The holiday season has been marred for several cruise guests after a gastrointestinal illness outbreak aboard Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2, currently sailing a transatlantic voyage.
The 2,691-passenger ship departed Southampton, England, on 14th December 2024, bound for New York City, where it is scheduled to arrive on 21st December.
Afterward, the vessel will continue on a 28-night journey through the Caribbean, visiting ports including St. Maarten, Dominica, and Barbados.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed on December 19 that 100 passengers, representing over 4 percent of the 2,430 onboard, along with seven of the 1,237 crew members, have been affected by the illness.
Symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps.
Cunard Line has initiated enhanced cleaning protocols to mitigate the outbreak. Infected passengers have been isolated, and stool specimens are being collected for testing to determine the cause.
It is unclear whether all passengers will need to disembark in New York for additional deep cleaning before embarking on the subsequent Caribbean leg of the itinerary.
The CDC defines such cases as acute gastroenteritis (AGE), which includes “three or more loose stools within a 24-hour period or vomiting accompanied by symptoms like muscle ache, headache, abdominal cramps, or fever.”
A spate of holiday outbreaks
Queen Mary 2 is one of several ships grappling with illness outbreaks during the holiday season. The ship last experienced a significant outbreak during a 2012 Christmas cruise, which affected over 200 passengers.
In December alone, similar outbreaks have been reported on Holland America Line’s Rotterdam and Zuiderdam, as well as P&O Cruises’ Ventura.
On Rotterdam, 83 passengers and 12 crew members fell ill on a Caribbean sailing, while 74 guests and four crew members were affected on Zuiderdam. Both ships are operating out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.
Ventura, sailing the Canary Islands from Southampton, reported an unspecified number of cases of what was suspected to be AGE or norovirus earlier this month.
AGE and norovirus are highly contagious, often spreading through contaminated food, water, or surfaces. The CDC notes symptoms may take up to 48 hours to appear and can last three days, meaning the duration of an entire cruise can be impacted.
Cruise lines are working to contain the illnesses through isolation of symptomatic passengers, limiting buffet services, and increasing cleaning efforts.
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