Caribbean cruise cut short after swine-flu outbreak

ORANJESTAD, Aruba — A cruise ship hit by a swine flu outbreak arrived back at home port to the buzz of helicopters and a swarm of masked medical workers on Friday as health authorities tried to prevent the illness from spreading.

The Dutch territory's Health Ministry said it was examining passengers and crew as a precaution. Three crew members have tested positive for the H1N1 influenza and 11 others showed symptoms, prompting the Ocean Dream to cut short its Caribbean cruise.

Helicopters buzzed overhead and Coast Guard boats flanked the ship as passengers waited to disembark into the cruise terminal. Nearly a dozen health officials shrouded in white clothes and wearing masks checked them for symptoms.

"You come back from a cruise, you're on vacation, and it feels like you're on a boat full of lepers," said Isabel Duque, 48, of Madrid.

She said crew members had been working overtime.

"Their mental state has changed," she said. "Their faces are not the same ... they don't have the joy they had at the beginning. These poor people seem like zombies."

The Ocean Dream, operated by a subsidiary of the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, arrived back in its home port early Friday and Health Ministry officials said it would take several hours to check the roughly 400 passengers and an equal number of crew for basic flu signs such as cough and fever.

Swabs will be taken for further analysis from anyone who shows symptoms. If a preliminary test comes back positive, the patient will be kept under surveillance on the ship along with cases of people with confirmed cases.

Those judged healthy will be driven to the airport in order of their flight departures, said Edison Briesen, transport and tourism minister.

People from Aruba were among the first to disembark, be checked for fever and released.

"We can go home," said Miriam Tonk-Croes. "I'm feeling very good about that, because I can sleep in my bed tonight."

The ship is operated by Spanish company Pullmantur, a Royal Caribbean subsidiary. The company Web site indicates it has another cruise scheduled to start from Aruba on June 26.

Reports of the illnesses on the Ocean Dream led port authorities in Grenada and Barbados to block the ship's scheduled stops Wednesday and prompted Pullmantur to cut short a nine-day cruise that was supposed to end this weekend.

Venezuelan authorities said 381 passengers, mostly Venezuelans but including 55 foreigners, got off the ship Wednesday night at Venezuela's Isla Margarita. The ship company said that was the final destination of the Venezuelans.

One Venezuelan and one Argentine among those disembarking showed possible swine flu symptoms and were separated from the others, Deputy Health Minister Nancy Perez told government television.

Pullmantur said in a statement that the crew members with flu "are suffering mild symptoms and are recovering as expected."

The company said passengers would receive a partial refund. Venezuela's state news agency, Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias, said the passengers were from Spain, Colombia, United States, Argentina, Peru, Netherlands, Brazil, Chile, Panama, Uruguay, Russia, Romania, France, Belgium, Ireland and Italy.

Some people on the ship were angry at first, complaining they weren't getting enough information, but the majority had calmed down after being told they would arrive in Aruba soon, Tonk-Croes said.