QUARANTINED: Vomiting bug confines hundreds of holidaymakers to their cabins on Spanish cruise

AROUND 300 passengers were reported to have been hit by a sickness bug aboard a luxury cruise that set sail from Mallorca in Spain.
The AIDA Cruises vessel set off from Palma de Mallorca on September 22 promising to tour the “pearls of the Mediterranean”, docking at Corsica, Rome, Florence and Barcelona.
However, the passengers, who had access to 12 different types of restaurants and 14 bars and cafes, soon began to report feeling ill as an outbreak of gastroenteritis or norovirus wreaked havoc on the cruise.
Holidaymakers were allegedly vomiting uncontrollably and in escalating numbers as the cruise went on.
Spanish media reports suggest doctors onboard the cruise were “completely overwhelmed” by the droves of sick passengers after the outbreak on the vessel.
Infected passengers were reportedly told to remain in their rooms as  AIDA Cruises scrambled to hire more medical professionals to treat passengers suffering with vomiting and diarrhoea.
An estimated 300 passengers came down with the illness and cruise was forced to change course for Mallorca, handing out leaflets with hygienic recommendations to all onboard the ship and the sick were handed bread and water.
AIDA Cruises issued a statement saying: “Despite the high hygiene measures that apply on board, there were cases of gastroenteritis among passengers”.
The cruise returned to Palma de Mallorca a week earlier than scheduled on September 29 with many of the alighting passengers still sick and refusing to remain in quarantine as requested by AIDA Cruises, who had prepared accommodation to hold the sick holidaymakers until their health improved.