What a norovirus outbreak was like aboard the Holland America Eurodam

Tomorrow morning, I will disembark the Holland America MS Eurodam in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My cruise has made the news this week with coverage from the likes of USA Today for being the eighth Norovirus outbreak of 2025 on a cruise ship, having met the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s threshold for public notification. It also made the news in the island of Curacao; unbeknownst to passengers on board, Curacao’s Health Ministry first banned and then cleared our cruise to dock within a span of 8 hours on the day before arrival. Holland America deserves some credit for (I think) mostly containing this outbreak, and staff on board have probably been the most outgoingly warm and friendly of any cruise we’ve taken, but there were some notable drawbacks in terms of the way that Holland America communicated (or rather failed to do so) leading up to the cruise and during the outbreak that I think are notable for cruisers, particularly those with compromised immune systems.

I’ll note that I will soon review the cruise itself, separate from the Norovirus outbreak, but I thought that the story of the outbreak, the measures taken on board, and the level of information provided to passengers was a story of its own, separate from our experience with the ship and itinerary.

Norovirus outbreak sickens many on Holland America Eurodam

According to reports at USA Today, around 90 people out of 2,000+ aboard my cruise on the Holland America MS Eurodam were sickened with Norovirus, with symptoms mainly being vomiting and diarrhea. Most reportedly resolved within a couple of days. I think that number is artificially low.

We’ll never know the true number because there was little incentive to report sickness. A fellow passenger was told that if they were ill, they would be required to quarantine for five days. While that makes sense for the purposes of containing the outbreak, for the passenger reporting ill, it means missing half of their trip (and potentially the majority of port stops). While the cruise first stopped in the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, and the Dominican Republic, the primary draw of this cruise was a trip to the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao). Anyone who became sickened on board over the first couple of days would have likely missed at least a couple of the ABC islands if not all three by reporting sick. I’m certainly not arguing that passengers shouldn’t have reported their symptoms, but rather recognizing that the disincentive to do so was likely high for those passengers who didn’t require urgent medical attention.

I feel very fortunate that my wife and I and our sons have (at least so far) dodged the virus.

Announcements about gastrointestinal illness began within 2 hours of boarding

On the day we boarded the ship, we were surprised that the first announcement from the captain, which came about 2 hours after we boarded, noted that “a number of passengers” had reported to the health center with “symptoms of gastrointestinal illness”. The captain implored everyone to frequently wash hands, particularly before eating, and to avoid touching surfaces. He went on to later implore passengers to use handrails (which makes sense given the older demographic on Holland America cruises and the propensity for falls to be an injury risk, but it gave me a chuckle after the warnings to wash hands and not touch surfaces). The words “norovirus” or “outbreak” were never mentioned throughout the cruise.

There was a similar announcement or two daily, with the captain noting each time that the ship had enacted enhanced safety protocols in order to reduce the spread of illness. Several days later, each subsequent announcement mentioned that thanks to the great work of many crew members and the cooperation of passengers, the instances of illness were decreasing each day. Essentially, the first few announcements reminded people to wash their hands frequently, especially before eating or after touching things and subsequent days asked people to keep up the good work, saying that things were improving. As a passenger on the ship, I wasn’t aware that the outbreak was very serious — it sounded more like a few people got sick and they were encouraging people to wash frequently in order to avoid a significant outbreak as opposed to there being an active, significant outbreak already.

That isn’t to say that we didn’t take the warnings seriously. On the contrary, we found the early announcement about gastrointestinal illness very unsettling. Our kids are ages 4 and 7. While we were hyper-vigilant in trying to keep their hands clean, keeping their hands off of common surfaces quickly became a game of anxiety-inducing whack-a-mole. With four passengers in a single cabin, our vigilance was primarily motivated by the fear of having multiple sick people in a very confined space. Luckily, we haven’t experienced any health issues.

Enhanced safety protocols seem to have been effective and didn’t deter from enjoyment of the cruise

The staff aboard the Holland America Eurodam deserves an immense amount of credit.

First of all, we’ve now taken nine cruises in the past 2.5 years. The staff aboard this ship have been the friendliest and most cheerful we’ve seen. Some people have a natural talent for hospitality that goes beyond what can be taught in a class. Holland America has found many of those people and put them aboard this ship. I was constantly surprised by how many staff remembered our names and preferences. Given the two thousand people on board (and a new two thousand people week after week), I was impressed.

The safety protocols put in place were well-implemented:

• The buffet was entirely served by staff, with guests not touching anything but their plates. Even drinks like water and lemonade were served by a gloved staff member rather than risking passengers touching cups and putting them back down, etc.
• Hand sanitizer was present everywhere, and a staff member was present at every entrance to a dining venue making sure that every passenger sanitized hands before entering.
• Cabins of sick passengers appear to have been thoroughly disinfected. We saw masked crew members with full suits reminiscent of hazmat suits entering what were presumably cabins of sick passengers for thorough cleaning (rather than the cabin steward for other cabins cleaning those cabins and potentially contaminating other cabins afterwards)
• Staff were constantly wiping down high-touch surfaces like handrails, elevator buttons and door jams, etc.
• Items commonly left out for community use like board games and sports equipment were instead made available upon request and disinfected between use.

Some examples in action:

I’m sure there were even more steps taken that I’m either forgetting or didn’t see, but suffice it to say that efforts were visible and seemingly effective. And while I imagine it must have been incredibly boring and repetitive for a staff member to be stationed at the water / lemonade / iced tea / coffee stand to spend hours getting the same drinks (or sometimes long stretches of no action at all at night), you wouldn’t have known it based on the cheerful attitude every time you went for a drink.

Furthermore, the measures put into place didn’t have any measurable impact on enjoyment of the cruise. While we had a fair amount of anxiety and enjoyed the cruise less because of it, the enhanced cleaning protocols themselves didn’t negatively affect us at all. In fact, I’d rather have the buffet be staff-served. As the parent of young kids, I like seeing sanitizer at the entrance to a dining area. And while it was a minor inconvenience to wait for pickleball equipment one day on the sports court and we may have missed out on a board game or two by not seeing them on display, I don’t feel like the measures taken had any negative impact. That in itself is fairly impressive and indicative that Holland America both put thought into how to enhance cleaning protocols in a way that wouldn’t detract from the cruise and they staffed the ship sufficiently to do so without impact to the cruise experience. That part was great.

One note of contrast is that there were few noticeable measures taken in the casino to reduce the risk of transmission. Chips were obviously handled by many guests and staff and some table games require the guests to touch the cards or dice. I did notice hand sanitizer available at the tables, but I don’t recall seeing anyone use it, including dealers. It’s worth mentioning that I’m not sure that dealers using sanitizer periodically would have had any measurable impact since they were collecting and shuffling cards and collecting and distributing chips the entire time. I did see slot machines being wiped down periodically.

On the one hand, it’s a testament to how well the ship ran in attacking the outbreak and making the cruise seem to be “business as usual” for those customers who didn’t experience any illness. I imagine that many will be surprised to hear sometime after the cruise that there was a virus outbreak on board. That’s a positive in the sense that people unaffected didn’t really “lose out” on anything. That said, we did almost lose out on a port stop.

The Curacao Ministry of Health flip-flopped on whether cases were increasing or decreasing, first banning and then unbanning the ship within hours

To my earlier point about being unsure about the true case count, there was an odd flip-flop from the Ministry of Health in Curacao about whether or not the ship would be allowed to dock.

Our cruise was scheduled to visit Curacao on February 25th (and we ultimately did). We were never told that there was a chance that we might not dock in Curacao because of the virus cases on board.

According to the Ministry of Health, Environment, and Nature of Curacao’s Facebook page, the government announced at 2:42pm on February 24th that the passengers of the Holland America MS Eurodam would not be allowed to disembark in Curacao on February 25th due to a significant increase in gastrointestinal cases aboard the ship. Here is the text of their announcement in the local language and then I’m including a Google Translate translation:

Desishon pa No Permiti Desembarko di Pasaheronan i
Tripulante di MS Eurodam na Kòrsou 24 di februari 2025
Willemstad – Ministerio di GMN a anunsiá ku ningun pasahero ni tripulante di e krusero MS Eurodam lo ta permití pa desembarká na Kòrsou. E desishon aki ta basá riba un aumento signifikativo di kasonan gastro-intestinal ku tin aktualmente presente na bordo di e barku.
Segun investigashonnan realisá pa Ministerio di GMN i CDC di Merka (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) a raportá ku e krusero Eurodam a eksperensiá un brote di Norovirus durante e periodo di desèmber 2024 te janüari 2025. Adishonalmente, un otro barku di e mesun liña di krusero, MS Rotterdam, tambe a konfrontá un brote di Norovirus den e luna di febrüari 2025.
Norovirus ta un virus konosí pa su kapasidat di sobrebibí riba superfisie pa un tempu largu, i esaki ta aumenta e riesgo di transmishon.
Debí na e aumento di kasonan gastro-intestinal na bordo di e MS Eurodam, Ministerio di GMN a evaluá e situashon i a tuma e desishon di no permití desembarko di pasaheronan ni tripulante.
E desishon aki ta forma parti di e medidanan di prevenshon pa protehá e salú i bienestar di e komunidat lokal.
Ministerio di GMN ta komprometé ku e seguridat di salú di tur i ta sigui monitorisá e situashon di serka.
Ministerio di GMN ta apelá na e kooperashon di tur parti interesá i ta garantisá ku tur medidanan nesesario ta ser implementá pa prevení kualke riesgo di salú públiko.

Google translate:

Decision to Not Allow Passenger Disembarkation and
Crew of MS Eurodam in Curacao 24 February 2025
Willemstad – Ministry of GMN has announced that no passengers or crew of the cruise ship MS Eurodam will be allowed to disembark in Curacao. This decision is based on a significant increase in gastrointestinal cases currently present on board the ship.
According to investigations conducted by the Ministry of GMN and CDC of the United States (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) reported that the cruise ship Eurodam experienced an outbreak of Norovirus during the period December 2024 to January 2025. Additionally, another ship of the same cruise line, MS Rotterdam, also faced an outbreak of Norovirus in the month of February 2025.
Norovirus is a virus known for its ability to survive on surfaces for a long time, and this increases the risk of transmission.
Due to the increase in gastrointestinal cases on board the MS Eurodam, the Ministry of GMN assessed the situation and took the decision not to allow disembarkation of passengers or crew.
This decision is part of the prevention measures to protect the health and well-being of the local community.
Ministry of GMN is committed to the health safety of all and continues to monitor the situation closely.
Ministry of GMN appeals for the cooperation of all stakeholders and ensures that all necessary measures are implemented to prevent any public health risk.

Then, at 10:55pm the same day (February 24th), which was the night before we were due to arrive, the same Ministry of Health Facebook page announced that the Holland America Eurodam would be allowed to dock because of a drastic decrease in gastrointestinal cases:

Update riba Situashon di MS Eurodam

Willemstad – Despues di un proseso di komunikashon i deliberashon transparente i kontinuo ku e tim médiko di e barku krusero MS Eurodam, Ministerio di GMN a konstatá ku e barku a demonstrá un bahada drástiko di e kantidat di kasonan gastro-intestinal na bordo. Adishonalmente, e krusero a kumpli ku tur e normanan internashonal di desinfekshon i higiena, segun e standardnan eksigí pa outoridatnan internashonal.

E kantidat di personanan ku ta presentá síntomanan di malesa ta bou di e mínimo ‘range’ permití i tur e poko personanan afektá, ta isolá den nan kamber, kual ta kumpli ku e protokòlnan internashonal pa prevenshon di brotenan.

En bista di e progreso signifikativo i e medidanan efektivo implementá pa e tripulashon i e tim médiko di e barku, Ministerio di GMN a determiná ku e situashon aki no ta representá un peliger eminente mas pa e komunidat di Korsou. P’esei, Ministerio di GMN no tin motibu mas pa tene e barku afó di nos haf.

Ministerio di GMN ta rekonosé e esfuersonan di e tripulashon i atministrashon di e MS Eurodam pa manehá e situashon di manera responsabel i efikas. E desishon aki ta basá riba e informashon aktual i ta garantia ku tur medidanan di seguridat i salú públiko ta keda respetá.

Ministerio di GMN ta sigui motorisá e situashon di aserka i ta komprometé ku e protekshon di e bienestar di tur habitante i bishitante di Kòrsou.

Fin di Komunikado

Google Translate:

Update on MS Eurodam Situation
Willemstad – After a transparent and continuous process of communication and deliberation with the medical team of the cruise ship MS Eurodam, Ministry of GMN has found that the ship has demonstrated a drastic decrease in the number of gastrointestinal cases on board. Additionally, the cruise complied with all international standards of disinfection and hygiene, according to the standards required by international authorities.
The number of people presenting symptoms of illness is below the minimum range allowed and all the few affected people are isolated in their rooms, which complies with international protocols for outbreak prevention.
In view of the significant progress and the effective measures implemented by the crew and medical team of the ship, the Ministry of GMN has determined that this situation no longer represents an eminent danger to the community of Corsou. Therefore, the Ministry of GMN has no reason to keep the ship out of our port.
Ministry of GMN recognizes the efforts of the crew and administration of the MS Eurodam to manage the situation responsibly and effectively. This decision is based on current information and guarantees that all safety and public health measures are respected.
Ministry of GMN continues to monitor the situation closely and is committed to the protection of the welfare of all inhabitants and visitors of Corsou.
End of Press Release

It definitely raises an eyebrow to read that the Ministry of Health first decided that the ship couldn’t dock because of a significant increase in cases of gastrointestinal illness….only to decide 8 hours later that the ship could dock thanks to a drastic decrease in cases. Neither of those events were reported to passengers on board; there was never a mention of the possibility of missing a port stop due to the virus outbreak on board.

Holland America hasn’t been clear with passengers on board that an “outbreak” has occurred at all. There has been no mention on board of the specific number of passengers affected, nor that the number met the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s threshold for public notification. The statements given to USA Today exceed what most passengers on the ship know unless they’ve taken it upon themselves to Google the ship and read about the outbreak online.

Holland America’s key failure was in lack of prior notification that an outbreak had happened (or was ongoing?)

My key disappointment with Holland America is in the lack of information shared with passengers, both prior to the cruise and during it.

I didn’t know it until several days into the cruise that an outbreak on the Eurodam was reported in early January according to this report in the Curacao Chronicle — and I only found that article after Googling to see if there was something more serious going on with the enhanced safety protocols on board.

Based on that report, I have to wonder whether the virus has simply been present on board for more than a month and if the announcement on the first day of the cruise was an attempt to try to slow the spread. However, we weren’t informed prior to boarding that there had been a norovirus outbreak nor that there were already cases before we stepped on board. That’s where Holland America truly failed in my opinion. They should have provided more information in advance and offered people both the chance to decide whether to get on board and enough information to make a good choice. They emailed guests on the morning of departure to advise us of a road closure that might cause delays getting to the port, but there was no mention of norovirus.

In fairness, I wouldn’t expect Holland America to offer a refund because of the risk of a norovirus outbreak (indeed, that risk always exists), but giving people the chance to change or cancel for a credit — or to go forward with the cruise — seems like the right thing to have done.

Here’s why: Holland America markets to an older crowd. I’d guess that the average age on our cruise is likely between late 60s and early 70s, with some passengers older still. Many folks in that age range have weaker immune systems. I was on an elevator yesterday (the next-to-last day of the cruise) with a couple who was just reading about the outbreak for the first time on their phone and they seemed shocked to learn that there had been a norovirus outbreak on board. They were surprised that there had been no announcement of the outbreak. I reminded them that there had been an announcement on the first day noting that “a number of passengers” had reported “gastrointestinal illness” and that there had been daily reminders to wash your hands since the day we boarded, but those announcements obviously hadn’t been done in a way that made it clear enough to them that there was a major issue requiring public notification (and that couple noted how people with weakened immune systems need to know about the level of risk).

In fairness to Holland America, I’m sure that creating a panic by labeling the situation as an “outbreak” would have been difficult to manage and likely wouldn’t have helped reduce cases much (and it probably would have sharply increased the number of unpleasant interactions at the customer service desk). But it also would have given those folks with compromised immunity the chance to adjust their behaviors more sharply.

Bottom line

I’m about to end a cruise that was affected by a norovirus outbreak on board. The good news is that my immediate family has thus far remained healthy and the safety protocols put in place to reduce the spread of illness haven’t affected our enjoyment of the cruise (and seem to have had a positive impact). Staff on board the ship seem to have done an excellent job. However, I’m disappointed that communication from Holland America to passengers has not been better. That includes both the amount of information given about what was happening during the cruise as well as the lack of advance notification (if they already had an outbreak in progress on board prior to boarding), both of which are likely decisions made off-board the ship in corporate offices. In the future, I’ll take it upon myself to ask more questions and proactively seek out more information sooner when there are signs of a larger spread of illness.

This experience won’t prevent us from cruising in the future, but it likely will make us a bit more hesitant and a little more likely to search for current ship information in the weeks leading up to our next cruise.

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