Gastrointestinal illness affects 12 people on small cruise ship on six-day voyage originating in Juneau

Outbreak occurred on National Geographic Sea Bird during voyage from May 26–31; ship scheduled to return to Juneau on Friday

The downtown cruise ship dock on Monday, April 27, 2026. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Independent)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

A gastrointestinal illness outbreak affected nine passengers and three crew members aboard a small cruise ship during a six-day trip in Southeast Alaska that ended Sunday, according to a report Monday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The outbreak occurred aboard Lindblad Expeditions' National Geographic Sea Bird, a 152-foot-long ship with room for 62 guests and 30 crew members, during a voyage departing Juneau on May 26 and arriving in Sitka on May 31, according to the CDC. The ship reported the outbreak to the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) on May 28, with the predominant symptoms being vomiting and diarrhea. The cause is unknown.

"Norovirus is often a cause of gastrointestinal illness outbreaks on cruise ships, but we don't always know the cause of the outbreak when we begin an investigation," the CDC report states. "Finding the agent that caused an outbreak (causative agent) can take time."

The agency states that in response to the outbreak, the crew and company "increased cleaning and disinfection procedures according to their outbreak prevention and response plan." Also, ill passengers and crew were isolated, and Lindblad Expeditions "consulted with VSP about sanitation cleaning procedures and reporting ill cases."

"VSP remotely monitored the situation, including review of the ship's outbreak response and sanitation procedure," the CDC report notes.

The ship departed Sitka on Monday and is scheduled to return to Juneau on Friday.

Lindblad Expeditions did not immediately respond Tuesday afternoon to questions from the Juneau Independent.

There have been five GI outbreaks recorded by the CDC aboard cruise ships this year. None of the others occurred in Alaska.

KHNS radio in Haines reported Tuesday "some cruise companies in Southeast Alaska say customers are concerned about the Hantavirus" due to an outbreak on a cruise ship from Argentina this spring that sickened multiple passengers and killed three people. But Joe McLaughlin, a state epidemiologist, told the radio station the most common ailments on cruise ships are "norovirus, influenza virus, COVID and common cold viruses" — and noted there has been a recent increase in measles due to low vaccination rates.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.