Key Aspects:
- A norovirus outbreak has been confirmed aboard Rotterdam on the ship’s most recent sailing.
- Embarkation for the January 9, 2026 departure was slightly delayed for extra sanitizing.
- Extra cleaning measures are in place aboard the Pinnacle-class ship to help protect guests and crew.
A severe gastrointestinal illness outbreak has been reported aboard Holland America Line’s Rotterdam, which the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed as norovirus.
The outbreak occurred on the ship’s New Year’s sailing, a 12-night Panama Canal and Southern Caribbean itinerary that departed Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, December 28, 2025.
The report to the CDC indicates that 81 guests of the 2,593 travelers onboard (3.1%) reported gastrointestinal symptoms, including vomiting and diarrhea. In addition, 8 of the ship’s 1,005 crew members (just under 1%) also reported similar symptoms.
Subsequent laboratory testing confirmed the outbreak to be norovirus, the most common cause of such symptoms on cruise ships worldwide.
This latest outbreak is the third norovirus outbreak aboard Rotterdam in the last 12 months. The first was reported in February 2025 and impacted a total of 185 guests and crew members. The second outbreak was somewhat smaller and just one month later, in March 2025, it impacted 93 guests and crew members.
Both earlier outbreaks were also confirmed as norovirus. Other Holland America Line ships have also had similar outbreaks in the past year, including two reports from Eurodam and one from Zuiderdam.
Embarkation Delayed
In order to fully sanitize the vessel ahead of her next sailing, guests planning to embark Rotterdam on Friday, January 9, 2026 were notified of a slight delay to embarkation.
This allows for extra deep cleaning before more guests board the ship, ensuring the most thorough possible sanitation measures.
Embarkation was delayed just a couple of hours. Rotterdam has already departed Port Everglades on her next itinerary, a 9-night Southern Caribbean “ABC” voyage with visits to Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba, and Half Moon Cay.
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Hopefully, the sanitation measures will have been effective and guests now onboard the Pinnacle-class ship will not be impacted by the unpleasant symptoms. Rotterdam can welcome 2,668 guests at double occupancy or up to 4,173 guests when fully booked.
Guests Report Conditions Onboard
Guests sailing during the impacted sailing shared their experiences on a Reddit thread, painting a much more graphic picture than the simple numbers reported to the CDC.
Coughing has been prominent onboard since early in the 12-night sailing, with gastrointestinal symptoms surfacing later in the cruise.
Roughly midway through the cruise, travelers noticed increased sanitation measures, including extra cleaning of public spaces and surfaces and stronger encouragement for hand-washing and using hand sanitizer.
By the last day or two of the sailing, there was no longer any self-service in the buffet and sickness bags were positioned around the ship.
“When the captain announced a gastrointestinal illness was going around I was pretty surprised given symptoms have seemed more respiratory,” one guest noted.
This might indicate there has been more than one illness onboard, but it is not uncommon for respiratory illnesses such as colds and flus to be more prominent during the winter months.
Some guests also noted slight changes to the entertainment lineup, such as adjustments to musical performances, which might indicate illness spreading among crew members.
To be clear, the report to the CDC with the 89 confirmed norovirus cases is not claiming that 89 guests and crew members were sick simultaneously.
These reports are totals for the entire sailing, and because symptoms may resolve in just a few days, there could be significant gaps between early cases and late cases during the 12-night cruise.
