The Royal Caribbean Ocean Radiation Report says that the current navigation outbreak has experienced a gastrointestinal disease outbreak with nearly 100 patients on board.
according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Ocean Radiation reports 89 patients currently sailing. In addition, two crew members were reported to suffer from gastrointestinal symptoms.
The outbreak reported 4.1% of passengers and 0.2% of crew members on February 4, 2025. Currently, there are 2,164 guests on board and 910 crew members on board.
The light of the ocean is one of the smallest ships in the Royal Caribbean, and houses approximately 2500 passengers at a maximum capacity and measures 90,090 tons.
Most guests of ocean radiation show symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting—two major symptoms of gastrointestinal disease. Other common symptoms include muscle soreness, headache, abdominal cramps, or fever.
The light of the ocean is currently sailing to the Western Caribbean on a 7-night trip. The ship departed from Tampa, Florida on Saturday, February 1, 2025. Itinerary includes stops in Cozumel (Mexico), Roatan (Honduras), the city of Belize (Belize) and Costa Maya (Mexico). The Ocean’s Light is scheduled to return to Tampa, Florida on February 8, 2025.
In addition to these details, the CDC also includes multiple steps taken by crew members on response to the outbreak’s ocean radiation. First, the cruise line has added cleaning and disinfection of ships in line with the Royal Caribbean outbreak prevention and response programme.
In addition, cruise companies have collected fecal specimens from gastrointestinal diseases for testing. This can help determine the cause of the outbreak, which may be norovirus. Sick passengers and crew members are also quarantined to reduce the potential spread of the disease.
Royal Caribbeans are consulting with VSP to resolve the outbreak, a vessel sanitation program run by the CDC. According to the report, VSP is monitoring the situation and reviewing the radiation from marine sanitation procedures and outbreak responses.
Is this a norovirus outbreak?
At present, it is not clear whether the gastrointestinal disease outbreak is caused by norovirus. The CDC does not list the cause of the outbreak, which is defined as a specific organism responsible for the development of the disease.
However, the CDC noted: “Norovirus is usually the cause of gastrointestinal disease outbreaks on cruise ships, but when we start investigating, we don’t always know the cause of the outbreak.”
“It can take time to find the agent (cause) that causes the outbreak. When an outbreak occurs, people who meet the case definition will provide samples of feces or vomiting. These samples are tested to determine the causal agent. In this outbreak, the sample is awaiting confirmatory tests. ” CDC continued.
Cruise vessels must report cases of gastrointestinal diseases to the CDC. “Reporting gastrointestinal disease is important. When passengers and crew members tell the medical center about symptoms, it helps quickly detect outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease. This allows measures to limit the spread of the disease,” the government agency said.
The Norovirus outbreak is everywhere in the United States
Norovirus cases have surged in the United States in recent weeks Based on CDC data. The total number of outbreaks reported in the 2024-2025 season exceeded the range recorded in the same period in 2012-2020 and 2021-2024.
The CDC reported 91 suspected or confirmed norovirus outbreaks in the first week of December 2024. This is the highest number recorded in the week since 2012. The norovirus outbreak is the most common year from November to April.
No one knows why norovirus cases are soaring this season. Yalemedicine It is pointed out that current stress was once rare in the United States, which means many people lack immunity to specific strains that circulate. Usually during winter people tend to gather inside, especially during the holiday season.
(Norstadt's participation status reported weekly Norovirus outbreaks, 2012-2025)
Norovirus is not the respiratory tract, which means it does not spread by sneezing or coughing. Instead, norovirus spreads through contaminated food, water or surfaces, making it highly contagious. Therefore, proper hand washing with soap and water is the best way to prevent spread. Most hand sanitizers are not effective against the virus.
According to data provided by the CDC, ocean radiation is the sixth ship to report an outbreak of gastrointestinal diseases. The following vessels report outbreaks in 2025, as well as determined causality.
• Royal Caribbean International: The Light of the Ocean (2/1–2/8/2025) – Unknown
• Princess Cruise: Coral Princess (1/20–2/5/2025) – Norovirus
• Viking Ocean Cruise: Viking Mars (1/10–1/24/2025) – Unknown
• Netherlands United States Line: Volendam (1/4–1/25/2025) – Norovirus
• Silversea Parade: Silver Ray (1/4–1/20/2025) – E. coli
• Sea Cloud Cruise: Haiyun Spirit (1/4–1/10/2025) – The supposed cigar
By contrast, the outbreak of 18 cruise ships was reported to the CDC in 2024. Although norovirus is commonly referred to as a “cruising disease”, only 1% of reported outbreaks are associated with cruise ships. The outbreak is more common on university campuses, hospitals and people living in close-range nursing homes.
What is the Royal Caribbean Agreement?
All cruise ships must have powerful solutions to address disease outbreaks. Once a certain percentage of guests reported symptoms, a Royal Caribbean health plan was developed.
In a statement USA Today“There are a lot of cautious measures taken on board to protect the health and comfort of all our guests and crew,” the Royal Caribbean said.
These agreements include the following:
- If the car-mounted rate exceeds 1.5%, stop the buffet buffet
- Enhanced acute GI training for onboard medical teams
- Switch to PDI Sanicloth Prime Hospital-grade Disinfection Wipes
- Enhanced crew training, what to do when training acute GI symptoms and how to avoid cross-contamination in food and beverage services
