Q – We were watching a feed on Tik-Tok that showed that one of Regent’s ships, the Mariner, had an outbreak on a sailing between Miami and Honolulu this January with many of the older guests aboard this longer itinerary getting sick. The video was not pleasant to look at and we are wondering if these outbreaks on cruise ships are something potential cruisers should be aware of as we all prep for the next possible form of Covid? We have a longer sailing on Europa we are looking at but we do have these health concerns. How do you advise your clients on this issue given all the publicity online.
A – There is a branch of the “Media” that is dependent on sensationalism and some good photo ops. Tik-Tok is mostly produced by phone-wielding amateurs seeking to make their photo collection chat-worthy. Tik-Tok is probably not the best or most accurate way to gauge what is happening aboard cruise ships. Search cruise ship on this site and you will likely see amateur videos of fist fights breaking out in the pool area or misbehaving guests being restricted to their rooms by serious security personnel. The absolute fact is that a three or four night cruise is just about the most inexpensive vacation available given the components involved in alternative vacation options. But that is not cruising.
Our Managing Editor has been on 148 cruises and has never witnessed a physical altercation unless you count the time he got punched in the gut by his wife when he tried to order a second Black Swan dessert aboard the Silver Ray.
That same level of mis-information applies to outbreaks of virus at sea. The fact is that there were 21 guests who were reported ill on the Mariner sailing you mentioned out of 631 guests aboard. This was a gastrointestinal illness and was reported, as required, to the CDC.
The outbreak was actually the first reported to the CDC last year. But lets look at some key facts:
In all of 2025 there were 23 reported outbreaks reported by cruise lines to the CDC. A total of 17 were caused by norovirus almost always brought onboard by guests.
The fact is that even though the Media has put a fear of a norovirus outbreak aboard a cruise ship in the minds of the consumer, last year literally 99% of all outbreaks reported did not occur on cruise ships. Despite attracting hundreds and, in many cases, thousands of guests to one floating venue, cruises only make up 1% of the total reported outbreaks in 2025. That is not being reported – and it should be.
