On Cruise Ship, 5 Nights, 332 People Sick

Royal Caribbean stresses that outbreak affected only 6% of 5K on board
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 17, 2017 6:38 AM CST
On Cruise Ship, 5 Nights, 332 People Sick
Royal Caribbean International's Independence of the Seas is the third ship in the line's famed Freedom-class - the largest in the world.   (PRNewsFoto/Royal Caribbean International)

If a 6% chance of getting violently ill sounds like good odds, your ship has unfortunately already sailed: The latest outbreak of gastrointestinal illness on the high seas struck Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas, reports CNN, with at least 332 affected on the five-night cruise. "It was just terrifying," says the mom of a 15-year-old boy who got sick. "Just the amount of people that were coming in at the same time with vomiting and diarrhea and just looked ghastly." The ship docked Saturday in Port Everglades, Fla., and a Royal Caribbean rep, who says that just 5.99% of more than 5,000 aboard were affected, says "we hope all our guests feel better quickly," and that the boat will "undergo special additional cleaning procedures before it departs on its next cruise." (Remember the "poop boat"?)

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