A woman on board the Costa Concordia said she thought her life was over as the luxury liner sank into the sea. Mandy Rodford, 45, and her husband John, 46, were celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary on board the Costa Concordia when it ran aground off the island of Giglio on Friday.

The couple, from Rochester in Kent, had only been on board the Mediterranean cruise ship for seven hours before disaster struck.

Mrs Rodford, who had been hesitant about going on the holiday because she does not like water, said yesterday: “I just thought my life was gone. I just thought my life was over, getting in that water.

“I thought, if I don’t die from the swimming part, I’m going to die from the shock of having to get in it.”

Speaking at Heathrow airport in west London after flying back from Rome, Mr Rodford explained how they first thought something was wrong when they were eating their dinner.

He said he heard a crunch, then his drink started sliding along the table.

The couple asked a crew member if there was a problem, but they were told: “No, it’s the engine.”

He said: “Then the lights went out and came back on. And then the ship started going the other way, and quite a lot the other way.

“All the plates were coming off the tables and smashing, and it was just like bedlam.”

His wife added: “The men were trying to help the women. I’m looking over the side and I’m thinking ‘I’m going to have to jump in that water’, and I hate the water.”

They described sliding down the corridors across the width of the ship to reach the starboard side, which was closest to the sea.

Mr Rodford said: “Through the middle of the boat, we could see the lifeboats, so literally as a slide we came through the boat to the other end.

The couple chose a cabin on the sixth floor without a window, because of Mrs Rodford’s fear of water, and their room was on the side of the ship submerged in the sea.

Asked if they would consider taking another cruise in the future, Mr Rodford said: “I’m not going on a cruise again.”

His wife added: “Never, ever, ever.”

A group of British dancers who worked on the ship also came back to Heathrow.

James Thomas, 19, from Sutton Coldfield, said: “It was chaos, because we had to go through the centre of the ship, which had been obliterated by the tilt. Everything was everywhere.”

Rose Metcalf, 23, from Wimborne in Dorset, wiped away tears as she revealed she had written a note to her mother in case she did not survive.

She was one of the last people to be rescued by a helicopter after she clambered f to Deck Five.

“There was just so much panic so I decided to wait until the water was high enough so I could jump or swim, but I didn’t want to be inside,” she said.

She turned to her mother and said: “I had written you a note.”

Phoebe Jones, from Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, said: “It feels really surreal. It still doesn’t feel like I’m home.”

The 20-year-old was on stage performing a magic show and was about to clamber into a tiny box when the ship ran aground.

“The ship went on a huge, huge lean,” she said.

“Suddenly there was a blackout and everything from the stage crashed to one side.

The dancer said it took some time for the events to sink in.

“When I got onto the ferry and realised I was actually on a hard surface and safe, that’s when I realised.

“We watched everything from that ferry and that night we just watched the Concordia sink.”