A CRUISE ship with 2,000 passengers on board was evacuated after Norovirus broke out on the ship.
The Sun Princess departed Perth on November 1 for a 12-night trip when the virus spread across the cabins.
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According to the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, 229 passengers on board the ship had symptoms of the virus before everyone was evacuated on the final day of the trip in Singapore.
Symptoms of Norovirus generally last between one and three days, with medical experts recommending regularly hand-washing to avoid the disease.
A spokesperson for Carnival Cruises, who own Princess Cruises, the ship and the terminal were cleaned following the outbreak.
A spokesman for Carnival Australia said: “The vast majority of the 2000 guests on Sun Princess were unaffected but it takes relatively few cases of illness to be reported for on-board sanitation measures to be increased.
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“Creating and maintaining a healthy on-board environment is always a priority with the highest public health standards employed based on best international practice.
“On-board sanitation was swiftly stepped up following some guests reporting gastrointestinal symptoms confirmed as being due to norovirus.
“Out of an abundance of care and in line with best practice, extra cleaning of the terminal was also carried out on Wednesday.”
It’s not the first time the Sun Princess has been plagued by a virus on-board.
In 2017, approximately 140 passengers fell ill with gastrointestinal problems a fortnight after a similar outbreak on the vessel during a previous cruise.
At the time, the Sun Princess returned to Brisbane about 7am after its 14-day trip around New Zealand.
In 2018, a further 200 people were struck down with illness on-board another ship, called the Sea Princess, which is also part of the Princess Cruises fleet.
In January, a Royal Caribbean cruise was forced to end early after a norovirus outbreak swept across the ship.
Sun Online Travel contacted Carnival for additional comment.
A version of this story was originally published on news.com.au and has been reproduced with permission.
