FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Ninety-four people on board a Holland America cruise ship in late December -- including 85 passengers and nine crew members -- suffered from “gastrointestinal illnesses” due to a norovirus outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Rotterdam departed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Dec. 28 and returned on Jan. 9.
According to the CDC, 85 of 2,593 passengers (3.3%) and nine of 1,005 crew members (0.9%) fell ill.
“During its previous voyage, a number of guests onboard Rotterdam reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness. The cases were mostly mild and quickly resolved,” Holland America said in a statement. “The health of our guests and crew is a top priority and consistent with CDC protocols, we conducted a comprehensive sanitization of the ship when the cruise ended Friday in Fort Lauderdale.”
According to the CDC, Holland America responded to the outbreak by increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures, collecting stool specimens from gastrointestinal illness cases for testing and isolating ill passengers and crew members.
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Cruise ships are required to report the cases to the CDC.
It is the second norovirus outbreak aboard the Rotterdam in the past year.
Days after it departed Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 2, 2025, 169 people were reported ill on the cruise ship.