175 passengers aboard Celebrity Cruise ship suffered from norovirus

Nearly 200 passengers aboard Celebrity Cruise ship from New Jersey to Bermuda suffered ‘explosive diarrhea’ due to norovirus outbreak

  • Celebrity Summit departed from Bayonne, New Jersey on March 15 with 2,144 passengers and 963 crew members
  • Norovirus struck down 152 passengers and 25 crew members  who were left grappling with diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and headaches
  • Celebrity Cruise has suffered two other outbreaks on his ships this year with the Constellation and Equinox also impacted

A norovirus outbreak on board a Celebrity Cruise ship left nearly 200 passengers and crew with severe gastrointestinal illness.

The Celebrity Summit departed Bayonne, New Jersey on March 15 with 2,144 passengers and 963 crew members.

But as they traveled to Bermuda – with intermediate stops in South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts – nearly 10 percent on board became ill. 

The norovirus struck down 152 passengers and 25 crew members, according to the CDC. 

They were left grappling with diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and headaches and they traversed the high seas. 

Celebrity Cruises was forced to increase cleaning operations, send stool samples to the CDC laboratory, and encourage strong handwashing skills among guests. 

The Celebrity Summit departed from Bayonne, New Jersey on March 15 with 2,144 passengers and 963 crew members, but as they traveled to Bermuda – with intermediate stops in South Carolina, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts – nearly 10 percent on board became ill.

Affected passengers and crew members were left grappling with diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and headaches and they traversed the high seas. This is the third norovirus outbreak on a Celebrity Cruise this year

‘The health and safety of our guests, crew and communities we visit are our top priority,’ spokesperson Dani De la Osa told DailyMail.com in a statement.

‘To maintain the highest levels of health onboard our ships, we implement rigorous safety and cleaning procedures, many far exceeding public health guidelines. Combined, these efforts allow us to maintain some of the lowest levels of community spread.’ 

This is the third norovirus outbreak on a Celebrity Cruise this year, with the Celebrity Constellation suffering an outbreak between March 6 and 17 and the Celebrity Equinox suffering one from March 9 to 18. 

Roughly five percent of all on-board members fell ill on the Constellation, suffering from vomiting and diarrhea. The Celebrity Equinox saw similar numbers with many passengers being affected. 

There has been 12 norovirus outbreaks across several cruise lines – including Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean – sine the start of 2023, according to the CDC. 

Norovirus is the ‘leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea and foodborne illness in the United States,’ according to the CDC.

‘People of all ages can get infected and sick with norovirus, which spreads very easily and quickly,’ it said. 

Celebrity Cruises was sued for $1million earlier this year after a Florida family accused them over leaving their dead loved one in a drink cooler for days instead of a morgue, and leaving the body too decomposed for an open-casket funeral. 

Robert L. Jones died from heart complications while on board the Celebrity Equinox on August 15, 2022. After his death, his wife Marilyn Jones was told the body could be kept in the ship’s morgue for six days until they arrived back in Florida.

At some point, however, Bob’s corpse was moved from the morgue to a drinks cooler on a different floor of the ship, the complaint alleges.

Earlier this year, Celebrity Cruises was sued for $1million after a Florida family accused them over leaving Robert L. Jones (pictured) in a drink cooler for days instead of a morgue, and leaving the body too decomposed for an open-casket funeral

At some point, however, Bob’s corpse was moved from the morgue to a drinks cooler on a different floor of the ship, the complaint alleges

Jones – along with her daughters Robin Phillips and Teresa West – allege that cruise staff urged her to keep Bob’s body on board, instead of removing it during a stop in Puerto Rico.

By the time a funeral services employee went to retrieve the elderly man’s body upon arrival in Florida, the corpse – which was found in a body bag on a floor palette – had been so badly decomposed that an open-casket funeral was not possible.

Jones, her daughters, and her grandchildren are suing for $1million.

In the lawsuit, filed on April 19 in the Florida Southern District court, the family alleges Celebrity Cruises improperly stored the 79-year-old’s body, so much so that his remains were ‘so far gone in the decomposition process.’

The remains could not be salvaged, the lawsuit states, and the family had to forgo their ‘long standing family custom’ of open-casket services.

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