Story highlights The cruise line says more than 300 people fell ill among more than 5,000 passengers and crew

Royal Caribbean said it's taking "intensive sanitary procedures" to minimize risk

(CNN) A Royal Caribbean cruise ship returned to Florida on Saturday after hundreds of passengers contracted a gastrointestinal illness.

During the five-night cruise, 332 cases of the illness were reported, Owen Torres, a spokesman for Royal Caribbean told CNN in a statement. He stressed that it was a small percentage -- 5.99% -- of the more than 5,000 passengers and crew onboard the ship, Independence of the Seas.

"Those affected by the short-lived illness were treated by our ship's doctors with over-the-counter medication," Torres said, "and we hope all our guests feel better quickly."

It is not known what caused the illness.

"It was just terrifying," Tracy Flores, a passenger whose 15-year-old son came down with the illness, told CNN affiliate WPLG Saturday. "Just the amount of people that were coming in at the same time with vomiting and diarrhea and just looked ghastly."

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