A gastro outbreak aboard Golden Princess has affected over hundreds of passengers that were on a two-week holiday to the South Pacific. The Golden Princess left Melbourne for the South Pacific on March 8 and is now expected to return on March 22, 2016.

This is the second gastro outbreak incident aboard a Princess Cruises ship, in February 2016, 150 passengers aboard Diamond Princess were struck  down by a norovirus outbreak while returning from a New Zealand Cruise. Read our story here 

In a report by the Sydney Morning Herald, spokesperson David Jones said that the crew has been busy carrying out sanitation procedures like disinfecting railings, door handles and elevator buttons and that infected passengers had been isolated in their cabins in a desperate bid to prevent the sickness sweeping through the ship.

A norovirus outbreak can cause symptoms like vomiting and diarrhoea for up to three days. So how do you really protect yourself from Norovirus? Dr John Bradberry, former medical director for Carnival Cruise Lines says, “Norovirus is not a cruise ship illness. It’s a land-based illness that gets brought on to cruise ships by passengers for the most part.” Read our Top five ways to avoid Norovirus on a cruise