241 passengers, crew sickened with norovirus on luxury cruise ship
More than 200 luxury cruise ship passengers caught norovirus on a monthlong transatlantic voyage that won’t officially end until Sunday, U.S. health officials said.
A new outbreak report from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention tracked 224 of 2,538 passengers who became ill from the virus while on board the Cunard cruise line ship Queen Mary 2, along with 17 crew members. The vessel carried 1,232 crew overall, according to the CDC.
Queen Mary 2 left Southampton in the United Kingdom March 8 on a route that first took it to New York and, then, down through the Caribbean, making various stops along the island chain, including St. Thomas and Barbados, according to an itinerary posted online by Cunard. The cruise sailed back to the U.K. on the same course it took to get to the Caribbean and is due to return to Southampton on April 6.
Passengers and crew who contracted norovirus on the Queen Mary 2 mainly experienced diarrhea and vomiting, two of the most common symptoms of the highly contagious bug. The outbreak was reported to the CDC’s vessel sanitation program, which monitors cruise ship outbreaks remotely and helps guide how crews respond to them, on March 18.
The CDC said the crew of Queen Mary 2 worked to contain the spread of the virus by increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures, conducting tests to confirm cases of the illness and isolating sick passengers and crew.
In this Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018, file photo, the Queen Mary 2 prepares to depart the Red Hook Terminal, bound for Southampton, England, in the Brooklyn borough of New York. / Credit: Mark Lennihan / AP
This is the latest in a series of norovirus outbreaks on ocean liners operated by some of the world’s largest cruise companies. The latest outbreak comes on the heels of a surge in confirmed cases around the U.S. toward the end of last year.
Also known as a stomach bug, norovirus is a very contagious disease that usually causes symptoms for 1 to 3 days, although health officials say people can still transmit the virus to others for two weeks or longer after their own symptoms clear up.
In addition to Queen Mary 2, at least nine cruise ships have reported outbreaks since the start of 2025, according to the CDC. That tally includes voyages run by major cruise companies like Holland America and Princess Cruises, among others.
CBS News contacted Cunard for comment but did not receive an immediate reply.
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