Cruise Ship Illness Outbreaks Have Dropped 88% This Year Compared to 2025

Through the first two months of the year, cruise ship illness outbreaks have dropped 88% compared to the first two months of 2025.

Cruise lines are required to report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) any time 2% or more of passengers/crew members on a ship report having GI illness.

If that number reaches, 3%, it officially becomes an outbreak and is posted on the CDC’s website.

Through the first two months of the year, there has only been one outbreak so far. That was on the January 11, 2026 sailing on Seven Seas Mariner when 21 passengers (3.3%) reported being ill on the voyage.

In the first two months of 2025, there were eight illness outbreaks reported to the CDC by six different cruise lines. They were Sea Cloud Cruises, Silversea Cruises, Holland America Line, Viking, Princess Cruises, and Royal Caribbean.

Of the eight, six of them were from norovirus, one from E. coli and one presumed case of ciguatera.

There were a total of 23 outbreaks in 2025, with the overwhelming majority of them taking place in the first four months of the year. This was up from 18 outbreaks in 2024. You can see a list of all outbreaks on the CDC’s website.

The CDC gives three main tips on their website to help cruisers have a safe and healthy vacation. They are:

• Wash hands often
• Drink plenty of water
• Get proper rest

All cruise ships that visit a U.S. port are under the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) jurisdiction. The VSP also conducts two unannounced health inspections each year to every ship that visits or sails from a U.S. port.