332 Royal Caribbean passengers fall ill with stomach virus

PORT EVERGLADES, Fla. – More than 300 passengers on a cruise ship that docked at Port Everglades fell ill with a stomach virus.

The Naples Daily News reports that the Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited’s ship Independence docked Saturday in Florida reported 332 cases of gastro-intestinal illness among the 5,547 guests.

It was the second time in less than a month that illness hit passengers on one of the cruise line’s vessels.

The 5-night cruise was interrupted for those passengers, who had symptoms including vomiting and diarrhea. One passenger, Victoria Nolan, described people throwing up in elevators.

Cruise line spokesman Owen Torres told the paper that the ill passengers only represented about 6-per cent of the total, and that the illnesses were short-lived.

Torres said the ship underwent intensive sanitary procedures to minimize any further risk.

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Information from: Naples (Fla.) Daily News, http://www.naplesnews.com