Gastro Outbreak on Royal Caribbean Cruise—What Happened?

A dream cruise turned into a nightmare as nearly 100 people fell sick aboard Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas, suffering from vomiting and diarrhea.

The CDC confirmed 89 passengers and 2 crew members have been affected, prompting an urgent health response mid-voyage.

The ship, carrying over 2,000 passengers, was on a seven-day journey through Mexico, Honduras, and Belize when the outbreak struck.

In response, Royal Caribbean ramped up sanitation, isolated the sick, and collected samples to determine the cause of the illness.

While the CDC is still investigating, norovirus is a prime suspect—a highly contagious virus often linked to cruise ship outbreaks.

This marks the sixth cruise ship outbreak of 2025, with 18 similar cases reported in 2024. Crowded spaces make these incidents hard to contain.