Ruby Princess Returns to Port with More Infected Passengers

After another weeklong Caribbean cruise, the Ruby Princess returned to Port Everglades with several more sick passengers, according to Princess Cruises officials. A spokeswoman for the cruise line did confirm that a small portion of the passengers became ill onboard during the cruise, although the exact number of infected passengers has not been reported yet.

Similarly, last week, the Ruby Princess docked with 129 sick passengers out of about 3,145 passengers total onboard. This will be the third Norovirus outbreak that Princess Cruises has reported on their ships in 2012 thus far. This is the most cases of any major cruise line involved in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vessel Sanitation Program, according to the Miami Herald. However, this latest outbreak still has to be determined if it was caused by Norovirus or not.

Since it is known that Norovirus is spread through contact with contaminated surfaces or eating affected food and water, the ship’s crew has been following strict guidelines since the first outbreak. They report operating under very high levels of sanitation. Passengers also report that many of the cleanliness rules were outlined in an e-mail sent to them before the ship left port, explaining that passengers could even expect delays because of the crews efforts to keep the ship clean.

Crew members were constantly seen wiping down surfaces on the ship during the voyage, and encourages passengers to use their personal bathrooms to decrease the spread of germs. A few passengers attempted to get out of the cruise when initial boarding had been delayed by hours because the ship was still being cleaned from the previous cruise, but it was too late to cancel.

Unofficial estimates range the number of passengers that fell ill during the trip to about 20 of the nearly 4,000 people onboard. Many believe one of the greatest points of impact of the sanitation policy was the buffet line, which was closed to self-service. A full-service policy remained in place for the first few days of the cruise and was eventually lifted.