The Associated Press

KEY WEST, Fla. - Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines officials removed about 75 passengers from a ship in Key West and sent them to Miami by bus, after the guests fell ill during a four-day sail to the Bahamas, a spokeswoman said.

The Majesty of the Seas, an 880-foot vessel that can accommodate 2,744 passengers, was making a scheduled stop Thursday morning in Key West when the sick passengers, many of whom had been quarantined in their cabins aboard the ship, were loaded onto two Miami-bound buses.

"This was handled terribly," said Adam Hoffman, a Connecticut man who was among the passengers sent to Miami.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Lynn Martenstein said she could not confirm whether the passengers were suffering from a Norwalk-like virus which has plagued numerous cruise ships in recent weeks.

"It could be anything from guests staying out too late, drinking and eating, to what the stomach flu people refer to as the Norwalk-type virus," Ms. Martenstein said. "It is not unusual. It's not a particularly high number of people with flu symptoms."

Ms. Martenstein said there had been a "limited number" of stomach flu cases in recent weeks aboard the Majesty.

She added that the cruise line had kept the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention informed of the situation.

"The CDC is not taking any action," Ms. Martenstein said.

Officials from the CDC could not be reached for comment Friday.

The Norwalk-like virus strikes suddenly and violently, typically lasting one to two days.

It can cause vomiting, headaches and nausea, according to health officials.

It is considered to be one of the most common gastrointestinal viruses.

More than 1,000 passengers have recently become sick on cruise ships and the CDC is looking into more than 20 outbreaks of the virus on cruise lines.

That is more than it has seen in the four previous years combined.