Norovirus outbreak: Over 200 passengers, crew infected aboard Cunard Line ship

A norovirus outbreak on the Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 cruise ship infected more than 200 passengers, including crew. The ship is en route to New York and left Southampton, England, on March 8 and will sail until April 6.

2,538 passengers were on board when 224 guests and 17 crew reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported.

Ship’s response to the outbreak

In a written response, a spokesperson for Cunard said, “We have had a small number of guests on board Queen Mary 2 who have reported symptoms of gastrointestinal illness. We are continuing to closely monitor the guests and, as a precaution, completed a comprehensive deep clean of the ship and immediately activated our enhanced health and safety protocols, which are proving to be effective.”

Cruise ships impacted by Norovirus

The Queen Mary 2 is not the first cruise ship to encounter a norovirus outbreak this month. The Seabourn Encore has seen an increase in cases.

The CDC reports that 12 of the 461 passengers on the Seabourn Encore have come down with the virus, as well as 22 of the 405 crew members.

Similar to the Cunard vessel, the Seabourn cruise will continue to sail until April 9.

The CDC has documented 12 gastrointestinal illness outbreaks on cruise ships this year. Ten of these were caused by norovirus, a highly contagious stomach virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea.

According to the CDC, roughly 1% of the 2,500 annual cases of norovirus occur on cruise ships.

Meanwhile, 2025 has already witnessed various cruise liners reporting norovirus outbreaks. Two ships from Princess Cruises and three ships from Holland America have been affected by the virus this year. In the previous year, 16 outbreaks were reported.