A norovirus outbreak on a Royal Caribbean has sickened almost 100 passengers and crew members.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that at least 94 passengers on the Serenade of the Seas got sick during the 13-night voyage, or about 5% of the 1,874 passengers, WTVJ reported.

At least four crew members of the 883 was sick.

The cases, the Tampa Bay Times pointed out, came from the entire cruise, noting that not all people were sick at the same time. But when 3% of passengers or more fall ill with the same, specific symptoms during a voyage, cruise lines are required to report the outbreak.

Frequent cruiser Bob Pettit, 87, was one of the passengers who got sick, WTVJ reported

“It really hits you hard, violently,” he said, adding, “I’m 87 years old, I’ve never been this sick in my life.”

Pettit said he started with an upset stomach that turned into vomiting and diarrhea. He had to quarantine for 24 hours during the trip.

Because of the outbreak, Royal Caribbean International increased cleaning and disinfection procedures, Fox Business reported.

The company said in a statement to WTVJ, “The health and safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit are our top priority. To maintain an environment that supports the highest levels of health and safety onboard our ships, we implement rigorous cleaning procedures, many of which far exceed public health guidelines.”

“We were notified when we were in Huatulco, Mexico, we were notified of them being aware of it, and they were immediately cleaning everything,” a passenger told WSVN. “They had everything barricaded off. They had the staff, all the staff — there was an engineer from the engineer room, there was the lifeguard in the windjammer — because it was blocked off, and they were serving us instead of us just going right up and getting the food.”

The ship departed from San Diego on September 19 and arrived in PortMiami as scheduled on Thursday morning.

What is norovirus?

Norovirus is a common, but very contagious illness and is the primary cause of foodborne illness in the U.S, the Cleveland Clinic said.

While many will call it the stomach flu, it is not. It is actually gastroenteritis.

There are several types of norovirus.

What are the symptoms?

According to the Cleveland Clinic, the symptoms include:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Stomach pain
• Headache
• Fever
• Body aches

The symptoms appear 12 to 48 hours after exposure and last from one to three days, the Cleveland Clinic said. You are still contagious for up to 48 hours after symptoms stop.

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