Celebrity Cruises newest ship, the Eclipse, has yet to be christened — the official naming is Saturday in Southampton, England — but already she is on a rescue mission.

The 2,850-passenger ship is loading Spanish travelers, trapped in England by the volcanic ash that has disrupted air traffic all over Europe, and delivering them to Bilbao, Spain, where some 2,000 stranded United Kingdom travelers await transport back to England on Thursday.

"What better way for a ship dedicated to the U.K. to mark her arrival," said Richard Fain, chairman of Royal Caribbean Cruises, which owns the Celebrity cruise line.

Celebrity Eclipse's inaugural cruise is set for next week, out of Southampton, where she will spend the spring and summer on European voyages, before moving to Miami for Caribbean cruises next fall. The Eclipse is the third in Celebrity's Solstice group of new ships.  

The two-day mission to Spain and back disrupted inaugural festivities planned for the Eclipse in England. Celebrity plans to go ahead with a special pre-inaugural, two day cruise for media and travel agents this Saturday, though cruise travel writers and photographers from the United States may miss the trip. Many flights to London have been canceled.

I will let you know whether I make it to England for the weekend. The last time I saw the Celebrity Eclipse, in March, she was floating backwards on the river Ems, toward the sea, from Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany.

Workmen were busy finishing interiors. The Promenade Deck's Martini Bar, where the bar top is frozen daily during regular cruises, looked like this.