Cruise ships have always been wary about the potential that various illnesses could spread.
When you have thousands of people living in close quarters, everything from the common cold to Covid, the flu and norovirus can spread very quickly.
Since the industry's Covid-related shutdown, every cruise line has stepped up efforts to prevent this occurrence. Many cruise lines added improved air filtration while every company increased on-board sanitation efforts and encouraged passengers to wash their hands more often.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line pushes back on topless deck question
Consumers are well aware of how quickly illness can spread and that has put increased pressure on the cruise lines.
Princess Cruises, however, recently took an extreme step to knock out norovirus on one of its cruise ships.
Doug Parker had the full story on Cruise News Today.
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Princess Cruises asks passengers to get off
Transcript:
This is Cruise News Today with Doug Parker. A Princess cruise ship just can't smash the Noro bug. For the second time guests were asked to debark the Crown Princess in port for deep cleaning.
Now, this follows last week's sanitation efforts in Darwin. The 28-day cruise is circumnavigating Australia and has been embarking guests in many stops, which can make it harder to contain. Multiple guests on board have reported numerous cases of norovirus to our tip line.
Port Canaveral sets a record
[During] its annual meeting last night, Port Canaveral reported a record-breaking 7.6 million cruise passenger movements over the past year. Now, this is a 12% increase. The port saw 911 cruise ship calls with 13 home-ported vessels and parked nearly 914,000 cars.
Now, in 2025, Central Florida will see 16 home-ported ships with 8.4 million passenger movements. Also jumping to 1,030 cruise ship calls. This includes the introduction of Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas and the addition of Princess Cruises and Celebrity Cruises.
Both will home-port for the first time.
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And NCL has chosen actor Eric Stonestreet, known for his role in "Modern Family," as the godfather for its new ship, Norwegian Aqua. Stonestreet will christen the vessel at Port Miami on April 13.
This is the first in the line's Prima Plus Class of ships and is currently under construction in Italy.
After its christening, the 3,600-guest ship will be based in Port Canaveral for Caribbean cruises before relocating to New York and then south again to Port Miami. Stonestreet said he's excited about his role, calling it a once-in-a-lifetime honor.
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