Passengers have paid up to �42,000 for the P&O cruise

The �106m Aurora was due to leave Southampton for a round-the-world cruise on Sunday but propulsion problems have caused a nine-day delay.

But only six of the 1,752 passengers have decided to abandon the P&O voyage.

The rest have stayed on board enjoying free drinks and hospitality while they wait to cast off on Tuesday.

Even a couple who live just along the coast from the docks in Netley Abbey - Helen Wheeler, 71, and her husband Tony, 73 - have stayed aboard.

Mrs Wheeler said: "We are having a wonderful time and the atmosphere is fabulous."

We have every single thing we would want and why would we want to go home? Passenger Marian Miller

The managing director of P&O, David Dingle, said the trip would now take 95 days instead of 103, and that passengers would be compensated for the loss of days or offered a full refund if they did not want to go.

Marian Miller, 70, and her husband David, 71, from Poole in Dorset, who are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, are travelling to Australia.

They said the mood on board was good, and that some passengers are spending the day looking round the shops in Southampton.

There is a problem with the �106m liner's propulsion system

"It's not a big problem and we are all very comfortable except for the people who are only travelling on the first stage and will miss a few stops as, I think, we are going straight across the Atlantic," added Mrs Miller.

"I do not really mind about the delay.

"I was looking forward to going to Madeira but I've been there before and most of us really want to go to South America because many cruises do not go there.

"One or two people are leaving because it is not worth them staying as they are on only one part of the trip but it's very luxurious on board.

"We have every single thing we would want and why would we want to go home?"

The Aurora, dubbed "the plague ship" after an outbreak of the norovirus affected 600 passengers and crew in October 2003, broke down in the Bay of Biscay after it was launched in 2000 and had to limp back to Southampton.