Royal Caribbean cruise ends early after hundreds get sick with norovirus

BALTIMORE -- The Royal Caribbean cruise liner Grandeur of the Seas returned early to the Port of Baltimore after the first confirmed outbreak this year of norovirus on board a cruise ship.

CBS Baltimore reports the cruise was cut a day short after the ship encountered a series of problems including crippling winds, a medical emergency on board and an outbreak of the norovirus stomach bug that sickened more than 200 people.

"Nine of us got it," one passenger told WJZ's Christie Ileto. "Our room was not clean the day we had to board."

She was one of the 193 passengers and 9 crew members who came down with the extremely contagious virus during the nine-day trip.

"Extreme stomach flu, I guess you could call it. You're in your room for more than a day," said a passenger.

Royal Caribbean says when the ship was in Jamaica, two health officers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention boarded to collect samples and evaluate the outbreak.

"Those affected by the short-lived illness are responding well to over-the-counter medication administered on board the ship," a cruise line spokesperson said.

Now that the ship is back in its home port, crews are working around the clock to sanitize the vessel. The cruise line says the terminal will also be disinfected.

"We could see a lot of the guys cleaning the ship the whole day," said one passenger. "Every five minutes."

And this isn't the first time something like this has happened aboard the Grandeur of the Seas. Last April, more than 100 passengers on the same ship fell sick to the same gastrointestinal virus.

Trouble also struck the ship in 2013, when a fire broke out at sea and more than 2,000 passengers were forced to evacuate. The rear of the ship was badly damaged.

Norovirus is a frequent problem aboard cruise ships, where illness can spread rapidly from person to person in close quarters or via contaminated food. Symptoms including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea usually last 1 to 3 days. On another ill-fated Royal Caribbean cruise last year, nearly 700 people got sick.

Back in Baltimore, some passengers from the Grandeur of the Seas say they were given $75 per room for the lost day of the trip. Passengers from out of town had to get a hotel room before they could make arrangements to go home.