How to Avoid Getting Norovirus on a Cruise Ship

First of all, the good news: Norovirus is rarely deadly. It's more like a rotten toilet-based hangover marked by a few days of nausea and, for some people, vomiting. Its biggest risk, mostly to the elderly and infants, is dehydration. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that norovirus results in about 900 deaths annually, which can seem scary, but that's out of an estimated 21 million contracted cases a year.

Now the bad news, which that figure of 21 million suggests: Norovirus is extremely common—only the common cold is more prevalent. There's no vaccine to prevent it. Norovirus can break out wherever people gather and mingle—schools, dorms, nursing homes, and even theme parks. And in 2025, cases have been surging both on land and at sea.

Because it's so easy to transmit—you can catch the norovirus simply because someone who carries it touches a surface that you touch next—outbreaks can befall even the most meticulously maintained cruise ships. And unlike many land-based institutions where people gather, cruise ships are required to report outbreaks to the government. That's how we know that in the last months of 2024, there were norovirus outbreaks on ships run by Celebrity Cruises, Cunard Line, Holland America, P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises (including on the Ruby Princess, pictured above), and Royal Caribbean.

Even spotless ships can carry norovirus. The Queen of England herself once contracted norovirus on her private royal yacht, Britannia (that's its infirmary, above—it's now a museum).

If you look at the CDC's list of confirmed outbreaks by ship name, you'll see very few vessels repeating on the roster, which suggests that norovirus is more connected to the people who temporarily come aboard than the condition of the ships. It doesn't really matter which of the major names you choose; all of them adhere to rigorous, carefully scrutinized safety standards. They have to, partly because most of them are publicly traded and it costs them a fortune when there's an outbreak.

Before boarding, you will be asked a series of simple questions about symptoms you hopefully aren't feeling.

Symptoms of norovirus often include a sudden onset of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and stomach cramps. Some people may also feel tired, have a low-grade fever, or feel chills, headaches, or muscle aches.

If you are feeling symptoms, be honest. If you're not carrying norovirus, then no harm done, but if you do board a ship carrying sickness, you could start making other people ill within 24 to 48 hours. Bad karma!

There is a window of about two days between infection and symptoms, but to tell the truth, if everyone told the truth, we'd knock out a significant segment of infectiousness.

The most important thing you can do, according to the CDC, is to wash you hands throughly before eating, serving food, smoking, using your phone, or dispensing medication to someone else. Also: Always do it after using the toilet.

You may see hand sanitizer dispensers like this (this one's was in the Garden Café on the Norwegian Getaway in 2014). You lived through the Covid-19 pandemic, so you know how to use hand sanitizer.

But what you may not know is hand sanitizer is not fully effective against norovirus.

In fact, the CDC says that if you want to avoid norovirus, there's nothing better than an old-fashioned hand washing, with basic soap and water, for at least 20 seconds.

That's why you will find proper hand-washing basins at the entrance of the ship's buffet and anywhere else food is self-service. To avoid the spread of norovirus—remember, you may be carrying it and not know it yet—it's crucial not to skip this step and do not replace it with hand sanitizer alone.

Most cruise lines post a crew member by the restaurant entrance buffet who will cheerfully pressure you to ensure your hands are freshly washed.

If an outbreak happens, the ship will probably also halt self-service at the buffet and instruct crew to serve food portions directly. That also helps keep transmission at bay.

Don't just wash your hands before the buffet—also wash them in your stateroom every time you're in it.

Also scrub them in a public washroom if you haven't done so for a while, or if you've touched a common surface.

And when you leave the public washroom, open the door handle using a paper towel to avoid touching its surface, and then toss that paper towel in the trash as you go.

Many lines now have waste bins next to the door for exactly that purpose—so you won't have to touch a door handle that's potentially tainted.

Believe it or not, keeping your hands clean all day is pretty much the entire list of things you can do to avoid norovirus, according to the CDC. Should be simple, right?

How do you catch most common viruses? By touching dirty fingers to your nose and mouth. Be assiduous about avoiding contamination. Don't suck your fingers, don't bite your nails, don't pick your nose. (Even if no one is looking.)

Cruise ship guests are confronted with buttons to press all day long—in the elevators, on touch screens, at the beverage dispensers (like these, on the Norwegian Getaway). There are limitless opportunities to pick up germs on your fingers without thinking.

To help limit the virus' ability to enter your body, don't touch buttons with your fingertips, which are more likely to be absentmindedly inserted into an orifice that will speedily transmit invaders directly to your system.

Instead, use your knuckles, which rarely come into contact with your moist membranes. It's not foolproof, but it helps distance germs from your mouth and nose until you can wash your hands again.

Unless you pay for a premium policy that allows you to "cancel for any reason," there is no such thing as an "I'm afraid to get sick" loophole in travel insurance. You can't cancel simply because you're afraid. You can't even cancel if you have a reservation on a ship that had an outbreak last week.

Every cruise line has its own rules for cancellations, so read your ticket documents carefully, but in general, the only way travel insurance can protect you is if you're caught up in a shipboard outbreak and file for medical expenses reimbursement. If your cruise line cancels your sailing (which they aren't likely to do, since they can swab and sterilize a ship to the CDC's satisfaction within 48 hours), you will more than likely be accommodated by the line itself.

So just go! Wash your hands. You'll be fine. And if you're one of the unlucky few, stay clean, hydrate, and avoid anti-diarrheal medication since you want the pathogens to clear out of your body as quickly as possible. Most cases clear up in one or two days.