Cunard Cruise Line’s Queen Victoria arrives in Long Beach Harbor, Calif., in 2011. More than 100 people on the cruise ship, which is on a monthslong world cruise, have fallen ill with stomach problems. Business Wire via AP, file
MIAMI — More than 100 people have fallen ill with stomach problems on a monthslong world cruise that recently stopped in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
At least 123 passengers and 16 staff members have reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness, including diarrhea and vomiting, while on board the Queen Victoria ship, operated by Cunard Cruise Line, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.K. cruise line has been owned since 1998 by Doral, Florida-based Carnival Corp.
The cruise – which initially departed from Southampton, England, in early January – is on a 107-night sailing journey. The cruise made its first U.S. stop on Jan. 21 at Port Canaveral and arrived at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 22, according to Cunard’s online cruise itinerary. The ship previously stopped in Bermuda.
The CDC report indicates that the federal agency began monitoring the cruise’s gastrointestinal illness outbreak on Jan. 22, when the cruise arrived in South Florida. The federal agency will continue to monitor the cruise’s outbreak situation over the next few weeks until the ship makes its final U.S. port stop on Feb. 12 in Hawaii.
The CDC requires cruise ships to send reports of gastrointestinal illness when in U.S. waters and before arriving to U.S. ports. The federal agency says any gastrointestinal illness cases reported are for the entire voyage and don’t represent how many people are currently sick at any given port or at disembarkation.
Cunard, in an emailed statement to the Miami Herald, said the company “immediately activated their enhanced health and safety protocols to ensure the well-being of all guests and crew on board” and that its “measures have been effective.”
According to the CDC report, these protocols included isolating ill passengers and crew members and increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures.
Since leaving Fort Lauderdale, the cruise ship – which has more than 2,700 passengers and crew members on board – has gone to Aruba, passed through the Panama Canal and visited Guatemala.
The ship is now on its way to Mexico and San Francisco. Its final U.S. destination will be Hawaii before continuing the global voyage.
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