Wave of illness plagues Celebrity cruise ship

118 of the 2,730 passengers aboard the Celebrity Cruise ship Solstice have come down with symptoms of gastrointestinal illness, reports the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”).

Symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting.

The ship will return to Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 11 upon completion of its current 14-day cruise.

Once it docks, an epidemiologist and environmental health officials will come aboard to assess the situation and how the ship responds to it.

The Solstice has had two norovirus outbreaks this year, one in January and one in February where a passenger died.

More than 100 passengers became sick on another Celebrity ship, Millenium, in May.

According to Cruise Law News.com, the actual numbers of passengers becoming ill are usually greater than what is reported to the CDC because cruise lines are not required to report outbreaks if the ship does not call on a U.S. port. For example, even though there was a norovirus outbreak on the Celebrity Eclipse in September, there is no indication of that in the CDC database because the vessel sailed out of England.

Another reason for the underreporting is because many sick passengers know they will be quarantined in their cabins and they don’t want to wait in long lines outside the infirmary. Moreover, crewmembers may be pressed to work through their illness.