No plans to increase health inspections on cruise ships entering Bermuda have been made in the wake of several recent disease outbreaks on board ships in the Caribbean, says Maritime Administrator Duncan Currie.

Such outbreaks are "not unusual in the cruise industry", Mr. Currie said.

Yet another attack of what appears to be a "Norwalk-like virus" was reported on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in Miami last week. The Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas is the fifth luxury vessel to suffer just such an outbreak in recent weeks.

The Centres for Disease Control in the United States officially considers an "outbreak" to be three percent or more of a ship's passengers or crew getting an illness.

The specific illness which plagued 80 passengers and crew aboard Majesty of the Seas has not yet been identified. It has, however, been associated with the Norwalk virus, a non-lethal gastro-intestinal virus that causes a one to two day bout of nausea, vomiting, and headaches.

Carnival Cruises spokesman Tim Gallagher said several weeks ago, after a similar attack occurred on a Carnival Cruise ship, that "outbreaks of stomach ailments are common and not unique to cruise lines - you can't put it into perspective until you understand how common it is in the general population".

A general spike in gastro-intestinal diseases on board cruise ships means a spike in the general population, he continued.

The Norwalk virus is considered by health officials to be one of the most common gastro-intestinal viruses, generally affecting 181,000 Americans each year. More than 1,000 passengers and crew on ships leaving from US ports for the Caribbean have been affected by the disease over this past month.

The Majesty of the Seas was cleaned according to normal standards, and left on Friday afternoon for a three-day cruise.

"We have Princess cruises," said Mr. Currie, adding that he intends to board three ships himself over the next week.

No one from Marine and Ports Services, which is now separate from Maritime Administration, was available for comment.