Passengers who paid up to £42,000 for a 103-day round-the-world cruise were stuck with a view of a windswept Isle of Wight today as experts tried desperately to fix their £200 million cruise ship.

The cruisers should have set sail from Southampton on Sunday for a once-in-a-lifetime trip through 40 ports from Madeira to the Falkland Islands.

But their ship, the Aurora, limped back to port from its previous voyage and P&O Cruises has been unable to get its ill-fated flagship back up to full power.

The 1,769 passengers were allowed on to the 76,000-tonne vessel on Monday afternoon, but remained tied to the quayside as repairs were made to the ship's electric propulsion system. It finally set sail yesterday lunchtime for 24 hours of sea tests in the Solent.

As the ship ran through its paces off the Isle of Wight, passengers were offered free drinks both with their meals and at the ship's 12 bars, which one regular cruiser said today were much busier than normal, even though there was no chance of it become a full-on "booze cruise".

The passenger, retired City executive John Miller, 57, told Times Online: "I've not seen any lager louts - you don't tend to get lager louts on round-the-world cruises, they can't afford it - but where people might have gone to the bar for one G&T, they think 'P&O's paying' and have two or three instead."

He added: "We're about three or four miles off the south coast of the Isle of Wight, doing about nine or ten knots.We should have been in Madeira about now but we're in the English Channel, still staring at Blighty."

It is not the first problem to hit the Aurora. When the Princess Royal attempted to name her four years ago, the champagne bottle, instead of breaking across her bow, fell unceremoniously into the water. She then broke down on her maiden voyage at a cost of £6 million in compensation.

In 2002, about 100 passengers fell prey to a virus, which returned last year and made 580 passengers ill, of whom two died. That outbreak caused a diplomatic incident with Spain after the ship docked in Gibraltar and the Spanish decided to close its borders to the Rock.

Shortly after noon today, three experts boarded the ship shortly to try to help fix the problem, whom a P&O Cruises spokeswoman described as "leading marine industry experts". The ship is powered by four large diesel electric motors, giving it a cruising speed of 24 knots.

If the problem can be fixed, Aurora will set sail for Madeira today, leaving it three days behind schedule. The spokeswoman said that the decision would be taken when the ship returns to Southampton after the tests are completed.

If not, the cruise line will face a substantial bill for compensation. Passengers have already been offered their money back if they want to call off their holiday.

"Passengers have been kept fully informed," the spokeswoman said. "Drinks are being offered at dinner and at the bar free of charge."

If they tire of gazing at the Needles, passengers can kill time in the ship's three swimming pools, five restaurants, cinema and casino.

The Grand Voyage, as it was sold to passengers, may yet be curtailed, as the vessel is due back in Southampton on April 22 to begin its next cruise. The current itinerary should take passengers from Madeira across the Atlantic to Brazil, round South America, then across the Pacific to South-East Asia, back to San Francisco, and home through the Panama Canal.

More than half the passengers have booked for the whole cruise, at prices from £9,800 for a modest cabin to £41,985 for a two-deck penthouse with personal butler service. Some, especially the younger passengers, have booked only for certain segments of the trip.

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