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Newsweek

Mystery Illness Strikes 140 on Luxury Cruise After Departing US

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. More than 140 passengers and crew members mysteriously fell ill during a luxury Royal Caribbean cruise that recently departed Los Angeles for Mexico. Newsweek has contacted Royal Caribbean for more information on its latest cruises via email. Why It Matters The Navigator of the Seas is a 2003 Voyager-class cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean, with a capacity of almost 4,000 passengers. This means that around 4 percent of the total cruise was ill during the journey, which began earlier this month. What To Know The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the cruise, aboard the Navigator of the Seas, concluded July 11 with at least 134 of 3,914 guests and seven crew experiencing vomiting, stomach cramps, and diarrhea. The source of the outbreak remains unknown. This incident is one of 18 gastrointestinal outbreaks on cruise ships in 2025 that met the CDC's threshold for public notification, with norovirus often the culprit. According to the CDC, norovirus is the leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea, and foodborne illness in the U.S. However, the CDC stated that identifying the causative agent can take time, and cruise ship outbreaks represent only 1 percent of all reported cases. Issues of hygiene aboard large cruise ships have been put under new scrutiny by the public after the release of Poop Cruise, a documentary about a 2013 cruise aboard the Carnival Triumph that left over 4,000 passengers stranded with a backed-up sewage system. This month also marks the beginning of new tourism taxes on cruises headed to Mexico, like the one carried out by the Navigator of the Seas. Starting from July 1, international travelers stopping in any Mexican ports have been required to pay a tourism tax upon disembarking. Mexico is among some of the most-visited cruise destinations in the world and attracts millions of cruise passengers across its different ports. According to the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), this year could see around 3,300 cruise ships arriving in Mexican ports, bringing 10 million passengers to the country. The Navigator of the Seas cruise ship while docked at the CocoCay port where people can enjoy the private beach, food, drinks, and activities, Bahamas, October 12, 2019. The Navigator of the Seas cruise ship while docked at the CocoCay port where people can enjoy the private beach, food, drinks, and activities, Bahamas, October 12, 2019. Getty Images What People Are Saying A spokesperson for Royal Caribbean Group said in a statement responding to the illness, per USA Today: "The health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit are our top priority. To maintain an environment that supports the highest levels of health and safety onboard our ships, we implement rigorous cleaning procedures, many of which far exceed public health guidelines." What Happens Next? The CDC continues to investigate the outbreak.