125 people sick in third Princess cruise norovirus outbreak this year

Princess Cruises has now had three reported gastrointestinal outbreaks this year after more than 120 people fell ill aboard Ruby Princess.Show Caption

More than 120 people got sick in a norovirus outbreak aboard a Princess Cruises ship, marking the cruise line’s third this year.Among the 3,032 guests sailing on Ruby Princess, 102 reported being ill, along with 23 crew members, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Their main symptoms were diarrhea and vomiting.The health agency listed the impacted voyage dates as June 12 through July 2. The ship was sailing an Alaska and Canada voyage round-trip from San Francisco, according to CruiseMapper.In response to the outbreak, the cruise line enacted heightened cleaning and disinfection measures and isolated sick passengers and employees, along with other steps, the CDC said. Princess did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The CDC has logged seven outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships that met its threshold for public notification so far in 2026. Two were due to E. coli, while the rest were caused by norovirus, including two on other Princess ships.There were 23 outbreaks that met that threshold in 2025, 18 of which were caused by norovirus, and the illness was behind 15 out of 18 outbreaks the prior year. While norovirus is frequently associated with cruise ships, those instances account for just 1% of all outbreaks reported."(Outbreaks are) often taking place within the community, and oftentimes we don't know that they're happening," Sarah R. Michaels, an assistant professor at Tulane University’s Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, previously told USA TODAY. "Really, when we have these areas where people … are in really close contact, things like day care facilities, nursing homes and cruise ships, it’s more likely (to be) diagnosed, reported and brought to our attention."Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.