Passengers on the 'Ocean Dream' cruise ship, owned by the Spanish tour company Pullmantur, have disembarked at their destination, the island of Aruba in the West Indies today with assurances from the ship's doctor that none of the tourists is suffering from the AH1N1 flu virus.

The 'Ocean Dream' was on a nine-day cruise of the Caribbean (Aruba, Curaçao, Isla Margarita, Grenada, Saint Lucía and Barbados) when 14 suspect cases of flu amongst the crew were detected.

Sources within the tour company denied that the cruise ship had been in quarantine and pointed out that only 3 of the 14 crew members suffering from flu symptoms had tested positive for the AH1N1 virus and that they were all getting over their illness without further complications.

Pullmantur did, however, confirm that the 376 passengers of Venezuelan nationality had disembarked on Margarita Island before the ship went on to Aruba island, where it docked at 10 o'clock tonight.

The company confirmed that it had followed all the appropriate health and safety protocols and that the three crew members affected had been isolated fromt the rest of the crew and passengers.

There are a total of 1159 people on board the cruise liner, but the 376 Venezuelans were asked to disembark on Margarita island at the express request of the West Indian authorities.