A Royal Caribbean cruise from Baltimore to Jamaica was cut short after more than 200 people became ill with the norovirus.

A cruise ship with about 170 passengers and crew members suffering from a gastrointestinal ailment caused by norovirus was met by public health officials when it docked in California on Sunday, a Carnival Corp spokeswoman said.

The latest figure doubles initial reports of some 300 affected by what cruise officials called a gastrointestinal illness, and includes 577 passengers and 49 crew members, a CDC official said.

Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control boarded a Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. ship in the Virgin Islands today to assess the situation after hundreds of passengers and crew became sick.