Month-Long Luxury Cruise Hit by Norovirus

Just what you want on a month-long luxury cruise: norovirus. More than 240 passengers and crew members have been sickened in a norovirus outbreak on the Cunard Lines' Queen Mary 2, one of the world's largest ocean liners, currently on a 29-day round-trip cruise from England to the Eastern Caribbean, reports the New York Times. The cruise ship left England on March 8 and stopped in New York City on March 15, three days before the outbreak was reported, according to the CDC. The cruise ship later made stops in St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Grenada, Barbados, Dominica, St. Kitts, and the UK Virgin Islands.

The CDC said 224 of 2,538 passengers had fallen ill with the gastrointestinal illness, along with 17 crew members. Reported symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting, per the Times. Anyone who is sick has been isolated, the CDC said. Cunard said Tuesday that it "completed a comprehensive deep clean of the ship and immediately activated our enhanced health and safety protocols, which are proving to be effective," per USA Today. "Thanks to the swift response from our crew and the additional measures that we have in place, we are already seeing a reduction in reported cases," Cunard added, per the Times. The Queen Mary 2 returned to New York on Saturday and is now on its way back to England, expected to arrive Sunday. (More norovirus stories.)