It should have been the holiday of a lifetime, filled with memories of bustling Istanbul, sailing the Aegean and the wonders of Greece.
But Russell Ball and Ann Beaumont’s £6,000 dream cruise turned into a nightmare after BA ‘lost’ their luggage at Heathrow.
BA finally found the bags, with all their clothes and Russell’s medication, and flew them to Istanbul two days later – but the Oceania Allura liner had just sailed.
BA then sent the luggage to Athens, but again the ship had left before it arrived.
Ex-headmaster Russell, 77, and Ann were only reunited with their bags after a 10-day ordeal when BA at last caught up with the ship at Corfu.
The couple, of Stevenage, were still wearing the same clothes they’d left London in but had bought spare sets of underwear in Istanbul.
‘Now we can laugh about it all but at the time it was no joke,’ said Russell.
Their ordeal began on May 15 when they flew from Heathrow Terminal 5 for a three-week holiday comprising two nights in Istanbul, a 10-night cruise of Greek islands and several days at Italy’s Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore.
Russell Ball and companion Ann Beaumont in Athens still wearing the same clothes they left home in five days earlier. It was to be another four days before they could get changed
Pictured: The Oceania Allura cruise ship, which had already set sail by the time BA finally found their bags and flew them to Istanbul two days later
But the couple, with 24 other passengers, arrived in Istanbul to find their bags had not left London.
Ex-teacher Ann said she rang BA in a panic to be told: ‘Don’t worry, we will forward them on to you.’
But the luggage only arrived two days later, two hours after the ship had sailed in a voyage booked through ROL Cruise.
From the ship, Ann rang BA again. ‘Oh dear,’ she was told. ‘But never mind, we will fly your luggage back to London and then put it on another plane to meet you in Athens.’
Yet when the ship arrived in Athens two days later, the bags had not arrived. By the time they had, the pair were back out at sea.
‘We were spending a couple of hours a day on the phone to BA,’ said Russell.
‘Some passengers were reunited with their luggage in Athens as it trickled through. One couple had AirTags in their bags [so they could be traced] and knew where they were, but BA insisted they were somewhere else.’
Ann was again told the bags would be flown back to London and sent to another port to meet the ship. Yet it docked at Santorini, then at Crete, without any sign of the luggage.
Finally, on reaching Corfu, their bags were on the quay. ‘We were among the lucky ones,’ said Russell. ‘Another couple found their suitcases waiting for them at Heathrow when they finally got back.’
He and Ann were given free laundry, emergency toiletries and 25 per cent off at the liner’s shop.
They are seeking compensation from BA, and have vowed never to fly the airline again.
A BA spokesman said the baggage system at Heathrow was owned and operated by the airport.
‘We apologised to customers and reimbursed expenses. Our teams worked round the clock to reunite customers with their bags as fast as possible,’ he added.
