Hundreds of passengers on a luxury Mediterranean cruise were reportedly struck down with a sickness bug that left them quarantined in their cabins.

Around 300 people on board the Aida Cruises ship the Aida Prima were left suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea after a virus is thought to have swept the vessel following its departure from Palma in Majorca on September 22.

The cruise liner had been bound for destinations including Corsica, Rome, Florence and Barcelona.

But it reportedly had to turn back for Majorca after passengers started feeling ill with gastroenteritis, leaving on-board doctors completely overwhelmed and ordering those that were sick to stay in their cabins.

According to German newspaper Bild, several passengers first started feeling unwell following a planned bus excursion.

Then when all those on board the cruise returned to the ship, the bug quickly spread with some passengers having to wait up to five hours to see the doctor.

Spanish newspaper El Mundo reported that infected passengers were then told to stay in their cabins while they were brought bread and water by staff.

After turning back to Palma earlier than planned, all guests that had been on board were reportedly taken to a farm on the outskirts of the city and told to wait for flights back to Germany.

But it is believed that many refused to stay and took the first flights they could find back home.

The Aida Prima boasts 12 restaurants, 14 bars and cafes and a casino and can carry over 3,000 passengers.

A wave of illness also spread over one of the Prima’s sister ships, the Perla, recently.

Last month dozens of passengers on it fell ill and they were quarantined on board after it moored in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam.

The ship’s German operator Aida Cruises said in a statement that crew increased hygiene measures after ‘gastro intestinal infections occurred among passengers’.

Local emergency services said in a statement that 70 passengers reported feeling sick and received treatment on-board.