A gastrointestinal illness outbreak occurred on Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas during its last 2024 Alaska cruise.
Originally, it was reported that 167 passengers onboard suffered symptoms, which is almost 7.7% of those onboard. That later rose to 180 passengers, meaning over 8% of guests were impacted. 3 crew members also reported being unwell.
Update: It was later confirmed as well that this was not a typical norovirus outbreak but it was salmonella.
There are caveats to these statistics. On one hand, numbers often go underreported as guests either try to hide mild symptoms (in fear of being quarantined) or just aren’t affected too badly.
But equally, the reported numbers are across the entire 7-night cruise, and it doesn’t mean that over 8% of passengers were all sick at the same time.
To help combat the spread, the cruise line stepped up the announcements to remind guests to wash their hands, and public areas were cleaned more frequently and disinfected.
It was the last cruise in Radiance’s Alaska season, with the ship now departing on a trip to Los Angeles ahead of a Panama Canal cruise before she takes up residence in Tampa.
While the next departure wasn’t delayed, it’s expected that enhanced cleaning protocols will be in place for the duration of that sailing.
It’s also not the first outbreak on Radiance of the Seas this year. Norovirus affected 69 people onboard a cruise in April.
However it is the first outbreak of salmonella on the ship in 2024, and salmonella is quite rare on cruise ships.
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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.
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