Star Princess hit by Norovirus

   October 6, 2015 ,   Accidents

An outbreak of norovirus on Princess cruise to Hawaii sent at least one passenger home early.

In the early morning of October 4 Star Princess docked in Vancouver after she completed a 14-night Hawaiian sailing. At least two guests were transported from the dock to hospital by ambulance, in stable condition. A cruise passenger reported that one of the guests was so ill that he flew back home, instead of re-boarding the vessel in Hawaii.

Of the 2,590 cruisers on board, 5 were with active symptoms, according to Karen Candy, spokesperson for Princess Cruises. 

Door handles, elevator buttons and hand railings have been disinfected and sanitizing gel has been placed throughout the cruise ship. Contagious passengers were isolated in their staterooms, and encouraged to use their private bathrooms.

The enhanced cleaning conducted in Vancouver resulted in a delayed departure for the next scheduled voyage of Star Princess for California.

Any norovirus outbreak exceeding 3% requires disinfection of the ship and special protocol. Officials said the number of travelers on Star Princess who had reported illness had been fewer than the 3% cut-off, or in this case, 78 passengers.

Star Princess suffered at least one other norovirus outbreak in May 2015 when 135 passengers were hit during a spring cruise to the United States.