I Knew My Vacation Was Going To Be A Disaster When…
With the summer just ending and school about to start, the chance of many people taking a vacation in the past three months was probably pretty great. We all have great memories of vacations and probably have thousands of pictures and videos to prove it.
From time to time, a vacation doesn’t go as expected–something happens that you didn’t like, it puts you in a bad mood and for whatever reason your vacation wasn’t that good. In fact it was a disaster. You had planned for months and saved up for that special vacation and you were disappointed. You were going to spend the weekend or longer with friends or family and you wished you had never made the trip and spent the money.
And of course, I have a story of my own.
I can recall going on vacation over 15 years ago with my girlfriend at the time and within minutes of being on a beautiful Caribbean island she insulted the front desk people, hated the menu of the pool restaurant and told me she had NO money at all. At that point I thought this vacation was in trouble. Over time I thought it would get better…And it didn’t! What a disaster!
So with that said, fill in the blank. I knew my vacation was a disaster when ______________?
I look forward to your comments and stories.
September 21st, 2007 at 8:56 am
I knew my vacation was a disaster when ______________?
…I had to go to the emergency room upon debarking the plane in Denver and driving to Breckenridge!
My brother had invited the whole family to spend Christmas week in a great house he had rented in Breckenridge. We were all looking forward to a great week of skiing and family visiting. I had a sinus infection when I left Dallas and had the mother of all sinus infections by the time we landed!! By the time we drove to the beautiful house at 10,000 ft, I could no longer breathe. I spent the whole week on oxygen and antibiotics along with a few other family members that suffered from altitude sickness.
The next Christmas, he decided we should go to a condo in the Florida Keys - he figured the altitude wouldn’t affect anyone there!!
September 21st, 2007 at 9:50 am
Back in 1996 my (now) husband and I went on a cruise to the Caribbean. Since it was my first cruise, I decided to book a room with a balcony — not knowing it would be the year of El Nino. Needless to say we had terrible weather — (never did get to use the balcony — tried, but thought I was going to be blown overboard). We saw the sun the first day and the last. The ship was rocking and rolling big time the entire time. We weren’t allowed to dock at the Cayman Islands (the one reason I chose that cruise) because we couldn’t use the transport boats to get us there — water too rough. And during our trip a crew member fell off the ship trying to dismantle one of the the transport boats and died. Well, needless to say I have not been on another cruise since and when my husband mentions “cruise” to me when planning a trip, I just glare at him with a “what are you crazy?” look.
September 21st, 2007 at 3:51 pm
…there was a letter slid under our hotel room door at 6am that provided instructions for evacuation. I was in Cancun with my husband, three sons and daughter when Hurricane Emily hit Cozumel and Cancun. We were allowed to take one pillow, one blanket and one small bag of personal items. We were instructed to put all other clothes and personal items in our suitcases and place them in the closet.
We were loaded on buses and taken to a gym along with the occupants from two other hotels. There were about 2000 people, each with a 3-foot wide by 6-foot long space on the floor or in the bleachers. They boarded up the windows, put chains on the doors and stationed police with rifles at each exit.
It was a miserable, frightening 24 hours. We were all safe and sound when it was over. (Although, I contracted Montezuma’s revenge and had to take antibiotics for a week.) I don’t think I will ever go back to Mexico.
What’s funny is my husband and I were talking about past vacations a couple of months ago and we couldn’t instantly recall where we went that summer. We apparently have tried to block it from our memory.
Thanks Merrill for bringing it up.
September 24th, 2007 at 10:14 am
I was on a cruise after no having taken a vacation for 4 years. The cruise line overbooked by 400 TEENAGERS. (It was a Christmas/New years cruise) Several of these teenagers wore Gothic wear and threatened the passengers. the cruise line did NOT put them and their families off the ship - despite urging the the “normal” passengers. They DID hire armed security to patrol the pool deck. WHAT?? Many of these teens would be found in the elevators in the mornings with ice buckets and blankets - having slept in there after passing out. There were times when they would be sitting in the entranceway to the restaurant waiting for the doors to open and would find it amusing to trip the infirm - who were eldery or walking with canes and walkers. The best was when they threw 40 life jackets off the bow - preventing 40 passengers from protection - should they ave needed it - and as we were in international waters - we learned that the coast guard and others were coming from 100 miles out to come to our assistance - because the life jackets have infrared things in them to notify that we were in distress… the cruise line was MAJORLY at fault. I wrote a 3 page letter and did get a discount - for the next cruise- but did NOT get actual $$ back. It was a tragedy.
September 24th, 2007 at 11:03 am
It was our first anniversary and we’d planned a trip to Angel Fire , NM for some skiing. Why we agreed to travel with two others, father and son, I don’t know. But it ended up being me, Mike Sullivan (my husband) and two other Mike Sullivans-father & son not related to us. We left Houston, and father and son were roaring drunk before we arrived in Albuquerque!
First it was the horrible ride with two drunks from Albuquerque to the ski resort. Then it was whining about no snow (all in the ski basin on the back side of the mountain). Father and son were so obnoxious hotel security removed them before they were even checked in. Then they wanted the rental car keys so they could drive (still drunk!) to nearby hotel. The car keys ended up in the our room safe!
We told them in no uncertain terms we didn’t want to see their annoying faces until it was time to leave. A few hours after they checked in at another hotel, the elder Sullivan showed up at our door a little more sober, to apologize. I think it was the first time I’d used the “F” word directed at someone old enough to be my father!
When it came time to leave we weren’t looking forward to the return trip. Fortunately they’d made plans to stay longer and not travel back with us! Sometimes bad vacations can turn out all right in the end.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
When I graduated from college a girlfriend and I decided to go to Europe for a grand tour via Eurail Pass. I ended up in the hospital twice. The first time was due to a turned ankle coming down the narrow very steep stairs of an Amsterdam restaurant. We were on the way to the train to travel to Copenhagen so we got the injured me in a cab and on the train in hopes that by the time we got to Denmark my ankle would be better. No such luck. It just kept getting worse so my friend had a conductor call ahead and I was met in Copenhagan by an ambulance. The doctors there were amazing. They did what they could and gave me a pair of crutches so I could continue on my trip. I used them for quite a while.
Next stop was Germany where on my last day there I drank the water at a restaurant. Once again we were on the way to the train this time to go to Vienna. I threw up all night long (pity the people sitting around me) and was once again met at the station by an ambulance. The diagnosis was gastroenteritis and I stayed in the geriatric ward of the hospital for several days. Only one person spoke any english. I cried alot. The good news is that by the time they let me out my ankle felt pretty good!
September 26th, 2007 at 1:14 pm
In 1968 while working for O & M I took a business / vacation trip to Denver and took my wife along. After many hours of delay ( yes even back in ‘68 )we arrived at our motel at 2 in the morning and dead tired went right to bed. I left my wallet and cash on the night table and the next morning woke to see that the wallet and cash were gone, whereupon I noticed that the sliding glass door was wide open.
The moral of the story is to always make sure the sliding glass door is locked before retiring for the night.
The good news ,as the detective pointed out to me , was that neither my wifw nor I woke up while the intruder was in our room.
Joe
September 26th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Joe,
That is a very scary story. Glad no one was hurt.
Thanks for sharing. Good luck with your Mets next week.
Merrill
September 27th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Going for a week’s visit with friends and relatives around my home town in central Wisconsin, I arrived at O’Hare with my infant daughter and a week’s worth of luggage and discovered I had left my credit card in the console of my car after stopping to fill the gas tank before parking my car at DFW. I had purposely winnowed my wallet down to just the one card when I packed, meaning I was left with no credit card. You can’t rent a car without a credit card. No amount of pleading and reasoning with the rental agents, even with the credit card company trying to intervene on my behalf, would persuade them to make an exception. So I was stuck at the airport, 180 miles from my destination in Wisconsin. We ended up taking a bus to Milwaukee (after spending a couple hours killing time in the airport) where my parents picked us up for the last leg of the journey.
September 27th, 2007 at 2:20 pm
Laurie,
That sounds like a painful start to the trip! I am not a fan of long bus trips.
Thanks for your comments.
Merrill