“Time to change the name to “Hurl Caribbean.”
More than 300 people are sick with bouts of vomiting and diarrhea on board a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The retch-toll includes 281 passengers and 22 crew members, the CDC confirmed Saturday.The cause of the distress is unknown.
There are 3,050 passengers and 1,165 crew members aboard the ship, the Explorer of the Seas, whose home port is at Bayonne, NJ.
It is due to reach St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands on Sunday, when health officials are expected to board it.
Cruise-line officials have increased disinfection efforts, the CDC said.
This marks the second gastrointestinal outbreak on a cruise ship stopping at US ports so far this year. An epidemiologist had to board a Norwegian Cruise Line ship in Miami on Jan. 19 after 130 passengers fell ill.
The last stricken Royal Caribbean ship was the Vision of the Seas, on board which 118 passengers fell ill last February, according to the CDC website.