A couple, Fred (Henry Kendall) and Emily Hill (Joan Barry), living a mundane middle class life in London, receive a letter informing them that an uncle will give them, as an advance against their future inheritance, as much money as they need to enjoy themselves in the present. Immediately Fred quits his job as a clerk and they leave on a cruise for "the Orient". Fred quickly shows his susceptibility to sea-sickness while crossing the English Channel. While in Paris, both are scandalised by the Folies BergÃ¨re.
As they cruise the Mediterranean, Fred's sea-sickness keeps him in bed. During this time, Emily begins a relationship with a Commander Gordon (Percy Marmont), a dapper, popular bachelor. Finally feeling well enough to appear on deck, Fred is immediately smitten with a German "princess" (Betty Amann), who hits him in the eye with the rope ring used to play deck tennis (a combination of tennis and quoits which was at the time widely played shipboard). Both begin spending their time on board with their new paramours to the virtual exclusion of each other, and each plans to dissolve their marriage. In Colombo, the couple accidentally and awkwardly end up next to each other in a rickshaw, not knowing the other had even gotten off the ship.
When the passengers disembark in the final destination of Singapore, Emily leaves with Gordon for his home. When he reveals that the princess is a sham only out for Fred's money, she realizes she cannot go on with Gordon and returns to warn her husband. Fred does not believe her at first, but soon discovers his lover has absconded with Â£1000 of his money to Rangoon. He learns that she was merely the daughter of a Berlin laundry owner and a common adventuress. The couple have only enough money to clear their hotel bill and to book passage home to England on a "tramp steamer".
However, Fred and Emily's troubles have not ended, as the ship is abandoned after a collision in the fog. They are trapped in their stateroom and prepare themselves for a watery end. In the morning, however, they awake to find the ship still afloat, and extract themselves through their porthole. A Chinese junk arrives, and the crew proceed to loot the ship. When Fred and Emily board the junk, they are left unmolested and even fed. They finally return home, with their love for each other appreciated and seemingly wiser for their experiences. In the last scene, back home in London, the couple are seen arguing in a manner reminiscent of their bickering immediately prior to the arrival of the fateful letter.
What relative tells the couple he will give an advance on their inheritance?
an uncle