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Royal Caribbean International is cutting a 10-night voyage short after an outbreak of stomach illness sickened hundreds of passengers.
On Sunday night, the Miami-based cruise line said the Explorer of the Seas would return to New Jersey on Wednesday, two days early, to allow for another round of cleaning.
More than 600 passengers and crew aboard the ship, which departed on Jan. 21, have been sick with symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea. Symptoms match those of norovirus, the cruise line said, but tests will tell what caused the outbreak.
The cause of the outbreak is not yet determined although experts agree that the symptoms showed by the patients are consistent with norovirus. Norovirus can affect the gastroenteritis, which makes the affected person suffer from diarrhea and vomiting.
“New reports of illness have decreased day-over-day, and many guests are again up and about. Nevertheless, the disruptions caused by the early wave of illness means that we were unable to deliver the vacation our guests were expecting,” the cruise line said in a statement.
The Explorer of the Seas left Cape Liberty, N.J on January 21 and will return to the port on Wednesday. The cruise line stated that they will perform a “thorough barrier'” sanitation of the entire ship to be sure that there will no remaining traces of the virus.
“After consultation between our medical team and representatives of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we think the right thing to do is to bring our guests home early, and use the extra time to sanitize the ship even more thoroughly,” the company stated.
Joseph Angelilo was one of the people who were affected by the illness. According to him, he initially thought that he was food poisoined.
Agencies/Canadajournal
