MORE than 1,000 passengers on Aurora were still in Southampton today - after the £106m cruise ship failed to sail yet again.

For hundreds, the holiday of a lifetime has turned into a nightmare and, as engineers work frantically to fix the technical problem, some may be wondering if they will ever put to sea.

Passengers who had paid up to £42,000 for the three-month round-the-world cruise were told they were due to leave the city at 5pm yesterday after a nine-day delay.

Excitedly anticipating a departure at last, they drank free champagne and waved from the decks as a brass band played on the quayside.

At 6pm the captain announced that tests on the mysterious "propulsion motor problem" were still being carried out. At 10pm P&O Cruises bosses finally admitted that a Tuesday sailing was not on.

Spokesman Penny Guy said: "We still don't know exact timescales but it will not be early on Wednesday.

"During the pre-departure checks and the final checks to verify the repairs to the propulsion motor, the tests revealed that further work still needs to be undertaken.

"Engineers started working on that immediately."

About 200 passengers have already quit the ship, which has had to alter its route dramatically to squeeze the journey into the new time. Acapulco, Barbados, Honolulu and San Francisco are among 16 ports that are now out, replaced with stop-offs at ten new spots including Dubai and Penang, Malaysia.

Passengers who have remained on board praised the company, which they say has "bent over backwards" to keep customers happy.

Pensioners Brian and Pam Fuller, from Locks Heath, were thrilled with the top notch treatment.

Brian told the Daily Echo: "P&O have done a brilliant job. They have an awful problem on their hands and they've made it up to us really well. A lot of people have left because the trip has been re-organised, but there's a good spirit on board."

Brian's daughter Paula Southwell, of Warsash, who had come to see her parents off with husband Ian, said: "They're loving it. They are getting free drinks, all the entertainment is going ahead and they are getting to stay in a five-star hotel.

"They haven't been home to Locksheath once during this week - they've just stayed on board the whole time."

(Published 19 January 2005)