Earlier in the year we went to Turkey for a week and it wasn't great to say the least, some may remember my "holiday horrors" thread. Next holiday was booked for Morocco in Feb. Anyway it turned out that I had a week's worth of bank holiday days to use up at work so was able to book a week (this week) A few weeks ago I thought just as a matter of interest that I would look at holidays and see if I could get anything cheap. I found a week in Crete all inclusive for a bargain price and before I knew it I'd booked. Got back in the early hours of this morning after a holiday that was the antithesis of the last one. Lovely place, lovely weather, no dodgy guts or lost luggage just a week of chilled out fun....yay!!!
Holiday redemption time!
- Thread starter merryone
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Vienna
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The hotel star ratings in Turkey are a joke. We`ve visited Turkey many times and tried different hotels with different star ratings, some were dire, some not so dire and just a few were good. We haven`t been back for around 3 years but friends say this year it`s become very expensive and locals don`t want their Lira and price everything in Euros instead.
I had a disappointing holiday earlier this year, my first ever cruise. Mr V cruised years ago with his late first wife who refused to fly anywhere and much as I warned him that things had probably changed in the past 20 years it seems I was right. The cruises he talked about were nothing compared to what we actually experienced this year and he was more disappointed than I was.
We sailed on the P and O ship Arvia and it was like Butlins at sea. The ship was huge but the facilities were nowhere near big enough to cope with over 5,000 passengers.
The onboard app was a joke and trying to book into certain shows, restaurants etc was nigh on impossible. The place we mainly ate reminded me of a works canteen, grab your plastic tray and help yourself to barely warm often badly cooked food and then try to find a table which wasn`t already in use or littered with dirty crockery and trays. There were kids chucking food about and parents too busy with their mobile phones to even notice their little darlings behaving like little sh^ts.
One night we actually manged to book into their supposed top class restaurant (at an added cost) and it was daylight robbery. My starter of scallops consisted of 4 tiny scallops on a dustbin lid sized plate and Mr V`s starter of truffle soup was about an 8th of an inch of luke warm liquid in the bottom of a huge dish.
My mains of a steak was no bigger than a matchbox and tough as old boots and Mr V`s main of lamb cutlets consisted of 2 measly looking specimens. We didn`t even bother staying for desert and they charged us £73 for the privilege of going to bed hungry.
On the other hand we have just returned from 2 weeks in Mauritius and the hotel was fabulous. We wanted for nothing, the food was great, we were all inclusive so we didn`t spend a penny, the weather was glorious, the hotel staff were top notch and couldn`t do enough for you and one young waitress said she wanted to adopt me as her Granny ( I THINK she meant it as a compliment ) so she could take me home and we could become drinking buddies. At home I rarely drink but on holiday I do love wine with my meals and a few local Green Island Rums before bedtime!
I had a disappointing holiday earlier this year, my first ever cruise. Mr V cruised years ago with his late first wife who refused to fly anywhere and much as I warned him that things had probably changed in the past 20 years it seems I was right. The cruises he talked about were nothing compared to what we actually experienced this year and he was more disappointed than I was.
We sailed on the P and O ship Arvia and it was like Butlins at sea. The ship was huge but the facilities were nowhere near big enough to cope with over 5,000 passengers.
The onboard app was a joke and trying to book into certain shows, restaurants etc was nigh on impossible. The place we mainly ate reminded me of a works canteen, grab your plastic tray and help yourself to barely warm often badly cooked food and then try to find a table which wasn`t already in use or littered with dirty crockery and trays. There were kids chucking food about and parents too busy with their mobile phones to even notice their little darlings behaving like little sh^ts.
One night we actually manged to book into their supposed top class restaurant (at an added cost) and it was daylight robbery. My starter of scallops consisted of 4 tiny scallops on a dustbin lid sized plate and Mr V`s starter of truffle soup was about an 8th of an inch of luke warm liquid in the bottom of a huge dish.
My mains of a steak was no bigger than a matchbox and tough as old boots and Mr V`s main of lamb cutlets consisted of 2 measly looking specimens. We didn`t even bother staying for desert and they charged us £73 for the privilege of going to bed hungry.
On the other hand we have just returned from 2 weeks in Mauritius and the hotel was fabulous. We wanted for nothing, the food was great, we were all inclusive so we didn`t spend a penny, the weather was glorious, the hotel staff were top notch and couldn`t do enough for you and one young waitress said she wanted to adopt me as her Granny ( I THINK she meant it as a compliment ) so she could take me home and we could become drinking buddies. At home I rarely drink but on holiday I do love wine with my meals and a few local Green Island Rums before bedtime!
The best all inclusive buffet I've ever had was in a hotel complex in Tunisia. The dining room was amazing...fresh flowers on every table a waiter to look after you for drinks. The food was outstanding and the holiday was dirt cheap!
That's why we avoid the huge ships. We use adult only smaller ships just come back from 19 nights on Aurora. Apart from the last 4 days of storm force winds and 10 metre swells we had a great time. We went on Fred Olsen in May,the first time and had a great time round Scottish Islands.
My hubby refuses point blank to fly and I refuse to have a two or three week holiday in the UK. Don't mind a week but that's it.
