obligatory reporting threshold.

A complete of 95 company out of the three,042 onboard, together with 9 crew members of the 1,235 on the staff, reported vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps throughout the ship’s December 20, 2025, crusing. This represents 3.1% of company and simply .7% of crew members reporting signs.

The 8-night cruise departed Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday, December 20, for the Jap Caribbean itinerary with visits to Antigua, St. Maarten, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.

The outbreak was reported to the CDC when the ship returned to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, December 28. No delays have been famous, and the 121,900-gross-ton, Solstice-class ship has already departed on her subsequent crusing.

Learn Additionally: Think Cruise Ships Are Floating Petri Dishes? These 12 Facts Say Otherwise

To be clear, the variety of instances reported to the CDC is for your complete voyage. It’s doable completely different company had been sick on completely different days, not essentially that every one 104 reported instances had been on the identical time.

Onboard Response to Superstar Eclipse Outbreak

As soon as the sickness was reported, crew members on Superstar Eclipse instantly carried out numerous measures to attenuate any additional unfold or ongoing contamination. This included:

• Elevated cleansing and disinfection, notably for public areas
• Gathering samples for testing to discover a causative agent
• Isolating any company or crew members reporting associated signs

Whereas the precise causative agent for this specific outbreak has not but been recognized, most micro organism or viruses that trigger these gastrointestinal signs are unfold by way of direct contact and contaminated surfaces.

Enhanced cleansing protocols could be very efficient at controlling outbreaks of norovirus and comparable sicknesses. Friends can defend themselves by totally washing their fingers after utilizing the restroom and earlier than consuming, and making an attempt to keep away from extreme touching of high-contact surfaces reminiscent of railings, door handles, buffet serving utensils, and elevator buttons.

Earlier Outbreaks This Yr

The present outbreak aboard Superstar Eclipse is the primary reported outbreak for a Superstar Cruises ship in 2025, however the twenty-second outbreak throughout all cruise traces.

Most have been norovirus, although a number of outbreaks didn’t have a causative agent confirmed. One outbreak was decided to be E. coli, whereas one other was confirmed as ciguatera.

The latest previous outbreak was aboard AIDAdiva, with 114 company and crew members succumbing to norovirus in late November and early December.

Whereas there’s a false impression that cruise ships could be floating petri dishes, the truth that a whole lot of cruises have set sail in 2025 with none vital outbreaks disproves that concept.

Moreover, outbreaks can happen on ships from any line and vessels of any dimension. All through 2025, vessels from luxurious traces like Silversea, Oceania Cruises, and Sea Cloud Cruises have had outbreaks, as have main mass-market traces like Royal Caribbean, Princess Cruises, and Holland America Line.

Earlier than this outbreak on Superstar Eclipse, the newest Superstar Cruises outbreak reported to the CDC was aboard Superstar Summit in Could 2024, when 78 company and crew members had been impacted by norovirus.