A cruise ship passenger struck down by a suspected norovirus outbreak says he and his wife were put in quarantine for three days.

Norwegian Joy staff wore "hazmat suits" as they disinfected the vessel after sunseeking holidaymakers were struck down by a nasty stomach bug.

A passenger told Mirror Online that he and his wife were overcome by diarrhoea and vomiting and forced to stay in their cabin for the final three days of the 17-day, £2,000-a-person voyage from Miami to Los Angeles via the Panama Canal.

On Friday, staff announced that "there were a lot of people sick" on the vessel, which was carrying between 2,000 and 3,000 passengers.

Tourists said the situation was an "absolute mess" as hundreds of exhausted and angry passengers disembarked and spent hours in an immigration queue while those who were ill were screened by paramedics in a separate area on Sunday.

Were you onboard? Did you fall ill? Email [email protected].

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Holidaymakers have claimed that "hundreds" of passengers were "acutely ill", although only six were treated for flu-like symptoms after they disembarked the docked ship in San Pedro.

Of those, four were taken to hospital for further treatment.

Passengers believe they contracted norovirus, known as the winter vomiting bug.

The vessel's owner, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), described it as a "stomach-related illness".

A passenger told Mirror Online his partner fell ill at 2am on Friday and he came down with the same symptoms at 7pm that night.

He said: "We called the doctor and reported our condition to which we were told to take some tablets and Gatorade, which they supplied, and not to leave the cabin.

"We went three days without hearing from them again.

"On the first day I was trembling to the degree that I couldn't hang up the stateroom phone without using force.

"The shakes only lasted a few hours, but it was scary stuff."

Speaking after he left the ship, the man said on Sunday night: "They supplied tablets for the diarrhoea but they ran out this morning and I'm no where near better.

"All the people who reported their illness were asked to assemble at 6:45am to disembark, we waited there for a half hour and then were escorted to the dock were I waited for two hours praying the tablets didn't wear off before being processed through customs."

The man said there were about 150 people in that queue.

He added: "With a churning stomach and fear of tablets wearing off I was literally s****ing myself – no toilets, no shade and water came after the first hour.

Another passenger said the disembarkation was an "absolute mess".

The Australian man said: "We were scheduled to disembark in one of the last groups at 9:15am and were ready with hundreds of other passengers at 8:30, confined to one deck on board with infrequent announcements that there were delays in the terminal building.

"The ship was being stripped bare behind us and disinfected by crew dressed in full coverall suits with hoods and masks.

"We disembarked at 10:30 – over an hour late – and then stood in line until 2pm to be processed through US customs and immigration.

"That’s over four hours mostly spend standing in line with no toilets, drinks or information.

"Immigration blamed the ship for dumping 1,000 sick passengers at the start of the disembarking process.

"NCL representatives were no where to be seen leaving local port customer operations staff to handle the crowds and hundreds of angry guests.

"No sickness protocols here – just cattle herding by rude and disinterested port handling staff – with a supervisor threatening to contact security when angry passengers tried to get her attention as they were missing their international flights.

"As international visitors to the US we are just horrified at the lack of customer service for sick and tired passengers. What a way to spoil an amazing cruise experience."

A third passenger said: "My wife and I were on the stricken cruise and she became very I'll as did hundreds of others. As we left our room this morning the housekeeping staff were wearing hazmat suits 

"During the disembarkation all of the passengers were let off at the same time in order to disinfect the ship resulting in chaos in the luggage area.

"It took two hours to get through customs. Homeland security police were called."

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Holidaymaker Coleen John told ABC News: "The captain… let us know what was going on and told us to be vigilant with our hand washing. There were a lot of changes in the dining area. They washed down everything before the new people sat down."

Peter Krajewski, who had been onboard, tweeted: "Just got off the Norwegian Joy in the port of Los Angeles.

"Our ship had been dealing with a Norovirus outbreak the last couple days, but none of the passengers suspected that it was as bad as it was.

"Apparently hundreds of people were acutely ill on the ship."

The Los Angeles Fire Department said six people were evaluated for symptoms and four were taken to hospital in "fair" condition.

Battalion chief Daniel Curry told CBS News that between 2,000 and 3,000 passengers were on the ship.

Passenger Brigitte Leise said there was announcement from staff on Friday, saying "there were a lot of people sick and a lot of things were restricted".

Travellers were told to wash their hands frequently, they were barred from serving food to themselves and staff took away pillows to be washed.

A spokeswoman for Norwegian Cruise Line told Mirror Online: “The safety, security and well-being of our guests and crew is our number one priority.

"As such, we operate at the very highest public health standards.

"During Norwegian Joy’s Panama Canal sailing, a few guests on board experienced a stomach-related illness.

"To mitigate any impact of this rare occurrence, we implemented stringent sanitation procedures.

"As always, we will continue to monitor this situation."

The 17-day sailing can costs about £2,000 per passenger. The trip takes tourists from Miami to the port of San Pedro, near Los Angeles, with stops in the Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Mexico.

Built in 2017, the Norwegian Joy has a guest capacity for 3,804 passengers and was refurbished earlier this year.

It also has a capacity for 1,821 crew, according to Norwegian Cruise Line.

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