More than 140 people aboard Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas fell ill with a still-unidentified illness during a recent voyage, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed on Wednesday.
The outbreak occurred during a seven-day round-trip cruise that departed Los Angeles on July 4, with scheduled stops in Mexico before returning on July 11. According to the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program, 134 of the ship’s 3,914 passengers and seven of its 1,266 crew members reported symptoms including diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramping.
Royal Caribbean implemented its outbreak response protocols immediately. In a report to the CDC, the company said it ramped up cleaning and disinfection efforts, isolated sick individuals, collected stool samples for testing, and worked closely with the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program, which monitored the situation remotely.
While the exact cause of the illness has not been determined, the CDC noted that norovirus—a highly contagious stomach virus—is a frequent culprit behind similar outbreaks on cruise ships.
This incident is the latest in a series of gastrointestinal outbreaks aboard cruise vessels in 2024 and 2025. In February, nearly 80 passengers fell ill on a Holland America Line cruise, and over 80 passengers and crew were sickened on a Princess Cruises ship during a 16-night journey. Earlier this year, more than 240 people were affected on a luxury Cunard voyage.
The CDC continues to investigate the latest outbreak aboard Navigator of the Seas to determine the cause and assess further health risks.
