A recent Celebrity Cruises sailing took an unfortunate turn when a gastro outbreak resulted in 152 guests and 25 staff members becoming unwell.
Celebrity Summit was heading to Bermuda and South Carolina last month when the virus spread around the ship, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Those who caught the virus reported symptoms such as vomiting, headaches, diarrhea and abdominal cramps.
The crew onboard the ship were commended for their work by the CDC.
The Celebrity crew “increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to the ship’s outbreak prevention and response plan” and “notified current guests of the situation onboard and encouraged illness reporting and good hand hygiene,” per the CDC.
Celebrity informed guests onboard about the situation and collected stool samples from sick passengers to pass onto the CDC lab for further analysis. The cruise line also provided the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) with twice-daily reports of gastro cases and consulted with the VSP about cleaning procedures and the process for reporting ill cases.
A Celebrity Cruises spokesperson told FOX Business in a statement Tuesday that “the health and safety of our guests, crew and communities we visit are our top priority.
“To maintain the highest levels of health onboard our ships, we implement rigorous safety and cleaning procedures, many far exceeding public health guidelines,” the spokesperson added. “Combined, these efforts allow us to maintain some of the lowest levels of community spread.”
Celebrity Summit’s round trip voyage left Bayonne, New Jersey and was making stops in Bermuda, Charleston, South Carolina, Newport, Rhode Island and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
