PASSENGERS on an Pullmantur cruise that was thwarted due to an outbreak of swine ‘flu  arrived back in Madrid airport yesterday.

Most of the 1,159 travellers on the Ocean Dream cruise around the Caribbean were honeymooners.

But they were sent home after seeing just two of the six islands programmed for the nine-day trip when 14 crew-members tested positive for the AH1N1 (swine ‘flu) virus.

They were due to visit the islands of Aruba, Curaçao, Isla Margarita, Granada, Santa Lucía and Barbados, but were flown back to Barajas from Aruba after spending most of the cruise ‘going round in circles in the sea’, passengers say.

Several holidaymakers say they are going to seek compensation from Pullmantur, the Spanish arm of USA-based company Royal Caribbean.

Pullmantur has offered to send those affected on another cruise instead, although most say they want their money back instead.

A leading epidemiologist from Oviedo, Juan Martínez, revealed yesterday that there are already 512 cases of swine ‘flu in Spain, although as yet, there have been no deaths.

He believes that as many as 20 per cent of the country’s population could show symptoms of the virus in the short term, and up to 40 per cent of Spain’s headcount suffer from or be carriers of the disease but with no obvious signs of it.