Norovirus outbreak sickens 82 people on Princess Cruises ship for the second time this year

A norovirus outbreak on a Princess Cruises ship last week caused 82 people to suffer vomiting and diarrhea on their nearly three-week-long journey from California to Florida, health officials said.Of the 1,906 passengers aboard the Coral Princess, 69 reported falling ill with the highly contagious stomach virus during the 16-day voyage – while 13 of 895 crew members were also infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The spread of the sickness marked the second norovirus outbreak to rock the Coral Princess this year – with the first case of the wretched winter illness reported on the 23-year-old vessel in January, the health agency said.The latest infected group experienced diarrhea and vomiting on the 965-foot-long ship that set sail on its one-way trip from Los Angeles, California on Feb.21, the CDC reported. The cruise liner isolated ailing vacationers and workers, increased cleaning and disinfection measures to contain the outbreak and collected stool samples from those sickened for further testing, according to the agency. The ship completed its journey on Sunday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, following stops made in Mexico, Costa Rica, Aruba and the Panama Canal, according to CruiseMapper.The misery-inducing illness, which is often associated with cruise ships, was first reported to the CDC’s vessel sanitation program on March 7 – two days before the ship pulled into its final port. The latest outbreak marks the ninth gastrointestinal illness to infect cruise ship passengers in just the first three months of the year.

Eighteen outbreaks were reported last year, according to the CDC.Norovirus was linked to five preceding cases in 2025 — with the first case the Coral Princess experienced in January impacting 128 vacationers and 20 crew members on the two-week excursion.Princess Cruises did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.

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