More than 300 passengers and 22 crew have taken sick on the cruise ship, The Explorer of the Seas, which is scheduled to make 15 stops in Bermuda this year.

It was reported that US health officials were expected to board the Royal Caribbean ship in the US Virgin Islands today to investigate a possible outbreak of the highly contagious norovirus.

The Explorer of the Seas stopped part way through a 10-day cruise from Cape Liberty, New Jersey to St. Maarten after reports of vomiting and diarrhoea, according to the cruise line and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

From April to September this year the same ship, which can carry over 3,000 passengers, will embark on five-day cruises from Cape Liberty to Bermuda and has docked here several times in the past.

In a statement this morning, company spokeswoman Janet Diaz said CDC officials were expected to soon board the towering, 15-deck ship making a port call in St. Thomas, the main island of the US Virgin Islands.

At least two CDC officials — an epidemiologist and an environmental health officer — are expected to do an investigation and evaluate the outbreak response on the cruise liner.

During the previous port call in Puerto Rico, the ship underwent “extensive and thorough sanitising” to help prevent more people from getting sick, said the spokeswoman. It bypassed a scheduled stop to the company’s fenced-in beach destination in northern Haiti to sail directly to Puerto Rico’s capital.

“This was a difficult decision to make; however, we feel it is best to make this itinerary modification to help prevent any more guests from becoming ill,” Diaz said.

Meanwhile, the passengers and crew who fell ill have “responded well to over-the-counter medication being administered on-board the ship,” she said.

Symptoms of norovirus include vomiting and diarrhoea, which is what the cruise ship passengers have reported. It spreads quickly in close quarters and is known for afflicting schools and cruise ships. Diaz said special cleaning products and disinfectants that are proven to kill norovirus are being used to clean the Explorer of the Seas.

In a statement today, Beverly Nicholson-Doty, the US Virgin Islands’ tourism commissioner, said the territory was grateful for the “CDC’s quick response” and St. Thomas was ready to welcome ship passengers cleared to disembark.

On Friday, an Explorer of the Seas passenger named Arnee Dodd tweeted that she had fallen ill aboard the ship and was quarantined with the other sick people. The Connecticut woman wrote that ship employees “put a lock down on food & are constantly cleaning everything.”

It was not immediately clear how many passengers, if any, were still being quarantined today.