Investigation Update on the Oasis of the Seas

Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean International

Cruise Ship: Oasis of the Seas

Voyage Dates: January 6–13, 2019

Number of passengers who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of passengers onboard: 561 of 6,285 (8.91%)

Number of crew who have reported being ill during the voyage out of total number of crew onboard: 31 of 2,169 (1.45%)

Predominant symptoms: vomiting

Causative agent: norovirus

Actions: The CDC Vessel Sanitation Program has been monitoring the situation and the ship’s outbreak response and sanitation procedures. In response to the outbreak, Royal Caribbean International and the crew aboard the ship reported the following actions:

• Increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan.
• Collected stool and vomitus specimens from passenger and crew gastrointestinal illness cases and will send specimens to the CDC Calicivirus laboratory for testing.
• Sent twice daily reports of gastrointestinal illness cases to VSP.
• Consulted with VSP about sanitation cleaning procedures and reporting ill cases.

The vessel will return to its home port of Port Canaveral one day early on January 12. Passengers will disembark and crew will disinfect the vessel before new passengers embark on January 13. VSP staff will board the vessel when it arrives on January 12 to assist with investigating the outbreak and to monitor the ship’s response procedures.

Note: The gastrointestinal illness cases reported are totals for the entire voyage and do not represent the number of active (symptomatic) gastrointestinal cases at any given port of call or at disembarkation.

Learn how passengers can protect themselves with these tips for healthy cruising.