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Celebrity Cruises said it is delaying the departure of the Celebrity Mercury's next cruise after 350 passengers on the boat's latest tour of the Caribbean came down with an as-yet-unidentified gastrointestinal illness.
The Mercury skipped a planned stop at Tortola, British Virgin Islands, on Monday, and will return to port in Charleston, S.C., on Thursday, one day ahead of schedule. It was supposed to set out Friday from Charleston on a cruise to Florida, Mexico and the Bahamas, but that departure will instead be delayed two days, until March 21.
Mic Smith, AP
Celebrity Cruises said its ship, the Celebrity Mercury, will return to port on Thursday, one day ahead of schedule, after 350 passengers on the boat became ill. Here, the Celebrity Mercury is docked last month following another outbreak of illness among passengers.
"In an abundance of caution," the company said in a message posted to its Web site, "we are conducting extensive and thorough sanitizing on board the ship and within the cruise terminal as recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to help prevent any illness from affecting the next sailing."
This is not the first outbreak of illness on board the Mercury, nor is it the company's first attempt to make sure another doesn't happen again. In fact, the previous two journeys on the Mercury also resulted in widespread passenger sickness.
As CNN reported, a February outbreak of norovirus, which often results in stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhea, led to 22 percent of the ship's 1,866 passengers becoming sick. After that incident, Celebrity Cruises delayed the departure of the following cruise for a day of cleaning.
But on the Mercury's very next voyage, 10 percent of the new passengers were sickened after contracting norovirus. Once again, the company delayed the ship's next outing for more intensive cleaning.
While norovirus has not yet been named as the cause for the latest outbreak, 19 percent of the boat's passengers have reported symptoms similar to those experienced by passengers on the other two cruises.
In all, nearly 1,000 passengers have fallen ill on the Mercury's last three voyages.
According to the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program, outbreaks of norovirus are common on cruise ships, sickening thousands of passengers each year.
A spokeswoman for Celebrity Cruises told USA Today that customers for the Mercury's upcoming trip can request a refund.
