EVERY ash cloud has a silver lining.

At least that was the case for the more than 2,200 British tourists rescued by the Celebrity Eclipse.

A party atmosphere broke out onboard the luxury cruise ship last night as the holidaymakers made the most of their free ride home.

The £500m ship, which usually costs from £1,800 for a two-week cruise in the Mediterranean, is due to dock in Southampton between 5pm and 6pm this evening.

It will herald the end of an extraordinary mercy mission that has cost Celebrity Cruises several hundred thousand pounds.

Exploring the ship’s 15 decks in wide-eyed wonder, the tired passengers could not believe their change in luck.

Most had discovered only a day earlier that they would be returning to Britain via the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel.

The majority had arrived in Bilbao after gruelling coach journeys from southern Spain, while others had been flown from the Caribbean a n d Mexico.

Deep suntans could not hide the exhaustion etched on the faces of the famished holidaymakers.

Some were angry after spending the best part of 24 hours cooped-up on a stuffy coach, with no toilet, little food and sparse information.

However, their frustration soon disappeared once they were welcomed onboard by the liner’s 1,300 crew members.

Among the passengers was Leanne Harden, from Hartlepool, and her children Jordie and Macaulay.

“It’s amazing, you can smell that it is brand new,” Ms Harden said as she took a dip in one of the many whirlpools.

“We have been wanting to go home all week – now we don’t! I think we’ll go on a cruise for our holiday next year.”

The travellers were invited to dine – for free – in the ship’s Moonlight Sonata restaurant and to take in a special performance in the huge theatre.

Each was given a £40 voucher, paid for by their tour operator, to spend onboard. Some spent it on souvenirs, others tried their luck in the casino, while many enjoyed a welldeserved cocktail.

However, Kerry Pilkington – whose children Ethan and Charm braved the bracing wind as they plunged into the pool – was more interested in resting.

“It’s fabulous for the children, but I just want to sleep to be honest,”

she said.

Braving the elements on the top deck, the Pritchard family from Manchester enjoyed a game of quoits on the liner’s real lawn.

Dad Kevin said: “The children have never experienced anything like this before. The only ship we’ve been on is a ferry across the Channel.

“We are exploring from the top deck to the bottom and we are determined not to give in to the tiredness.

“The only thing missing is the sunshine.”

Twelve decks below them, Pauland Kay Rawlinson celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with drinks at the Martini Ice Bar.

The couple from Skegness in Lincolnshire, were holidaying in Cancun, Mexico, when they were left stranded by the flight lock-down.

After flying to Alicante in Spain, where they spent three nights, they were bussed to the northern Spanish port.

“We are so lucky,” Kay said. “This is very special way to end our holiday.”

A HEAD TEACHER from Ringwood missed his own mother’s funeral after he was left stranded in Malaga.

Derek Brooks, head teacher at Allenbourn Middle School in Wimborne, Dorset, was close to tears as he boarded Celebrity Eclipse.

Derek and wife Jackie were due to fly out on April 4 from Bournemouth Airport, but rescheduled the holiday after his mother, Betty, died on April 3 after a battle with cancer.

The couple rebooked their holiday and flew out on April 11. They were due to return on Sunday, April 18, in time for the 87-year-old’s funeral in Bridgwater, Somerset, on Tuesday.

“I missed my mother’s funeral,” Mr Brooks said.

“We tried every way to get home, but we just couldn’t.

We hit the depths, that is fair to say.

“When the volcano started last Thursday we thought it would pass and that we would get home.

“The panic set in on Saturday and we looked into trains, ferries, hiring a car and car-sharing. We looked at everything and we knew we couldn’t get back in time.

“That is life I guess. I will be alright when I get on the boat. It will be good to get home, but there you go.

“In the grand scheme of things it has been very frustrating, mainly because of the lack of attendance at the funeral.

“We have been treated very well. Thomson couldn’t have done anything more. I think we did everything we could.

“I have three sisters and between Jackie and I we have five children. All of the grandchildren were at the funeral.

“I think there are three of us teachers stranded somewhere at the moment.

“I know the school will run smoothly without me, it’ll be absolutely fine.

“If it hadn’t been for this funeral then we would have just laughed about it all.” SOUTHAMPTON couple Yvonne and David Parkes were thrilled to return to their home city onboard a luxury liner.

Their holiday on the Costa del Sol began on Friday, April 11when they flew out from Bournemouth Airport.

The Lordshill grandparents were due to fly back last Friday, but were effectively prisoners in their hotel for four extra nights.

On Tuesday they were put on a coach to Lloret de Mar, expecting to then travel to Calais to cross to Dover.

“We had 14 hours on the coach to Lloret de Mar, the driver got lost, we had about three hours and then spent the night at a hotel,” said Mrs Parkes, a medical secretary at Brook House Surgery in Shirley.

“We crossed the border into France to go to Calais when suddenly the coach turned around and took us back to the hotel.

“Nobody spoke English, we didn’t know what was happening. Then we were told we were coming here. We have had no food and just one toilet stop.

“It was horrendous on the coach, there was an elderly lady next to us who was being sick into a bag and children crying.

We’re never going abroad again, we’re sticking to the UK from now on.

“But there has been quite a good camaraderie amongst the passengers.

We have been laughing together and moaning together.

“We are just so pleased to be coming home.

“We were absolutely thrilled when we were told we were going back on a liner to Southampton.

“Thomson have allowed us £40 allowance and all food is complimentary.

“We think it is wonderful and we are so thrilled that they have done this for us.”

Mr Parkes, a school bus driver in the New Forest, added: “We’ve never been on a liner before.

“It was an extra week’s holiday, but it didn’t feel like it because we couldn’t go out of the hotel.

“I just can’t wait to get back to Southampton.”