More than 400 of the 2,500 passengers onboard the Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) ship the “Pride of Hawai‘i” were sick last week. Laboratory tests were administered by Hawai‘i state health officials on Friday to determine whether an outbreak of the
More than 400 of the 2,500 passengers onboard the Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) ship the “Pride of Hawai‘i” were sick last week.
Laboratory tests were administered by Hawai‘i state health officials on Friday to determine whether an outbreak of the Norwalk virus or another disease had occurred.
Passengers fell ill after the ship left Honolulu Harbor on Monday, suffering from flu-like symptoms of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. These passengers and their cabinmates were under quarantine in their rooms for 24 hours; NCL gave them $200 on-ship credit.
The “Pride of Hawa‘i” arrived in Maui on Wednesday and passengers were not allowed to disembark due to an oil spill in Kahului Harbor. After being diverted to Kona, the vessel arrived back on Maui and is expected to be in Kaua‘i this weekend.
NCL said the outbreak was confined only to the “Pride of Hawa‘i.” The other Hawaiian cruise ships, the “Pride of Aloha” and the “Pride of America” were not affected, although NCL sent a memo to all bus and cab operators who handle cruise passengers saying, “To prevent an occurrence of the Norwalk virus … NCL would recommend that all motor coaches and tour equipment utilized by Pride of Hawaii and Pride of Aloha passengers be sanitized prior to and after each excursion.”
NCL has cleaned and disinfected all its buses on all islands and has asked all tour operators to do the same.
NCL said they have informed passengers booked on the next “Pride of Hawai‘i” cruise of the outbreak, giving them the option of not sailing.
