Have you ever had a vacation that was... About This Page:

[Starbright]

not as good as you had anticipated????
We just got back from the Mayan Riviera. The resort we booked was amazing. The food incredible, the property absolutely beautiful. But everything off the resort was EXPENSIVE!!! The taxis were expensive, the activities were so much, that we decided after talking to others that went to them, not to go. We love love doing things and keeping busy. This is the first holiday that I took that was slow paced, and I didn't like it. I am soo strange. Everyone and I do mean everyone, that I talk to, likes the Maya, but we feel blah about it. What the heck is wrong with me I like Florida so much better.
Oh, and meeting people from different countries that drink..ouch. I have come back with icky feelings towards the younger people from Spain.
Anyone ever have a blah holiday??????

[toddjodybrent]

We had a not so good experience at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun. It was a test trip for us to see if we liked the all-inclusive vacation on land better than cruising. . . Disney cruising, actually.

The resort had pools which was great, but they weren't heated and it was December, so we basically sat by the. There was a kids' club, but no real programming and one day we saw feces on the wall leading to the bathroom--our son didn't go back. There was supposed to be nightly entertainment, but we never saw any. And, there were several themed restaurants on the resort, but you had to make a reservation, so our first night there we were sort of out of luck to get dinner. Let's just say, we haven't been back! But we have cruised 3 more times with Disney since then and have another cruise coming in December!

So, yes, we have had a "blah" holiday, and we learned the lesson we needed to learn. We fully support others who travel to the area and have a great time. We just know it's not for us.

[mechurchlady]

My worst vacation was the part where I did concierge level of the Polynesian. I never used concierge except at check in and check out. I will splurge on luxuries but they have to be justified. Promised all you can eat food ended up being bananas and Diet Coke. Special diets must call room service, book a time, wait a long time for a chef, discuss what is free at club level, then wait and wait then go at an appointed time. My sugars crashed so many times that my dinner at Jiko was ruined as I was crying tired and worn out from skipping breakfast. Also there was rude behavior by two CMs who were all gushy over other guests and ignored me who was there first. Not going to throw out the race, religion, age, gender, ugly, disabled, etc. cards. Just part of being short, fat, and ugly. I expected to walk in at any time during the day and get food but nope got to set up a schedule. I might as well go down to CBR where I waddled inside and got a chef in less than 3 minutes and he made me a wonderful breakfast with REAL PANCAKES. I think it was worse that for the $100 spent on concierge I could have done Ohana, Cape May buffet and had enough left over for a snack. Last night I did Cape May Buffet, diet coke at the lounge, and a burger and onion rings at Raglan Road with tips for under $90.

As for RAVE, GOT TO LOVE IT, places, food, drinks, and other things in life ... sigh, there will always be that minority that hates what everyone else seems to love. I have had 2 months to see Fantasmic and have skipped it. I rather sleep through Energy show at Epcot than see Fantasmic. I did not like service at Jiko and did not find it as awesome as people say, will give it a second chance some day, maybe it is because I do not like certain spices from India, who knows. I do not think a Mayan Rviera vacation would be for me. I am not into ruins and can see nature in Florida, Texas or Ohio for less money.

[revral]

I've been on vacations that haven't been what they would have been because I've been hit by a cold or my aunt fractured a shoulder & ribs. However, I've never been seriously disappointed partly because I've been lucky & (I think) largely because I look at vacations realistically. Realistically meaning that I recognize & accept the fact that not everything I do or see is going to be wonderful & something I fall in love with & everyone isn't going to be happy, smiling, friendly, helpful & charming. I also recognize & accept the fact that things can go wrong & that there's nothing you can do about it other than deal with what happens & make the best of it. Of course I want everything to be fairy tale perfect & hope for that but I'm realistic enough to know that just because I'm on vacation doesn't mean that the world & life somehow suddenly becomes a wonderful fairy tale. I also think that a lot of the disappointments people experience on vacation could be prevented with some research online, particularly since pretty much anywhere & anything you may want to do, see, or experience probably has a website which more than likely has the critical information that you need to know about & a way to contact someone for more information, or with a phone call or a trip to the library.

[Starbright]

Thanks everyone.
There was so much that I did love about the holiday. It was the first time that dh did not worry about the buisness at home, the weather was fantastic (even saw a tropical shower), the food amazing. Everything was great except I wish we could have gotten off site and seen more. I also didn't like the fact that when you pay in American Money or Pecos you really had to be careful. Just because we are from Canada or the USA, doesn't mean we are rich...maybe to them, but not to others in our country. I think also because you have to be extra careful down in that country doesn't help either.
I guess the AI are good for some that like to sit around and eat and drink. But to us, we like to be out and about, and seeing things without spending over $500 to do it. The police down there scare me. So, it isn't as comfy as other countries. I guess that might be it..we didn't feel totally secure enough to enjoy the country.
We learned....but on the good side...dh likes Florida better now LOL

[chezp]

Sorry to hear it wasn't everything you were hoping for. I hear you about the cost of excursions. I like just being able to head out into a country on my own and explore and learn more about it as well.

Still, despite that, it does sound like you had a good time.

[Disneybine]

I've only had one vacation that really fell short of my expectations. DH and I spent two weeks at an all-inclusive hotel in Turkey. I'd been to Turkey before (it's a popular destination for beach vacations over here) and always liked it well enough - but I'd always stayed at "regular" (i.e. not all-inclusive) hotels. Well, this hotel was a huge disappointment, and it pretty much ruined the entire vacation. After all, it was supposed to be a laid-back beach vacation, meaning that we'd spend most of our time at or near our hotel. Well, the hotel wasn't clean, the air-conditioning didn't work (we switched rooms), the food was always only luke-warm, large parts of the pool area was closed to guests because "the lawn needed to grow back", the advertised sandy beach turned out to be part gravel... I could go on I also didn't like the all-inclusive concept. It sounded nice in theory but the reality was that while yes, there was food and soda available all day, it was often cheap, tasteless fare, not made fresh, soda served in thin plastic cups without ice...

The last straw was when the housekeeper simply put a dirty, used towel that had stains in it (and had been on the floor) back on the rack instead of replacing it with a new one! And when we told the manager, we were pretty much laughed at for making a fuss. Yeah...

As you can imagine, we never again booked an all-inclusive hotel.

I should mention that that was back when sites like Trip Advisor and such weren't popular yet so you had to rely on your travel agency's recommendations. Maybe this experience is why nowadays, I do lots of research before I book a hotel!

[elbodans]

maybe this will help you feel better...

Why This Trip Sucks | The Suitcase Scholar

...it's a (poorly written and lacking photos) blog post i wrote two summers ago from paris. yes, paris. which i hated. i planned the trip for SIX MONTHS, we probably spent six grand in total (for four weeks) and i HATED it. if you read the posts before and after that one you'll find more equally amusing 'i hate this trip' sentiments.

sorry your trip didn't turn out like you'd hoped. the good news is that now you know what NOT to do. i promise--your next trip will be better (mine was--we went to WDW for the first time!!!)

[Starbright]

Thanks everyone for sharing your stories!!!!! I am glad but sad, that I am not the only one who have had this type of a trip.
We have been back for 10 days and I am still on the fence about this holiday. I am like you Elbodans, what do you say when people ask you? It was great, but really fell short of my expectations. And I feel as though I disappointed myself because all my planning (which I pride myself on) didn't do me much good. I LOVE planning, and researching my holidays, but this one, for some reason, didn't work out. No one told me the cost of Taxis (take collectos they tell you-yeah, tried that, and felt very vulnerable with 2 kids), go to the various places, but no one tells you that you only see the base cost on the website. And no one ever ever told me that we would be going through 3 police check points a long the way. Helllloooo...this isn't good.
I am still sulking abit. I know, childish. But I felt as though I planned it so well and plop..it fizzled out for me. After all, I planned a 20 day WDW vacation with a trip to Cocoa beach, Kennedy space center etc last yr and it was FANTASTIC.
I don't know where we are going next, but it will be either in the USA or Canada. Oregon and the West coast has always been in the back of our minds since we went there for our honeymoon 15 yrs ago. All I know, is that I want to start planning
Thanks everyone!!

[Tonichelle]

My first taste of Disneyworld was not a good one, so it's even possible with Disney. It really depends on who you go with (I was on a band trip) and what you're able to do (our band director says she knows all about the parks, she don't know jack... and she grew up there... my dad even schooled her a couple years ago when my brother went on his trip).

I was sick the whole time, we had two lousy days in the parks, we did a cruise in a tropical storm... the whole trip was stupid...

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by Starbright

Thanks everyone for sharing your stories!!!!! I am glad but sad, that I am not the only one who have had this type of a trip.
We have been back for 10 days and I am still on the fence about this holiday. I am like you Elbodans, what do you say when people ask you? It was great, but really fell short of my expectations. And I feel as though I disappointed myself because all my planning (which I pride myself on) didn't do me much good. I LOVE planning, and researching my holidays, but this one, for some reason, didn't work out. No one told me the cost of Taxis (take collectos they tell you-yeah, tried that, and felt very vulnerable with 2 kids), go to the various places, but no one tells you that you only see the base cost on the website. And no one ever ever told me that we would be going through 3 police check points a long the way. Helllloooo...this isn't good.
I am still sulking abit. I know, childish. But I felt as though I planned it so well and plop..it fizzled out for me. After all, I planned a 20 day WDW vacation with a trip to Cocoa beach, Kennedy space center etc last yr and it was FANTASTIC.
I don't know where we are going next, but it will be either in the USA or Canada. Oregon and the West coast has always been in the back of our minds since we went there for our honeymoon 15 yrs ago. All I know, is that I want to start planning
Thanks everyone!!

the 'what to say when people ask' thing was the hardest part for me. because everyone knew how much work i put into planning the trip. and i felt like a failure. HOWEVER, you have the added benefit of having planned a successful trip in the past (the 20 day trip you reference). my trip was my first 'big trip' and it flopped. you at least KNOW that you are capable of planning and enjoying a rather huge trip (and i fortunately know this as well, after our last summer's month-long road trip, which was also FANTASTIC!) the best thign you can do is move on...and plan your next trip! knowing what you know now, of course.

happy planning!!!

[LizCatMom]

Our most recent trip was a total bomb.

DH, myself, DD1 and DD2 flew down to Anaheim, meeting up with my Mom and her BFF who had flown in from the East Coast. BFF had no interest in going to DL -- the draw for her was going on the cruise with us -- and my Mom is very frugal. Scratch that, cheap. She's cheap. So, BFF hung out in the room for the 2 days leading up to the cruise while I feel like I dragged DM all over DL. I thought she'd really enjoy World of Color; she never even saw it, claiming to be too tired to make it to the 8pm show. DH and I like to enjoy the many foods offered all over DLR, but DM was all about filling up on the stale pastries and free coffee the hotel called a continental breakfast. So, no yummy Disney cinnamon roll or other breakfast goodies found in the park for me. When we did eat in the parks, DM could only see the $$$ and would be like "Let's just get that and split it." I would bite my tongue and just do it. I'll admit, I have a healthy appetite and most meals I can finish my own portion just fine. So, anytime I shared something with her, I either wasn't really full when we finished the meal or found myself hungry an hour later.

When it was time to catch our shuttle to the cruise port in Long Beach, a shuttle van pulled up to the hotel and DM and BFF were about to die to get there in time -- it was only 10am at that point and the cruise port was less than 30 miles away -- so, with their 1 little piece of rolling luggage each, they took off in hot pursuit of the van, leaving DH and I were our girls, our several pieces of luggage, our 2 bulky carseats, and the stroller. Since I'd arranged the shuttle, I knew it wasn't ours because the van that had pulled up was a blue van and ours was supposed to be red. I couldn't but yell after them "Hey! Thanks for the help!"

Once we reached the cruise port, DM and BFF have been on so many cruises that Carnival deems them VIP. So, they got to use the VIP check-in while we went through regular check-in. Even though our line wasn't but maybe an add'l 10 minutes longer than what they waited, when DM saw that we were still waiting, she waved to get my attention and then said "Hey, we're going to ahead and get on the boat! We'll see you on there!" and her and BFF were giggling as they, once again, took off.

Just to clarify, I don't live anywhere close to DM. 1800 miles apart, in fact. So, she never really gets to spend any time with her grandchildren. I really thought this trip would be the opportunity for her to spend time with the girls. Boy, was I mistaken. Even though we had cabins right next door to each other, we spent very little time together. The girls both refused to stay in the kids program -- they did the first night for about 2 hours and after that whenever we'd try to take them back to the room, they would cling to us and cry (not sure what that says about the children's program on Carnival). So much for DH and I having a relaxing trip. Ever chased a couple of toddlers around a ship? No? I don't suggest it. The very last evening, I went to DM's cabin and politely asked "Would you mind watching the girls so (DH) and I can go to dinner?" She just kind of shrugged, rolled her eyes, and said "I really wanted to see the show." I just threw my hands up in the air and was like "Nevermind, Mom."

Thank. God. it was only a 4 night cruise. Being stuck on a boat and literally counting the hours down until you disembark was a nightmare.

DM totally struck out with DH; he said she could no longer go with us on any trips.

I just really felt like DM let me down. She and her BFF might as well gone on the trip without us because it was not a family vacation whatsoever.

Never again!

[So, if you see my ticker, where I say "A California Do-Over", that's what that is all about.]

[mechurchlady]

I just got back to my room and am on the end of a very good bit of a soy reaction. I could cry and bemoan the tummy ache and the back pain.

Instead I will remember that delicious salad, appetizer, and steak dinner. I will remember the guys I chatted with from Texas. I will remember the entertainment and the guy I tickled when he was blocking my path to the restroom. I will remember my genial waitress.

Bad experiences should be told so that people learn from our mistakes. So that others will learn what could happen and know that there is a chance of less than perfect days ahead, Bad things teach us to be prepared and it teaches others to be prepared. The mother with the sunburned baby tells others her horror thus preventing more sunburnt babies. A person stuck in an airport unprepared gets people chatting and talking about options. Cell phone charger is something I keep for airport delays in case the cell phone gets low.

Then it comes time to celebrate those happy moments. Dumbo with a child is precious and worth a 100 happy pills even when you are like me watching from the side as someone else's kid is gleefully enjoying the ride. I will remember my friend, Piper, on Tom Sawyer Island. Remember the good times as laughter doth the soul wonders.

[Tonichelle]

Being stuck on a boat and literally counting the hours down until you disembark was a nightmare.

Sounds like my one and only cruise experience. I'm glad my dad and friends had a good time, but I was sick and just not feeling it. Carnival did not win me over anymore than it did your kiddos... going to try cruising with Disney in a couple years... it will be the deal breaker for boat vacays.

Yeah, I can think of some positives, but once in a while it's nice to bemoan the trips that weren't worth the time. I do have some good memories of my 2001 trip, but it was the same trip that my dad swore off Disney trips altogether (thankfully 2007 changed that entirely for him, we're going next year). So it wasn't good.

[Starbright]

Thankyou everyone.
I am so sorry for the holidays gone bad.
Mine wasn't horrible, it was just confusing. I have had parts of holidays that weren't good ie; going to a chuck wagon supper only to have food poisening out of both ends. Did it ruin my holiday? Nope. But it made traveling home 18 hrs in a car interesting. I no longer will eat at a chuck wagon supper. We went again the next summer minus the supper.
I still look back at this one with happiness but WDW will be the best so far. It could have been a disaster with crowds but thankfully it was wonderful.
Still trying to figure out where to go next

Thanks everyone!!!