The QE2 was delayed during a cruise of the Mediterranean

The liner's 1,750 passengers were delayed 24 hours after she suffered a mechanical fault in the Croatian port of Dubrovnik on Friday.

A Cunard spokesman said the Southampton-based luxury ship had lifted anchor for Trieste in Italy.

The QE2 is midway through a two-week cruise, having set off from Southampton last Saturday.

Hotel plan

The QE2 is timetabled to start her 40th anniversary cruise from Southampton next Saturday. Earlier this year, more than 300 passengers and crew on board the ship suffered from a bug which caused vomiting and diarrhoea.

The liner has only just over a year left at sea before she sails to Dubai to become a floating hotel.

The 70,000-tonne vessel, launched by the Queen in 1967, is to be sold to a firm called Dubai World.

She will be berthed from 2009 at a specially-constructed pier at The Palm Jumeira development in Dubai.