Disappointed passengers finally abandoned the luxury liner Aurora today after their round-the-world cruise was cancelled.

The 1,400 who had stuck it out since January 9 as P&O Cruises battled to try to fix the £200 million ship’s propulsion system filed out of the arrivals lounge at Southampton Docks.

They were supposed to be on a 103-day trip to 40 destinations but in the end the furthest the boat managed was 110 miles to Torquay, on the south Devon coast.

There were mixed emotions from those leaving. Ivan Ford, 63, and his wife Judith, 59, from Dunbar, Scotland, had been looking forward to going around the world.

Mr Ford said: "We are very disappointed but we knew the situation and we knew they were having difficulties. We hoped it would resolve itself but it didn’t.

"This is our retirement present and we have just been around the Isle of Wight instead of the world and it has ruined it. This was our only chance to go on a world cruise in 12 months and it will not be the same because the shine has been taken off it."

Katherine Kelly, 48, from Kettering, had saved up three years of holiday from her job to go round the world with her mother Norma Fretwell, 71, from Ely.

She said: "I am going in on Monday to see if I can get it back. I also sold my car before I went on this cruise and the new one isn’t coming until April but this is just a minor inconvenience from what I have heard of other people on board.

"Some were using the cruise to emigrate and one person was going to the Falklands to lay a wreath on their father’s grave so it really puts it into perspective."

Mrs Fretwell said: "I am very disappointed indeed. It was really because of the anticipation of going on a world cruise and the gloss has been taken off that now.

"I will go on P&O Cruises again because they have treated us very well and I am happy with the compensation they have offered but for me it has been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster."

Mrs Fretwell said passengers were told that the Grand Voyage had been cancelled in a Tannoy address by P&O Cruises’ managing director David Dingle. She said that when passengers heard his voice, they had learned to expect the worst.

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