More than 100 Irish tourists embark each year on a once-in-a-lifetime trip on South Africa's Blue Train, one of the most iconic and luxurious railway services in the world.
But, seemingly, not all of them are getting exactly what they paid for.
Due to some recent maintenance problems with the route's rolling stock, the handsome blue locomotive normally charged with tugging a self-proclaimed "five-star hotel on wheels" has on occasion been replaced with - horror of horrors - an orange engine.
So enraged was one recent customer about the colour change that he complained to the South African Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), claiming he had been sold a proverbial lemon.
"I wonder how many would book a trip in the first place if they knew there was an orange loco instead of the famous blue one?" asked South African resident Ian Crowhurst.
Claiming his video shots of the journey between Pretoria and Cape Town had been ruined by the train's inconsistent colour scheme, he said: "When you consider that most people take this journey as a 'once-in-a-lifetime' experience at great expense, one would expect that which is actually advertised.
"The edge was certainly taken off the trip, and did nothing for the image - let alone the video effects - when winding through the beautiful valleys of the Cape with this dirty orange monstrosity!"
The train's operator, Transnet, said it was undergoing an upgrading process, and substitute locomotives of a different colour had occasionally been used as a backup. It stressed, however, that the carriages remained in the advertised colour.
This was enough to satisfy the ASA, which said a reasonable consumer would expect at most a predominantly blue train. "Should advertisers apply the complainant's logic, then the Green Truffle restaurant would be forced to sell only green truffles. Blue IQ would be forced to prove that its consultants' IQs are actually blue," the authority remarked somewhat jocosely.
"The guests pay for the experience of being in the train. The service and experience offered by the respondent is what guests expect and get."
While the complaint was a relatively trivial one, it highlighted broader concerns about the future of the Blue Train amid reports of ageing infrastructure and alleged slipping service standards.
State-owned Transnet announced earlier this year it was selling off the brand, saying it did not fit into its "vision of a freight transport company". Sceptics believe it is really trying to offload what has become a risky enterprise.
A range of South African and international investors have expressed interest in the purchase. However, some tourism industry observers have questioned whether people will continue to pay five-star hotel prices for the relatively snug living quarters that the train provides.
Tesna Simonsen, sales manager for the Blue Train in the UK and the Republic, said "well over 1,000 people" from the two markets booked seats on the train each year. "We have not had any complaints from tour operators. It is still seen as a very good product."
Prices for the 27-hour Pretoria-Cape Town journey range from 8,215 rand (€834) to 16,415 rand (€1,666) per person. Butler service and a white-tablecloth dining car are among the attractions of the 1,600km (994-mile) journey.
Transnet recently began rejuvenating the brand, with a new staff training programme in conjunction with the swanky Westcliff Hotel in Johannesburg. It is also launching a new route between Pretoria and Maputo, and is negotiating the reopening of a route to Victoria Falls.
The improvements appear to be having the desired effect. The Blue Train claims to be running at near capacity, and bookings are already being made for 2010, when South Africa hosts the Fifa World Cup.
