Ruby Princess Battles New Illness Cases on Sailing Right After Outbreak
If you're sailing on Ruby Princess's July 2-12 voyage from San Francisco, know that six crew members and one passenger were in isolation with gastrointestinal illness as of July 5. The itinerary hasn't changed — Sitka and Haines have already been visited, with Ketchikan, Prince Rupert, and glacier cruising still ahead before the July 12 return. Follow onboard handwashing and sanitation guidance, and watch for updates if case counts rise toward the 3% CDC reporting threshold.
What jumps out here is the math: seven cases is just 0.17% of the roughly 4,180 people aboard Ruby Princess, versus the 125-case outbreak days earlier that blew past the 3% CDC threshold with 102 guests and 23 crew affected. That's why this second cluster stays off the CDC's desk while the first one didn't — Princess already had to eat a delayed San Francisco departure on July 2 for deep cleaning. My read is this is exactly the pattern the CDC and Lindblad's Sea Bird, Royal Caribbean's Enchantment of the Seas, and Holland America's Rotterdam have all shown before: consecutive-sailing outbreaks aren't rare, since norovirus lingers in crew for days after symptoms fade. If I were booked on this Alaska run to Ketchikan and Prince Rupert, I'd wash my hands obsessively and not assume a quiet CDC filing means all-clear.</reasoning> </invoke>