You may want to hold off on that cruise. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has announced that one of its ships will return home from the Caribbean two days early after hundreds of passengers and crew became sick. Despite this, though, Royal Caribbean profits have risen.
Already, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevented have assessed the situation on the cruise ship, according to SFGate. The officials boarded the "Explorer of the Seas" in the U.S. Virgin Islands on Sunday, Jan. 26. Most of those afflicted were suffering from gastrointestinal illnesses such as diarrhea. In all, 281 of 3,050 passengers were impacted while 22 of 1,165 crew members were also afflicted, according to SFGate.
Fortunately, though, it seems like most of the sick are on the mend. While passengers and crew members reported vomiting and diarrhea, the cruise line was quick to note that instances of sickness were decreases.
"New reports of illness have decreased day-over-day, and many guests are up and about. Nevertheless, the disruptions caused by the early wave of illness means that we were unable to deliver the vacation our guests were expected," said the cruise line in a statement, according to CNN. "After consultation between our medical team and representatives of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we think the right thing to do is to bring our guests home early, and use the extra time to sanitize the ship even more thoroughly."
Currently, the CDC isn't sure exactly what might have caused the illness. Yet the symptoms seem to be consistent with norovirus, according to the cruise line.
Despite this setback, though, Royal Caribbean is doing well. Today, it reported a fourth-quarter profit, compared to a year-earlier loss, according to Reuters. In all, it reported a net income of $7 million, or 3 cents per share, in the quarter ended Dec. 31. That's compared with a loss of $392.8 million earlier. Overall, total revenue rose 2.7 percent to $1.85 billion, according to Reuters.
