CHEERS! Champagne corks popped, bubbly fizzed and the toast was "Ventura'' as Southampton welcomed the city's latest luxury cruise ship to her home port for the first time yesterday.

Exactly a week earlier Ventura had left the Italian shipyard, where she was built, bathed in warm spring sunshine but her arrival in Southampton could not have been more different as snow flurries and a bitingly cold wind swept across the Solent and Southampton Water.

At one point the snow was so thick that the huge white vessel totally disappeared only to dramatically emerge into view again as she passed Calshot on the final leg of her voyage to Southampton.

The weather may have been cold but Ventura could not have been given a more warmer reception by her home port with hundreds of people, all anxious to see the world's newest supership, braving the chilly temperatures at every vantage point along Southampton Water.

Among the welcoming party were 40 Daily Echo readers who had won the chance to enjoy a champagne breakfast served on a specially chartered boat that went out from Ocean Village to meet the P&O Cruises' £300m ship and then follow it up to the Mayflower Terminal in the Western Docks.

Also on board was one special family. Eileen Clark and her two daughters, Abigail and Rosie, were particularly keen to see Ventura in Southampton as the ship's first master is their husband and father Captain Alistair Clark.

"I know Alistair was so looking forward to bringing Ventura into Southampton and he will be thrilled by the welcome the ship has received,'' said Mrs Clark, who met her husband when they both served on the former P&O liner, Canberra.

As Ventura passed the Eastern Docks she received an emotional, if noisy greeting from another of P&O Cruises' Southampton based cruise ships, Aurora.

As the two vessels passed close by one another each sounded a series of deep, booming blasts that echoed across the city as Aurora's crew members lined the decks to wave and have a first glimpse of Ventura.

By the time Ventura passed Mayflower Park breaks had appeared in the overcast sky and the sun came out to brighten the spectacular sight of the 115,000-ton ship, that soars more than 200 feet above the waves, slowly turn and ease herself alongside the berth that will be her home throughout future decades.

Over the coming days anyone leaving or entering Southampton, to and from the west of the city, will have the remarkable sight of Ventura dominating the skyline as she prepares to enter service.

Ventura will leave Southampton at about 7pm today for a brief two-night shake-down voyage for P&O Cruises' employees which will test the ship's many systems before returning again on Wednesday morning.

On Friday Ventura's first fare-paying passengers will embark for a two-night welcome party with the ship returning next Sunday to prepare for a special dinner celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Passenger Shipping Association the next day.

The high-spot of Ventura's inaugural events comes on Wednesday, April 16 when Oscar-winning actress, Dame Helen Mirren, officially names the ship in a glittering quayside ceremony followed by reception and gala charity dinner on board the ship, which is due to leave on her maiden Mediterranean voyage on Friday, April 18.

Between today and her departure on her maiden voyage P&O Cruises' are expecting a total of 22,000 people, former passengers, representatives of the shipping and travel industries, will have toured the ship.

Ventura, the biggest cruise ship ever built specifically for British passengers, can accommodate up to 3,600 passengers and nearly 900 of her cabins have private balconies.

Click HERE for more pictures of Ventura in Italy