Four-week luxury cruise ends with more than 200 infected passengers: “We are monitoring the situation remotely”

A British luxury cruise ship is facing a major health situation after an outbreak of a highly contagious norovirus stomach bug while in the Caribbean.

The Queen Mary II was nearing the end of a four-week voyage when the virus struck, with more than 240 people falling ill. The journey began on March 8 when the vessel set sail from Southampton and will finish when it returns to the UK on April 4.

A report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC) states that the predominant symptoms on board are diarrhoea and vomiting. For now, the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) is “remotely monitoring the situation, including review of the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation procedures.”

Are cruise ships a health risk?

With so many passengers in close-quarters, cruise ships can be real breeding grounds for viruses. The norovirus is notoriously contagious and infectious disease expert Dr. William Schaffner described it as “the cruise ship virus”.

“This is a virus that can infect you with very few viral particles. In other words, the infectious dose is very small,” Schaffner told CNN Travel. “It can persist for days or even a week on environmental surfaces, which means that if you put your fingers on a contaminated surface, you can pick up a few viral particles, touch your mouth and then initiate an infection.”

The CDC tracks instances of illness outbreaks on cruise ships and found evidence to suggest a worrying trend. Across 2024 there were a total of 16 gastrointestinal cruise outbreaks, the highest figure in more than a decade. However in 2025 there have already been 11 outbreaks in the first three months. Of them, nine were norovirus outbreaks.

Nevertheless, instance of illness outbreaks in cruise ships are still incredibly rare and the vast majority of travellers will not be affected. To keep safe, Schaffner has two pieces of advice for cruise ship travellers: “Number one, if you’re feeling at all ill, stay home, rebook for a later cruise.

“Number two, pay meticulous attention to all the hygienic instructions that you are given on the cruise ship, and pay particular attention to hand hygiene. And in this circumstance, soap and water is actually better than using the sanitary hand wipes or lotions that we use, because norovirus is not very affected by the alcohol that’s in the hand wipes and the lotions.”

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