Sometimes, cruise sickness is more than just a hangover from the margaritas. Passengers on cruises worldwide this year weathered bouts of illness, but Texas-based cruises were spared from outbreaks, according to data from the CDC.
One of the hottest cruise ports in Texas, the Port of Galveston, took a hard hit in February of 2023, when more than 300 people fell ill with vomiting and diarrhea from norovirus on an eight-day round trip from Texas to Mexico.
The CDC didn't track any outbreaks on cruises from Galveston in 2024, however, as the port reached a record number of passengers with a whopping 1.5 million.
More are anticipated in 2025 on the 400 cruises ready to set sail, and both a new terminal and new Norwegian cruise line are slated to open next year at Pier 16.
While Texas-cruises stayed safe from gastrointestinal outbreaks this year, others weren't so lucky, according to the CDC.
The Caribbean Celebration Cruise on Cunard Line's Queen Mary 2, which set sail out of Southampton in the U.K and reported an outbreak five days into their trip to New York, on Dec. 19., according to the CDC. Most of those affected were passengers, with 150 people of the nearly 4,000 on board reported symptoms of diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal cramps.
The causative agent, which typically is attributed to norovirus, salmonella or E. Coli was unknown as of late December.
Cunard Cruise Line's also had another norovirus outbreak in late January, when over 150 people on board the Queen Victoria reported diarrhea and vomiting, according to the CDC.
Cunard Line and cruise ship crew reported that in response to the outbreak, they amped up their cleaning and disinfection procedures, collected stool specimens from illness cases for testing and isolated ill passengers and crew.
Ten days into a 13-day trip out of Fort Lauderdale, nearly 150 among the over 3,000 people on board Holland America Line's Rotterdam reported diarrhea and vomiting due to norovirus, according to the CDC. Passengers made up the bulk of those who fell ill. The Rotterdam outbreak was not the first this year on a Holland America Line cruise ship.
A week prior in December, Holland America Line reported an outbreak on their Zuiderdam ship that left out of Fort Lauderdale, with nearly 100 people on board reporting diarrhea and vomiting from norovirus.
There was also an outbreak on a Holland America Line cruise in February. More than 120 people on board experienced diarrhea and vomiting due to norovirus on the Koningsdam, which departed from San Diego, CA to visit Hawaii and French Polynesia, from Feb.17 to Feb 24.
Holland America Line has reported the same response plan during all of the outbreaks: Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures, collecting stool specimens from illness cases for testing and isolating ill passengers and crew, according to the CDC.
More 100 people on board Princess Cruises' Ruby Princess reported vomiting and diarrhea from norovirus on a 17-day voyage that departed from San Francisco, Calif., on Dec. 2 to Hawaii and Mexico, according to the CDC.
Princess Cruises' also saw outbreaks of norovirus in November and April, according to the CDC. Nearly 100 people on board fell ill on a month-long trip aboard the Coral Princess from Singapore to Los Angeles, Calif. And more 150 people on board the Sapphire Princess for a month-long trip from Los Angeles to Fiji and French Polynesia reported diarrhea and vomiting due to norovirus.
In response to the outbreaks, Princess Cruises reported common response actions collecting samples, isolating people who fell ill and and scrubbing the ship clean.
More 180 people, mostly passengers, on board Royal Caribbean International's Radiance of the Sea contracted salmonella in late September, according to the CDC. They experienced diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headaches and muscle aches on the Vancouver roundtrip.
A May voyage on another ship, the Allure of the Seas, saw over 120 people report experiencing diarrhea, abdominal cramps and vomiting due to an "unknown causative agent" according to the CDC.
Vomiting and diarrhea due to norovirus were also reported by 70 passengers on Radiance of the Seas in April, according to the CDC.
P&O Cruises' Arcadia saw nearly 150 people on board report diarrhea and vomiting due to norovirus on a month-long trip starting in early September that left from Southampton in the U.K to sail through the Mediterranean, according to the CDC.
Nearly 30 people aboard Silversea Cruises' Silver Nova reported diarrhea from E. Coli on a trip that started at the end of March, according to the CDC.
And back at the very start of the year, 100 people aboard Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Constellation reported vomiting and diarrhea due to norovirus, according to the CDC.
The CDC recommends passengers and crew frequently wash their hands and be proactive when it comes to reporting symptoms, as gastrointestinal diseases on cruise ships are common.