Norovirus outbreak sickens 277 on Royal Caribbean cruise ship
Oasis of the Seas returning to Florida after cutting short trip to Jamaica
Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas is returning to a Florida port a day early and giving passengers full refunds of their fare after 277 guests and crew members were hit with an outbreak of Norovirus as it sailed to Jamaica.
Cruise line spokesperson Owen Torres told The Associated Press "we think the right thing to do is get everyone home early rather than have guests worry about their health."
He says the ship will return to Port Canaveral on Saturday. It sailed from there Sunday on a seven-day Caribbean cruise.
Passengers took to social media on Wednesday, tweeting they were forced to stay onboard after docking in Falmouth, Jamaica, for what was supposed to be a day of excursions.
Oasis of the Seas, Royal Caribbean. We’re docked at Falmouth Jamaica. Level 3 Norovirus outbreak. 100+ passengers and a crew member sick. Canceled shore excursion. Waiting to see if Jamaican authorities let us off the ship. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/refund?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#refund</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/lostvacation?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#lostvacation</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/disappointed?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#disappointed</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/royalcarribean?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#royalcarribean</a>
—@alan_thomas13Torres says returning a day early gives the cruise line "more time to completely clean and sanitize the ship" before it sails again.