Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas returned to the Port of Tampa today with a ship full of passengers and a little something extra, an outbreak of intestinal flu.

"During Radiance of the Seas' last sailing, a number of guests experienced some gastrointestinal illness," Royal Caribbean said in a statement. "In an abundance of caution, we will conduct some enhanced sanitizing on board the ship and within the cruise terminal to help prevent any illness from affecting the next sailing"

The ship is expected to be delayed by about five hours said Doug Parker of CruiseRadio.net who has been in contact with guests preparing to board the ship for it's next sailing. "Those guests have been told to be at the pier at 5PM for boarding at 6PM, departing at 9:30PM" Parker said.

The cruise line is asking guests who might be sick to reschedule their cruise instead of boarding too. "If you have experienced any gastrointestinal symptoms during the past three days" the company told passengers reports Reuters.2,110-passenger Radiance of the Seas had been on a five-day cruise to Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico and was scheduled to leave Saturday night on the same itinerary

Flickr photo by prayitno

Filed under: North America, United States, Cruises, Caribbean