240 passengers sick aboard two Royal Caribbean cruises as a second ship infected with norovirus docks in San Diego

By Michael Zennie For Daily Mail Online
Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas docked on Tuesday in San Diego with 135 sicken passengers aboard
On Monday, Celebrity’s Infinit docked with 106 ill people
Both ships had sailed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for a 15-night voyage
A second cruise has docked in San Diego with a massive outbreak of the noxious norovirus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea.
Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas reported 135 passengers took ill before it docked Tuesday. Just one day prior, the Celebrity Infinity cruise liner docked in the Southern California city with 106 sick. Both ships are owned by Royal Caribbean.
The Legend of the Seas was carrying 1,763 passengers and 747 crew on 15-night cruise from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The Celebrity Inifity, which carried 2,117 passengers and 964 crew, sailed the same path from Florida through the Mexican Riviera.
One of the passengers on the Legend of the Seas, Brooke Fagan, described a day of horrible gastrointestinal problems aboard the ship.
‘I ended up feeling very very sick, very lethargic, very run-down. couldn’t really get out of bed. Ended up throwing up and just had major issues all day,’ she told KFMB-TV.
Fagan believes the virus came from the ship’s port of call in Guatemala. She says she fell ill shortly after that stop.
The crew aboard the Legend of the Seas quarantined 15 people who fell ill to their staterooms for 48 hours.
Norovirus is an extremely contagious virus from contaminated water or food that can live on surfaces for weeks. It causes severe gastrointestinal distress.
After both ships docked, crews went to work scrubbing down every inch of the cabins and common rooms.
The CDC, which is investigating the matter, said: ‘One CDC Vessel Sanitation Program environmental health officer and one epidemiologist have boarded the ship in San Diego, CA on April 13, 2015 to conduct an environmental health assessment and evaluate the outbreak and response activities.
More than 200 sickened on San Diego-bound cruise ships
‘Specimens have been collected and have been tested by CDC to determine the causative agent for this outbreak is norovirus.’
The CDC also sent a crew aboard the Legend of the Seas.
In a statement sent to Daily Mail Online, Celebrity Cruises said: ‘Those affected by the short-lived illness responded well to over-the-counter medication being administered onboard the ship,’ the company said.
‘During the sailing, we took a number of steps to prevent the transmission of the illness, including implementing enhanced cleaning procedures and protocols, and using special cleaning products and disinfectants that are proven to kill norovirus to clean throughout the ship.
‘Additionally, when Celebrity Infinity arrived to San Diego, California, today, we began an extensive and thorough sanitizing onboard the ship and within the cruise terminal, to help prevent any illness from affecting the subsequent sailing.’
The statement continued ‘Also, all guests will receive a letter at boarding that asks if they have experienced any gastrointestinal symptoms within the last three days. Similarly, if any guest is uncomfortable taking their cruise, for reasons related to personal health or otherwise, our staff assisted them in rescheduling their sailing for another time.’
The Maritime-Executive reported the ship previously experienced gastrointestinal illness outbreaks in 2006 and 2013.
IMAGES:
The Legend of the Seas docked on Tuesday with 135 sick passengers aboard – the second Royal Caribbean ship infected in two days
The Celebrity Infinity, which docked Monday, reported 106 people who had fallen ill with norovirus
Crews immediately got to work scrubbing down and sanitizing both ships. Norovirus can live on surfaces for weeks, meaning other passengers could also be infected
Both ships sailed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to San Diego for 15-night cruises. The Celebrity Infinity is pictured here
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