Norovirus 'pukefest' on the Dawn Princess

The Dawn Princess. Photo / Glenn Taylor

Up to 200 cruise ship passengers have been confined after the norovirus bug struck the Dawn Princess while on a trip around New Zealand.

"Some passengers on Dawn Princess' current cruise to New Zealand destinations have reported gastrointestinal symptoms confirmed as norovirus...Most passengers on Dawn Princess are unaffected by the illness," cruise line Princess Cruises said in a statement.

"It takes relatively few cases to be reported onboard for even more stringent sanitation levels to be implemented. This happened on Dawn Princess to contain any spread of the illness. The containment response worked effectively and the number of new cases declined significantly," the company said.

The Dawn Princess regularly berths at the Port of Tauranga and is next expected to arrive in the Bay on December 21.

There were 1500 passengers on board, 200 of whom were confined to their cabins, Fairfax reported.

Some social media users discussing the outbreak blamed people who did not wash their hands enough after going to the toilet for spreading the virus.

Princess Cruises said its sanitation measures included closing all self-service in food areas and encouraging passengers to use their own cabin bathrooms facilities.

The Cruise Law News blog said a similar "pukefest" happened on the 261m long ship two years ago.

Then, 114 passengers and 11 crew fell ill.

A woman who claimed to have been a passenger on the ship during a previous outbreak said the crew responded efficiently last time.

"At such close quarters with such a large volume of humans anything is possible, it's just one of those things," she said on Facebook. "I found the operations of working crew to be very efficient and alert especially to problems that could arise from sloppy human behaviour."

Noroviruses causes stomach or intestinal infection, leading to vomiting and diarrhoea, according to the Ministry of Health.

"Norovirus is highly infectious and spreads easily from person to person. Both faeces and vomit are infectious, and the virus can survive on contaminated surfaces even after cleaning with some disinfectants," the ministry said on its website.

The bug spread when people consumed contaminated food or drinks, or touched infected surfaces or objects and then put their fingers in their mouth.

The ministry said people who shared food or ate from the same plate or cutlery as an infected person were also at risk. Sick people also spread the disease because vomiting sent tiny particles into the air.

Dawn Princess was on a 13-day cruise to New Zealand destinations and would leave the country today to return to Melbourne.

In its marketing material, Princess Cruises said the Dawn Princess was a "spectacular ship" offering offered "peaceful tranquility" for passengers.

Princess Cruises is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation.