For the second week in a row, the Crown Princess ship is returning to port after a widespread Norovirus outbreak.
In a statement released today, Princess Cruises announced the latest outbreak despite rigorous sanitization measures taken after last week's incident.
The cruise departed Florida just three days ago and was scheduled to visit Aruba and Curacao, but will return to port on February 9 instead of February 11. 114 passengers (3.70% out of 3,078) and 59 crew (5.01% of 1,178) have reported gastrointestinal illness so far. On the previous cruise, 364 passengers (11.73% of 3,103) and 30 crew (2.57% of 1,168) were affected.
Princess will be refunding cruise fare, arranging flights home, including covering change fees even if air was not booked directly through the cruise line, providing hotel accommodations if necessary, and offering a 25% future cruise credit.
In the statement, a representative for Princess Cruises discussed measures taken this week in an attempt to thwart the spread of the illness.
At the first sign of increased cases of gastrointestinal illness, we immediately initiated additional enhanced sanitation procedures to interrupt the spread of illness for both passengers and crew members. Our sanitation program has been developed in coordination with the CDC and includes such measures as disinfection of high-touch surfaces; encouraging correct hand washing procedures and enhancing this with the use of hand sanitizing gels placed throughout the ship; isolating ill passengers and crew in cabins until non-contagious; encouraging passengers to use their own cabin's bathroom facilities; and providing regular verbal and written communication to passengers about steps they can take to stay well while onboard.
Princess Cruises will once again undertake additional sanitization measures and expects the February 11 sailing will depart as planned.
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