Travel Gremlins

As a last minute treat at the end of summer, we decided to book a cruise around the Eastern Mediterranean. But all is not smooth sailing...
We seem to have a built in gremlin to the travel process. It is the gremlin of the missing luggage and it has struck again. On many previous holidays the gremlin has located and secreted our luggage but today decided that I would get mine but Sean’s would disappear into an airport luggage black hole. Both cases seem to have made it from Manchester to Paris Charles de Gaulle (a veritable hell hole of lost luggage for us) but only my case managed onto the connecting Alitalia flight to Rome. Rome may actually be my new favourite airport to hate.
On arrival in Rome we managed to find the lovely cruise woman but not the complete set of expected luggage. This, of course, means a long wait to speak to someone at the airline who is, naturally, completely uninterested that you have been separated from your baggage. They would, in very bored tones, like to know what your luggage looks like and wonder if you had a short connection time at C de G which would explain why your luggage couldn’t get on the plane with you. One piece did but the other piece didn’t. This requires an Italian shrug of the shoulders as if to say ‘go figure’.
The helpful computer was able to tell us that the lost baggage was on the next flight but would not arrive in time to get to the ship that we were sailing on at 5.00pm. It would have to catch up with us at Naples tomorrow.
Watch this space. I will let you know if this actually happens. However, as the first formal night is in two days and Sean’s kilt is in the lost luggage, he is threatening to wear nothing at all if said luggage doesn’t arrive. I urge all relevant authorities to do their very best to get the suitcase here on time or I take no responsibility for the consequences.....