We’ve received notification from Carnival Cruise Lines that the Carnival Liberty sailing originally scheduled for November 19 will now depart on November 21 and will be shortened from six days to 4. The delayed departure is to allow crew members to throughly sanitize the ship following it’s current Trans-Atlantic sailing.

According to Carnival 506 passengers out of 2,804 and 137 of the ship’s 1,166 crew reported gastrointestinal distress consistent with norovirus. The outbreak has been traced back to two passengers who had a gastrointestinal illness prior to their embarkation and actually sought out medical treatment while they were in Rome.

Currently 10 passengers and 3 crew members remain in isolation.

We discuss norovirus in Episode 3 of the podcast, you can find the show here. These outbreaks get a lot of press when they occur, but often times the situation is over dramatized and the facts that you need to know get lost. First, norovirus is not life threatening, it is however extremely common anywhere people congregate including schools, hotels, nursing homes, and yes cruise ships. Unlike anyplace else, cruise ships are the only ones who are required to report norovirus outbreaks to the Centers for Disease Control. Cruise ships have extensive and comprehensive sanitation programs to prevent such outbreaks, and almost every single outbreak on a cruise ship has been traced back to a passenger who was exhibiting symptoms before they boarded.