Planning A Cruise? Here’s How To Dodge The Most Common Germs At Sea

FRIDAY, Nov. 13, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Norovirus is still the top cause of cruise ship outbreaks, but flu, COVID-19 and other germs are claiming a bigger share, a new review finds.

Researchers at Peking University in China pooled data from 107 studies covering 619 outbreaks on 236 ships between 1969 and 2026. The findings were published Nov. 9 in eClinicalMedicine.

Cruise ships are crowded, partly enclosed spaces where people from around the world “live and dine in close proximity,” the authors wrote. Shared facilities and a steady turnover of passengers make it easy for germs to spread.