A 133-day cruise around the world has been thrown into disarray by a sickness bug, leaving passengers with symptoms including vomiting and diarrhoea. The norovirus outbreak on German firm AIDA Cruises’ globe-spanning voyage infected over 100 passengers and crew members, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It departed from Hamburg on November 10 and scheduled stops including the US, England, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and more, CruiseMapper reports.

Passengers began displaying symptoms of the virus after stops in US ports including Boston, New York and Miami, the CDC said. At least 95 of the 2,007 customers onboard and six of the 640 crew members, “reported being ill during the voyage”. The agency said the main symptoms recorded were vomiting and diarrhea, with the “causative agent” listed as norovirus.

Crew members initiated infection control protocols following the outbreak, including thorough cleaning procedures, according to the report.

They “isolated ill passengers and crew, increased cleaning and disinfectant procedures and collected stool specimens from gastrointestinal cases for testing”.

The journey is due to conclude in March 2026, when it returns to Hamburg, according to an itinerary on its website.

The CDC has reported 21 confirmed outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness on cruise ships this year, 16 of which were caused by norovirus. The virus also caused 15 of 18 total outbreaks in 2024 and 13 of 14 in 2023.

The CDC told USA Today earlier this year: “While the number of recent cruise ship outbreaks has been higher than in the years prior to the pandemic, we do not yet know if this represents a new trend.

“However, CDC data shows a newly dominant strain is currently associated with reported norovirus outbreaks on land. Ships typically follow the pattern of land-based outbreaks, which are higher this norovirus season.”