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

The troubled �200m liner returned to Southampton just before midnight on Thursday after experiencing persistent problems with its propulsion system.

One of the first people to disembark was entertainer Maurice Lee who told the BBC News website the passengers had not been upset by the problems.

"These are hardened cruisers - it's the British, the bulldog spirit," he said.

Passengers return after 11 days stuck on board the troubled P&O liner, Aurora In pictures

Most of the passengers were fairly positive leaving the ship and praised how P&O had handled the problems.

Fred Leeson, 72, from Weston-super-Mare, told the BBC News website: "I have been travelling with them for years.

"Some of the people were irate but you have to be philosophical, worse things happen at sea."

Passengers paid up to �41,985 each for the 103-night trip to 23 countries, but instead spent 11 days travelling no further than the Isle of Wight.

They will be refunded and offered money off another cruise, P&O Cruises said.

'Constant worry'

John Miller, one of the passengers on board, told BBC News there had been two sides to the troubled cruise.

He said: "One side of it was a normal cruise with us all going to talks and seminars, line dancing and having our normal meals - and having our free drinks, I do admit to that.

"And the other has been the total and constant worry 'are we going to go?'"

But Mr Miller said the experience had not put him off cruise ships - he has already booked a trip for next year on another P&O Cruise liner, the Oriana.

It is expected the ship will be out of service for up to five weeks while it is repaired.

[Passengers] very much wanted this cruise to proceed, they have been incredibly loyal David Dingle, P&O Cruises Market unfazed by setback

A spokeswoman for P&O's parent company Carnival, said the cancellation of the cruise was likely to cost the company about �20m ($37m)

Ten days after its scheduled departure, Aurora did attempt to set sail on its cruise on Wednesday.

But when it was en-route to the Portuguese island of Madeira, P&O Cruises announced the cruise had been cancelled.

Overnight tests on the repairs showed the vessel could not "achieve the required speed to complete the Grand Voyage".

P&O Cruises managing director David Dingle said it was the right decision not to have postponed the cruise earlier.

"In hindsight, it's easy to suggest that, but the passengers on board are among our most regular and loyal passengers," he said.

'Cruise credit'

"They very much wanted this cruise to proceed, they have been incredibly loyal over the last few days and we think we owed it to them to have one last shot."

A P&O Cruises spokesman added: "P&O Cruises apologised for the disappointment this has caused passengers and offers its assurance that everything possible was done to get Aurora's Grand Voyage under way before this difficult but unavoidable decision was taken."

It said passengers would be refunded their full fare and receive "cruise credit" worth 25% of the amount they paid for their holiday if they booked another cruise holiday before the end of January 2007.

Of the 1,752 passengers booked on the cruise, 385 left when the technical problems first became apparent.