Franklin Lakes Residents Onboard Illness-Stricken Royal Caribbean Cruise

A Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship that docked in New Jersey Wednesday smelled like vomit and diarrhea for most of its return trip.

That’s according to a Franklin Lakes couple who was interviewed as they departed the boat that made headlines this week for a possible norovirus outbreak on board.

“Another passenger we became friends with said he went into the men’s room and someone had gotten sick right in the floor and he stepped in it,” borough resident Carl Kern told Reuters.com.

“It was bad.”

The trip onboard the “Explorer of the Seas” was cut short when over 600 people reportedly came down with the same illness. It cut its 10-day trip by two days and returned home early to a dock in Bayonne Wednesday.

According to reports, the cruise ship offered passengers a compensation package that included 50% off their next cruise.

“We were really disappointed,” Kern’s wife Fran told Reuters.com.

“We've never been to many of these ports so to pay all this money and not get to the ports is very disappointing. We aren't cruisers like some people. We should have gotten a full refund.”

According to a CNN report, the official cause of the illness outbreak is still under investigation, but the incident did mark the highest number of sick people reported on any cruise ship in two decades.