300 Become Ill Aboard Cruise Ship

More than 300 vacationers fell ill from an undetermined gastrointestinal virus aboard a Norwegian Caribbean Cruise Line ship that docked Friday in Miami after a 10-day voyage, federal health officials said.

Investigators for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ordered the Royal Odyssey to stay in port after 306 out of 781 passengers experienced episodes of vomiting and diarrhea during a Caribbean cruise. Fifty of 379 crew members also got sick.

The 800-passenger liner was scheduled to go back to sea Friday on another 11-day Caribbean voyage.

“At one point, a crew member asked that all of us who were vomiting or had diarrhea report to sick bay, downstairs,” said a 72-year-old passenger from Pompano Beach, Fla. “Everyone in this huge lounge got up at the same time to go see the doctor. It was unreal.”

It’s the second time in as many months that Royal Odyssey passengers had taken ill during the Caribbean cruise.

More than 70 passengers became ill during the March 4-14 cruise, said Fran Sevcik, Norwegian’s director of public relations. “Same thing, same symptoms,” she said.