More than 300 Royal Caribbean passengers fall victim to stomach bug

But for the passengers on board one ship, the dream rapidly turned into a nightmare – when 281 of them became violently ill.Twenty-two crew members are also battling severe stomach upsets after illness tore through the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Explorer of the Seas.It has now been forced to skip a planned trip to Haiti and dock in Puerto Rico so that it can undergo an extensive sanitising process.One furious passenger told CNN: 'I'll never come back again. Not on this cruise line.'It's the most disorganized trip I've ever been on in my life and I'm also 80 years old. It's sad.'Some 281 passengers and 22 crew members exhibited symptoms of norovirus, an extremely contagious and potentially deadly stomach virus that can cause violent vomiting and diarrhea, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The Explorer of the Seas carries 1,165 crew members on board.This is the second time in a month that a Royal Caribbean cruise has been derailed by norovirus. On January 18, the Majesty of the Sea was forced to cut its four day voyage from Miami short after 66 passengers fell ill.Once it became clear that something was amiss, Royal Caribbean decided to have the boat skip a planned stop in Haiti and proceed on to San Juan, Puerto Rico where it 'underwent an extensive sanitizing.'Janet Diaz, a Royal Caribbean spokesperson, says cleaning products designed to kill norovirus are being used to sanitize the ship.Noroviruses are a common cause of gastroenteritis, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, according to the CDC. Additionally, noroviruses are highly contagious.According to the CDC, the ship will head to St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, on Sunday, where health officials will conduct an investigation, a health assessment and evaluate the crew's response to the outbreak.The boat set sail from Cape Liberty, New Jersey, on January 21. It is scheduled to make stops in St. Thomas and St. Maarten.(dailymail.co.uk)ANN.Az