FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel) -- More than 3,000 cruise passengers will have their dream vacations cut short due to a second consecutive outbreak of gastrointestinal illness on board the Crown Princess cruise ship.

Princess Cruises has ordered the ship back to Port Everglades, Fla., for special cleansing, ending its voyage two days early. Passengers will miss port calls in Aruba and Curacao. They will get full refunds and other relief.

Back-to-back illness outbreaks are relatively rare. The last one involved two May 2011 sailings to Alaska aboard the Sea Princess ship, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.

It's the third outbreak to hit a Princess ship in recent days.

The recent spate of outbreaks could spook some potential cruise passengers, especially those with disabilities, the elderly and first timers, Fort Lauderdale travel agent Sandra Cline said.

"People may be frightened to go on Princess' ships," said Cline, owner of Palm Beach County Cruise & Travel, although seasoned and younger cruisers won't be fazed.

At iCruise.com in Delray Beach, Fla., agents have started to get inquiries about the virus and there's been a slight shift in business to other premium cruise lines, specifically Celebrity Cruises' Solstice ships, Co-President Don Walker said.

The Centers for Disease Control said the cluster of outbreaks is not an indication of unusual norovirus activity this year and that no new strain had been detected.

The norovirus, which caused stomach illnesses on the Ruby Princess ship recently, is easily spread by touching affected surfaces in high-trafficked areas. Symptoms include diarrhea and vomiting, according to the CDC. Although generally not serious, it can be fatal in young children, the elderly and people with other health conditions.

Before the Crown Princess departed Feb. 4, it was thoroughly disinfected after nearly 400 passengers and crew reported stomach illnesses on its previous cruise. Nevertheless, Princess said, 114 passengers and 59 crew members on the current cruise had fallen ill by Tuesday, when the ship was ordered to return.

While cruise ships draw attention, norovirus outbreaks occur in many places where people congregate or where food is served.

"It's not a (cruise) ship disease. It happens elsewhere," said Vicky Garcia, an executive vice president for Cruise Planners/American Express in Coral Springs, Fla., which has more than 900 home-based cruise agents nationwide.

When Crown returns to Fort Lauderdale on Thursday, Princess said it will do an intensive sanitization of cabins, public areas, furnishings, carpets, railings and other high-touch areas. All linens and towels will be removed from every stateroom. The cabins in particular will be disinfected multiple times before it sails again.

Princess said it will give the 3,078 passengers on the ship full refunds and a 25 percent credit on a future cruise. It will also provide hotel rooms, arrange flights home and pay any required airline ticket change fees.

For cruisers headed out on Crown's Feb. 11 sailing, their best defense will be to keep their hands constantly clean, experts say.

"They should make sure to use the hand sanitizers onboard to protect themselves," Dwain Wall, senior vice president and general manager Fort Lauderdale's CruiseOne and Cruises Inc. cruise agency networks.

(c) 2012 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune News Service.