The Ruby Princess cruise ship, which has encountered a string of outbreaks and mishaps in recent years, returned to SF on Thursday after a three-week voyage in which 125 people — about five percent of those onboard — reported norovirus symptoms.

As the Chronicle reports, more than 120 people fell ill with norovirus aboard the Ruby Princess at various points during a 20-day round-trip cruise from San Francisco to Alaska and British Columbia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The outbreak reportedly sickened 102 passengers and 23 crew members out of more than 4,100 people onboard, with diarrhea and vomiting reported as the primary symptoms.

The CDC said the ship's operator responded by isolating sick passengers and crew, stepping up cleaning and disinfection, collecting stool samples, and consulting with federal health officials, who monitored the response remotely, per the Chronicle. Princess Cruises also conducted another deep cleaning before the ship departed San Francisco on its next voyage.

According to SFGate, the Ruby Princess is one of seven cruise ships to report gastrointestinal outbreaks to the CDC so far this year, five of them linked to norovirus.

As SFist reported previously, the Ruby Princess also made headlines in recent years after reporting several COVID-19 cases following a 2022 voyage, striking Pier 27 while docking in 2023, and being the site of a search for a passenger believed to have gone overboard in 2024.

Previously: Notorious Ruby Princess Cruise Ship, Which Carried Early COVID Cases, Just Crashed Into Pier 27

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