by Donald Wood
Last updated: 9:05 AM ET, Thu January 10, 2019
Update: January 12, 2019 at 9:50 a.m. ET
After revealing the latest voyage of the Oasis of the Seas cruise ship would be cut short, Royal Caribbean officials announced Thursday 475 passengers and crew members have been infected with a norovirus.
The cruise line initially reported more than 250 passengers had fallen ill.
Update: January 10, 2019 at 3:20 p.m. ET
Royal Caribbean International officials have announced the Oasis of the Seas will return to Florida Saturday after 277 guests and crew members were sickened by a Norovirus outbreak as the ship sailed to Jamaica.
According to The Associated Press, the Oasis of the Seas is returning a day earlier than planned and each passenger will receive a full refund.
Royal Caribbean spokesperson Owen Torres said, "we think the right thing to do is get everyone home early rather than have guests worry about their health."
A norovirus outbreak on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas was reported Wednesday after more than 100 passengers and crew members became ill during the voyage to Jamaica.
According to FloridaToday.com, the Oasis of the Seas departed Port Canaveral Sunday on a seven-night cruise and docked in Falmouth port in Jamaica where guests were required to remain on the ship for several hours.
Several passengers on the voyage took to social media to complain that they were not permitted to leave the ship before departing for the next port of call in Cozumel, Mexico. Royal Caribbean officials would not confirm if the ship was quarantined.
"As of today, 167 cases of gastrointestinal illness have been reported since Sunday, representing two percent of the nearly 9,000 guests and crew on board," Royal Caribbean spokesman Owen Torres told FloridaToday.com. "Those affected by the short-lived illness are being treated by our ship's medical team with over-the-counter medication."
"Meanwhile, we are bringing additional medical staff on board and we're engaging in intensive sanitary procedures to minimize the risk of any further issues," Torres continued.
The outbreak on the Oasis of the Seas comes just days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed only 10 ships reported major outbreaks of gastrointestinal illnesses in 2018.
The CDC's 2018 numbers totaled 547 cases of gastrointestinal illnesses reported in 2018, which is less than half the number of instances announced in 2017.
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