A seven-day cruise around the Caribbean turned into a nightmare for more than 4,000 passengers after it was discovered a Dallas health care worker on board handled specimens from an Ebola patient who later succumbed to the disease.

The Carnival's Magic ship turned away in Belize, and headed to Cozumel, Mexico, where authorities didn't authorize the ship for a scheduled port visit.

In Belize also, authorities declined the request to allow the passenger to leave the ship. The Belize government confirmed that had turned down a request by the U. S. government to fly the health worker home from the Belize City airport.

The vessel is now heading back to Galveston, Texas, and is expected to arrive on Sunday.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a recently released statement that health worker has been in voluntary isolation along with her travel companion in a cabin on the ship. Psaki also assured that the worker has not shown any symptoms of the deadly disease.

The statement reads, "The employee has been self-monitoring, including daily temperature checks, since Oct. 6, and has not had a fever or demonstrated any symptoms of illness."

Meanwhile, Carnival has announced its decision to offer affected guests a credit of $200 per person, plus a 50 per cent discount for a future cruise.