SAN DIEGO – More than a hundred passengers and crew members aboard a Celebrity Cruise ship got sick with a stomach virus, the third outbreak of its kind reported on cruise ships in recent weeks, officials said Monday.

The ship Mercury returned to San Diego Monday after sailing to several Mexican beach towns for a 10-day voyage that began March 17.

During the trip, 107 of 1,976 passengers and 24 of 841 crew members suffered a stomach illness, said Michael J. Sheehan, director of corporate communications for Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Authorities believe the passengers' illness was caused by norovirus – a contagious stomach virus that usually lasts between 24 to 48 hours and causes nausea, vomitting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. In serious cases, the virus may cause dehydration.

Sheehan said the virus was brought on board by a guest who had been exposed to it elsewhere.

Most of the sick passengers recovered with the help of over-the-counter medication aboard the ship, he said.

Authorities with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say the virus spreads from people who don't properly wash their hands after using the bathroom.

Cruise ships are prone to such outbreaks because so many passengers are touching the same surfaces.

Crew members cleansed the ship during the trip and planned to conduct a more vigorous cleaning of the vessel before it sets sail again tonight to Mexico, Sheehan said.

Loren Goertz and his family of Vancouver, Canada, were aboard the ship.

“It wasn't the vacation we paid for,” Goertz said.

He said his family, along with the rest of the passengers, spent much of their vacation time waiting for the ship to be cleaned at various ports along the trip.

“That ship shouldn't sail. It should be quarantined,” he said.

Sheehan said the ship was not required to be quarantined before leaving for Mexico. He said the cleansing routines conducted by the crew are recommended and approved by the CDC as a means of controlling the spread of the virus.

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