PORT EVERGLADES, Fla. (WSVN) — Passengers who were on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship where more than 200 people fell ill with a stomach virus are back on dry land after the vessel returned to South Florida, Saturday.
7News cameras captured passengers wheeling their luggage away from the Independence of the Seas after it pulled into Port Everglades.
The ocean liner had left South Florida on Monday. By Wednesday, cases of the gastrointestinal illness had begun to spread quickly. Cruise officials counted 220 cases in total, just under 5 percent of the 5,547 guests and crew on board.
In a statement released Friday, a Royal Caribbean spokesperson said passengers were given over-the-counter medication to combat the symptoms. The Independence of the Seas’ staff quickly jumped into action, cleaning and disinfecting the entire ship.
Passenger Cheryl Roberts said this was not the Caribbean she was expecting. “Imagine being in a waiting room and sitting next to five or six people all throwing up at the same time,” she said.
Roberts said she and other passengers tried to determine the source of the virus. “While we’re in there waiting, we’re talking to each other, like, ‘Hey, what did you eat? How did you get sick?’ she said. “Everyone is saying the same thing, which is, ‘We all had lunch on the ship. We all didn’t eat off of the ship, and now we’re all either throwing up or we have horrible diarrhea.”
In a statement, Royal Caribbean spokesperon Owen Torres said, “We’re taking steps like intensive sanitary procedures to minimize the risk of any further issues. We also encourage guests and crew to wash their hands often, which health experts recommend as the best defense against stomach viruses.”
After passengers disembarked, the Independence of the Seas was thoroughly sanitized.
Just after 6:30 p.m., 7News cameras captured the ship leaving Port Everglades.
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