Swine flu-struck cruise ship heads for Aruba

* Remaining 900 passengers and crew to disembark in Aruba

* Barbados, Grenada refused to let passengers leave ship

CARACAS, June 18 (Reuters) - A Spanish cruise ship hit by an outbreak of the H1N1 flu virus among its crew headed for its final stop at the Caribbean island of Aruba on Thursday, the ship operator said.

The Ocean Dream, owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCL.N), was on a week-long cruise due to end on Friday but its itinerary was limited after several crew members came down with the swine flu.

Venezuela confirmed three cases of H1N1 flu among the ship's crew when the boat arrived at the island of Margarita and more than 300 Venezuelan passengers were allowed off, Royal Caribbean subsidiary Pullmantur said.

The ship's remaining 900 passengers and crew are expected to disembark late on Thursday in Aruba, the cruise's final stop.

The ship made stops earlier in the week in Barbados and Grenada, but authorities there refused to let passengers leave the ship.

Pullmantur denied reports by Venezuelan health authorities that the boat had been quarantined for a week along with its passengers, who are mainly from Spain, Colombia and Venezuela but also include Brazilian, British and French citizens.

"The boat is continuing its itinerary in the direction of Aruba, where the rest of the passengers and the affected crew will disembark," the company said in a statement.

Barbados refused to let the ship dock on Tuesday because 43 crew members exhibited flu-like symptoms, the Barbados Ministry of Health said in a statement.

Many of the small island states in the eastern Caribbean depend on cruise ship arrivals as an important source of foreign exchange for their vulnerable economies.

A number of Caribbean states have reported confirmed cases of the H1N1 swine flu, which was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization last week. Venezuela has confirmed at least 45 cases, with no deaths. One person died from the virus in nearby Colombia.

Royal Caribbean Chief Executive Richard Fain said last week the flu outbreak had "a short, but highly disruptive impact to our operations," although he added vessels were returning to their original itineraries.

The launch of a Pullmantur cruise ship targeting Mexican nationals, the Pacific Dream, had to be canceled because of the H1N1 outbreak in Mexico, the epicenter of the pandemic. (Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel in Caracas and Emma Pinedo in Madrid; Editing by Eric Beech)