The holiday industry is worth a jaw-dropping 45 billion pounds a year. And for those choosing to spend big and go 5 star, only the best will do. From swanky hotels to luxurious cruises, when these holidays go right they're perfect paradises and much needed R&R in the lap of luxury. But when it goes horribly wrong, it can be catastrophic. Actress Glynis Barber narrates this one hour special.
There are first-hand interviews with the real-life people whose holidays ended in disaster. Highlights include chartered accountant Bill and his wife Tanya who shelled out a whopping £11,000 on a once-in-a-lifetime cruise to the Bahamas only to end up trapped in the eye of a cyclone. The couple were left horrified as the ship listed at sea, with water leaking into their cabin and chaos all round.
There’s the story of a British couple Phil & Linda Coupe, whose dream Jamaica getaway that turned into a nightmare after their luxury resort became a building site and maintenance work on the resort meant they were subjected to hours of excruciating drilling day and night.
Amy Stone relives the horror of her trip to a 5 Star dive resort in Indonesia. The trip of a lifetime almost killed her after she suffered severe decompression sickness which left her with life-changing spinal damage, no feeling below the waist and barely able to walk.
A bride’s trip to The Caribbean ended in hell as newlywed Victoria suffered a near-fatal spider bite on her honeymoon. Not for the faint-hearted, Victoria was filming her journey on her mobile phone as doctors tried to save her leg from amputation.
Plus there’s the story of Reiss & Billie whose all-inclusive trip to The Dominican Republic ended with their young children needing emergency medical care. A bout of salmonella caused by the hotel’s teppanyaki night meant that they were landed with a bill of thousands for their healthcare abroad.
Plus, we hear from Iain & Judie Cook whose luxury dream trip to Vegas turned into deadly nightmare. They’d gone to the city of lights to get hitched and celebrate their honeymoon only to get caught up in the now infamous shootings that saw 58 people killed and 851 others injured. They share their own personal journey and footage from that fateful trip on the programme.
Expert interviews include travel presenters Danni Menzies, Scarlette Douglas, Jean Johansson and journalist and broadcaster Simon Calder.