Bognor couple stranded on holiday island

Alan and Jean Slaughter finally got back indoors at Somerset Gardens on Monday eveningafter they found themselves at the centre of an international legal row.

They were among the 460 British passengers of the MV Van Gogh cruise ship which was detained on Madeira.

The ship was held in the port of Funchal on Tuesday last week over a 1.6m debt.

The row arose between the administrators of its former charter company, Travel-scope, and Van Gogh Cruises, which took over its schedule.

The dispute was only settled after a court hearing. This enabled the ship to set sail last Thursday to complete its round the world voyage to Falmouth.

The delay meant that Mr and Mrs Slaughter were two days late getting home.

Mr Slaughter said: "The crew of the ship and the owners were absolutely brilliant. They gave free drinks and free excursions all over the place."

The couple, who have been married for 24 years, also kept in touch with their family of four children and five grandchildren between them with mobile phone calls. Attempts to use the internet failed.

"I think our families were more worried about what was happening than we were," said Mr Slaughter (69).

"It was a bit nerve wracking because we didn't know when we were going to get home.

"Being kept in Madeira certainly made the trip more of an adventure than expected. Other than that, we had a thoroughly enjoyable time."

It was planned as a 93-day long retirement present for Mrs Slaughter (64) after she left her job making temperature probes.

She had a surprise in Cape Town when her brother, former Bognor plumber Bob Mortlock and his wife, now Chichester residents, joined them for the rest of the cruise.

Mr and Mrs Slaughter spent 18 months on a waiting list to secure their berths on the ship because it was fully booked when they applied.

They were offered the chance to set sail only to be told soon afterwards, on Christmas Eve, that Travelscope had gone into liquidation.

Three days later, and the journey of a lifetime was back on again. The Van Gogh set sail from Falmouth on January 4.