From sick passengers, to happy kids, and a strike looming, there's been a lot of cruise news worth catching up on.
On any given week, there's a lot of Royal Caribbean news you should know about, and our team wanted to make sure you didn't miss any of these important updates.
Over the weekend, there were a few bits of cruise news that came out and this post provides a quick digest of what you need to know.
Gastrointestinal illness outbreak on Alaska cruise
Update: 180 167 people onboard a cruise ship were sick in gastrointestinal illness outbreak, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
The passengers were on Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas during its September 20, 2024 sailing in Alaska.
In addition 3 crew members also reported being sick.
That constitutes a little over 8% of the passengers and 0.3% of crew members reporting getting sick. Cruise lines are obliged to report the incident of sick cases to the CDC when it affects more than 3% of the ship's total population.
The CDC report says symptoms included diarrhea, abdominal cramps, headache and muscle aches.
The CDC did not list what caused the illnesses in its report.
Royal Caribbean took action immediately by increasing cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan.
While gastro illness on a cruise ship gets a lot of media attention, it's important to remember only 1% of all reported outbreaks occur on cruise ships.
Longshoreman strike won't affect cruise ship passengers
While a US port strike by 45,000 dockworkers looms, don't worry about it impacting your cruise vacation.
The strike is scheduled to start on Tuesday and affect ports on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. It would be the first coast-wide ILA strike since 1977, affecting ports that handle about half the nation's ocean shipping.
According to a statement made by the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA), cruise ship operations will continue to be serviced by the ILA as to not inconvenience those tens of thousands of passengers who have booked cruises.
Royal Caribbean helps make over 20 wishes come true for kids with critical illnesses
Royal Caribbean and Inter Miami CF worked with Make-A-Wish to bring a bright day to kids who have life threatening illnesses.
A four day experience was held in South Florida for 23 kids that traveled from South Florida to Texas and Canada to Israel. The event was held between between Saturday, Sept. 21 – Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Their wish? To meet Inter Miami captain and football legend, Lionel Messi.
Prior to meeting Messi, Royal Caribbean hosted the kids on Icon of the Seas in an effort to bring joy and normalcy to the kids and their families.
The families enjoyed look up close at the first theatrical rendition of “The Wizard of Oz”, time on the water slides at the Category 6 waterpark, and plenty of snacks and food on the ship.
Later in the week, the kids went to Chase Stadium to meet Messi and other members of his team on the field.
Update on the travel item ban
In case you missed it, Royal Caribbean updated exactly what it means when it said it banned "multi-plug outlets" on its ships.
The cruise line has banned "Extension Cords and Multi-Plug Outlets/ Power Strips," but that lead to a lot of confusion among cruisers.
With the new update, you can bring a USB outlet extender onboard and/or a single plug device.
"We do allow consumer type power conversion device USB charger (multi-plug blocks on which the outputs are for USB cables)."
This confirms a USB hub would be acceptable since it adds just USB outlets, and no power outlets. (Contains affiliate link, which costs you nothing extra to use).
