The cruise industry continues to balloon — with ever bigger, ever wilder boats and some 37.1 million cruise passengers set to take to<a class="excerpt-read-more" href=" More

A virus known as the stomach bug that has surged across parts of the country is the cause of nearly all diarrhea outbreaks reported on cruise ships that docked at U.S. ports in 2024, federal data shows.

In December alone, the CDC reported five separate outbreaks on four different ships -- sickening more than 800 people. All of the outbreaks were caused by the highly contagious norovirus.

Last year, there were 16 outbreaks on cruise ships, from norovirus, salmonella, E. coli or other unidentified pathogens that cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea or vomiting. That's the largest number of cruise ship outbreaks in 12 years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says reported illnesses on cruise ships have hit a 12-year high.

Illnesses on cruise ships have hit a 12-year high. New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show there were outbreaks on 16 different cruise ships in 2024. The majority of the illnesses were norovirus cases.