A CRUISE ship that was forced to turn around due to a coronavirus outbreak has docked in Southampton today.

Saga's Spirit of Adventure has been forced to turn around due to a number of positive cases of Covid-19 onboard.

The number of cases has not been confirmed by the company. Passengers are isolating having tested positive.

The ship docked in the city at 8.35am this morning, and according to planned shipping movements published online, it is set to leave for Tilbury at 3pm today.

As reported by the Daily Echo yesterday, the ship set sail on February 22 for a 35-day cruise to the Caribbean.

It was set to visit the Azores, Antigua, Anguilla, Tortola, Port Royal, Grand Turk and Bermuda but was forced to turn back after visiting the Azores due to a coronavirus outbreak.

A Saga spokesperson has confirmed that ship was returning because of strict entry requirements in the Caribbean and that all customers will be refunded.

A Saga spokesperson said: "Sadly, we have been unable to continue with our current cruise to the Caribbean.

"While the limited number of guests with Covid are asymptomatic or have only very mild symptoms, the strict entry requirements in the Caribbean meant we took the difficult decision to return to the UK. All guests are being given a full refund.

"We want to thank all our guests, who have been very understanding of the decision we have taken and appreciative of the levels of service we have maintained, thanks to the hard work of our crew.

"The safety of our guests and crew is our number one priority and we value the long-term relationship we have with them.

"We, like everyone else in the cruise industry, are learning to live with COVID and we look forward to welcoming our guests back on another cruise in the near future."

The over-50s only cruise can take up to 987 passengers and has 540 crew members at maximum capacity.