have you ever travelled with someone you regretted inviting?
Aug 29th, 2005, 01:07 PM
#41
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We recently went to NYC with friends and it turned distaster very quickly.
The couple would not really help plan anything but would agree to it all, then in the middle of going here or there the wife would pipe up "I think I'll go shopping" and just leave!!! and we babysat her husband!
They wouldn't help in picking restaurants but wife is the pickiest eater ever, during dinner as she was upset with the meat and seafood selections she would make rude comments.
and penny pinchers!!! bitched about the cost of everything.
the friendship is still shaking, I did actually tell her that we wouldn't be traveling together again.
We are going away with another couple next month, I'm worried I'll admit! But fingers are crossed.
The couple would not really help plan anything but would agree to it all, then in the middle of going here or there the wife would pipe up "I think I'll go shopping" and just leave!!! and we babysat her husband!
They wouldn't help in picking restaurants but wife is the pickiest eater ever, during dinner as she was upset with the meat and seafood selections she would make rude comments.
and penny pinchers!!! bitched about the cost of everything.
the friendship is still shaking, I did actually tell her that we wouldn't be traveling together again.
We are going away with another couple next month, I'm worried I'll admit! But fingers are crossed.
Aug 29th, 2005, 01:19 PM
#42
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About cruises, that is the trip we took with our then friends. I too thought "what could go wrong?". Well everything that could did so to speak.
For starters I never realized how controlling or what a tightwad the husband was.
For example, he liked to sleep in and his dear wife took two (yes two) hours every morning to get ready for the day.
We liked to get up early and go out on the deck and have coffee and watch the sun go up. We were not into the big breakfast in the dining room. They were. I know, it should have been fine but it wasn't as they got very annoyed at us that we didn't join them for breakfast. I mean really annoyed!
When we would get to a port the husband did not want to do any landtrips...we had discussed with them before we took the cruise that we did not want to do any tourbus landtrips but preferred to hire a taxi or a driver and car. No mention was made that they did not concur.
At each port the husband did not want to even go ashore. The wife would start whining, then pouting. The husband would get all uptight. We would tell them we were going to do a private tour, wished them a happy day and that we would see them at dinner. Then, I think to keep the wife happy, the husband would agree to go with us. And then he would spend the entire time grumbling about the cost of the private car etc. And he was not intersted in seeing anything. And at the end of each private tour he would not want to tip the driver (we had wonderful drivers that went out of their way to give us a good time). So my DH would take care of the tip but of course that wasn't fair. No big deal, just the idea especially with all the other problems this fellow created.
Ah dinner time. That was a wonderful experience. We would go for predinner cocktails. Guess who just wanted to sit in his cabin and have his cocktail there (cheaper you know). Guess who pouted? So again they would join us. Guess who grumbled about the cost of the cocktails?
Atfter dinner the husband insisted that "everyone go to their cabins so they could get a good nights sleep"...we didn't realize we had gone on a trip with the authority figure father type husband. Well of course we didn't go to our cabin, we danced, walked around the deck, visited with other funloving people. And of course guess who pouted all the way to her cabin at 10:00pm.
And on and on. So I don't think taking a cruise with people that have complete different ideas about vacations work unless everyone is a relaxed type of personality and has no problem that everyone does their own thing.
Believe me, we had no idea that this was going to occur. Besides all that, the ship was terrible, LOL. The only "bad" vacation we ever had though, thank goodness.
Happy travels everyone.
For starters I never realized how controlling or what a tightwad the husband was.
For example, he liked to sleep in and his dear wife took two (yes two) hours every morning to get ready for the day.
We liked to get up early and go out on the deck and have coffee and watch the sun go up. We were not into the big breakfast in the dining room. They were. I know, it should have been fine but it wasn't as they got very annoyed at us that we didn't join them for breakfast. I mean really annoyed!
When we would get to a port the husband did not want to do any landtrips...we had discussed with them before we took the cruise that we did not want to do any tourbus landtrips but preferred to hire a taxi or a driver and car. No mention was made that they did not concur.
At each port the husband did not want to even go ashore. The wife would start whining, then pouting. The husband would get all uptight. We would tell them we were going to do a private tour, wished them a happy day and that we would see them at dinner. Then, I think to keep the wife happy, the husband would agree to go with us. And then he would spend the entire time grumbling about the cost of the private car etc. And he was not intersted in seeing anything. And at the end of each private tour he would not want to tip the driver (we had wonderful drivers that went out of their way to give us a good time). So my DH would take care of the tip but of course that wasn't fair. No big deal, just the idea especially with all the other problems this fellow created.
Ah dinner time. That was a wonderful experience. We would go for predinner cocktails. Guess who just wanted to sit in his cabin and have his cocktail there (cheaper you know). Guess who pouted? So again they would join us. Guess who grumbled about the cost of the cocktails?
Atfter dinner the husband insisted that "everyone go to their cabins so they could get a good nights sleep"...we didn't realize we had gone on a trip with the authority figure father type husband. Well of course we didn't go to our cabin, we danced, walked around the deck, visited with other funloving people. And of course guess who pouted all the way to her cabin at 10:00pm.
And on and on. So I don't think taking a cruise with people that have complete different ideas about vacations work unless everyone is a relaxed type of personality and has no problem that everyone does their own thing.
Believe me, we had no idea that this was going to occur. Besides all that, the ship was terrible, LOL. The only "bad" vacation we ever had though, thank goodness.
Happy travels everyone.
Aug 29th, 2005, 02:23 PM
#44
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Well, I didn't invite her, she invited me to keep her company, go shopping walk on the beach, all that good lazy kind of stuff while her husband did his annual all day golf thing for five entire days.
I didn't know that one woman could drink that much. At least she didn't get loud. Just very, very slow until she went to sleep. I didn't know whether to leave her by herself and walk the beach alone, or stay with her like a good guest.
The only shopping we did was for groceries. I do not exaggerate, she would stand in front of a bread display for 10 minutes, just looking. Well, maybe I exaggerate a little. Getting something for lunch took hours of just standing around while she made up her mind about what she wanted. That ended that friendship. I didn't know what she was REALLY like.
I didn't know that one woman could drink that much. At least she didn't get loud. Just very, very slow until she went to sleep. I didn't know whether to leave her by herself and walk the beach alone, or stay with her like a good guest.
The only shopping we did was for groceries. I do not exaggerate, she would stand in front of a bread display for 10 minutes, just looking. Well, maybe I exaggerate a little. Getting something for lunch took hours of just standing around while she made up her mind about what she wanted. That ended that friendship. I didn't know what she was REALLY like.
Aug 29th, 2005, 02:51 PM
#45
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My MIL and FIL believe that the best vacation is one where every waking moment is spent together.
Which would of course be fine if we all liked to do what my MIL and FIL like to do. For example, in Hawaii, that meant daily excursions to Walmart, Costco and Wendy's and then retiring to the condo to watch TV (without any alcohol, by the way).
On the way home, my MIL and FIL remarked that Hawaii wasn't a very good family vacation because Husband and I spent practically no time with the family.
Ugh.
Which would of course be fine if we all liked to do what my MIL and FIL like to do. For example, in Hawaii, that meant daily excursions to Walmart, Costco and Wendy's and then retiring to the condo to watch TV (without any alcohol, by the way).
On the way home, my MIL and FIL remarked that Hawaii wasn't a very good family vacation because Husband and I spent practically no time with the family.
Ugh.
Aug 29th, 2005, 03:28 PM
#46
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Went to Kauai several years ago with 4 girlfriends. All ready to relax, snorkel, hike, play cards at night and get away from it all. One of our friends had different ideas--namely, to go out to bars every night and find "romance".
We knew something was up when on the first morning we all got ready for a day out--shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops....and she stepped out of the bathroom wearing a silk sarong and a completely see-through teeny silk bikini top.
She wanted to go out every night and party (On Kauai?) while the rest of us wanted to play Scattegories with a homemade Mai Tai after a long day of activities.
Needless to say, we will not be traveling together again.
And, no, she did not find any romance--although we did offer a guy in a bar $20 to talk to her for 10 minutes!
We knew something was up when on the first morning we all got ready for a day out--shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops....and she stepped out of the bathroom wearing a silk sarong and a completely see-through teeny silk bikini top.
She wanted to go out every night and party (On Kauai?) while the rest of us wanted to play Scattegories with a homemade Mai Tai after a long day of activities.
Needless to say, we will not be traveling together again.
And, no, she did not find any romance--although we did offer a guy in a bar $20 to talk to her for 10 minutes!
Aug 29th, 2005, 03:59 PM
#47
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Oh, I forgot to add this experience from last week... the gal (my customer) did not travel with me but she did hang out with us a lot.
The first evening out we went to a decent Italian place and she was irritated that they did not have her favorite champagne.
She was so rude to the bicycle taxi guy I thought I was going to die. I apologized to him.
Two nights later we went to a fabulous place in San Diego's Little Italy. Not Italian, sort of a Nouveau American Cuisine. Wonderful. However, the service was VERY slow. Again they did not have her fave champagne but she seemed happy ordering 20.00 splits of another variety.
The waiter brought everyones drink but mine and when I noticed, she decided to be the drink police and get all rude with the guy. I was very uncomfortable with her getting rude with him about my drink order and, well, of course when it came it had no liquor in it at all.
I was trying to be as nice as possible to make up for her rudeness, again.
The meal was wonderful but peppered with her being rude to servers.
She even scoffed at a purchase I made earlier saying that her husband would never allow her to wear a piece of costume jewelry.
We then went to a party at the hippest hotel in town and she immediately got in a loud (vocal) confrontation with another guest, who was drunk.
The guest left and this gal ranted about the confrontation for another hour. I had enough and finally left.
This girl is adorable to deal with and a good employee but a total jerk socially.
And her incredibly sweet co-worker has to travel everywhere with her...
The first evening out we went to a decent Italian place and she was irritated that they did not have her favorite champagne.
She was so rude to the bicycle taxi guy I thought I was going to die. I apologized to him.
Two nights later we went to a fabulous place in San Diego's Little Italy. Not Italian, sort of a Nouveau American Cuisine. Wonderful. However, the service was VERY slow. Again they did not have her fave champagne but she seemed happy ordering 20.00 splits of another variety.
The waiter brought everyones drink but mine and when I noticed, she decided to be the drink police and get all rude with the guy. I was very uncomfortable with her getting rude with him about my drink order and, well, of course when it came it had no liquor in it at all.
I was trying to be as nice as possible to make up for her rudeness, again.
The meal was wonderful but peppered with her being rude to servers.
She even scoffed at a purchase I made earlier saying that her husband would never allow her to wear a piece of costume jewelry.
We then went to a party at the hippest hotel in town and she immediately got in a loud (vocal) confrontation with another guest, who was drunk.
The guest left and this gal ranted about the confrontation for another hour. I had enough and finally left.
This girl is adorable to deal with and a good employee but a total jerk socially.
And her incredibly sweet co-worker has to travel everywhere with her...
Aug 29th, 2005, 04:31 PM
#48
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Hi cd, yes indeed, know your friends! We thought we did but looking back on it we realized that we should have known better..oh well. Lesson learned.
Iteresting post, misery does love company, LOL.
BTW, I think IF one is contemplating a trip with a friend or family memeber that ones has never travelled with before perhaps the best thing to do is take a two day overnighter with them. Imagine that would give one a "clue" as to how they would be on a longer trip. Just a thought. Having said that I have taken a few trips with friends for the first time and had completely delightful trips. So one never knows.
Iteresting post, misery does love company, LOL.
BTW, I think IF one is contemplating a trip with a friend or family memeber that ones has never travelled with before perhaps the best thing to do is take a two day overnighter with them. Imagine that would give one a "clue" as to how they would be on a longer trip. Just a thought. Having said that I have taken a few trips with friends for the first time and had completely delightful trips. So one never knows.
Aug 29th, 2005, 04:40 PM
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I once got stuck traveling with someone I didn't invite who turned out to be a psycho and ruined my trip. I had asked a friend to go to Ireland with me and she invited a friend of her's without asking me. My friend cancelled last minuted due to an illness in the family and I was stuck with the traveler from hell!
Aug 29th, 2005, 05:12 PM
#52
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We invited a friend (of many years) to Victoria Island/Vancover vacation that we had planned. He was divorced from another mutual friend by 2 years and was dating a gal that seemed nice.
Little did we know that she was very hign maintenance. We are (as he was) early risers, with the adventureous spirit to explore the new area. She on the other hand rises no earlier than 9:00am and requires at least an hour to apply her war paint.
NEVER....NEVER....NEVER again!!!!!!!!!!
Little did we know that she was very hign maintenance. We are (as he was) early risers, with the adventureous spirit to explore the new area. She on the other hand rises no earlier than 9:00am and requires at least an hour to apply her war paint.
NEVER....NEVER....NEVER again!!!!!!!!!!
Aug 29th, 2005, 05:14 PM
#53
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We were going to Hawaii, and a couple asked if they could join us. We said sure, because we didn't believe they would. Another couple did the same thing the next day, and we said sure, thinking they never would. They both did. And while we liked both couples, they hated each other. One was worse. They made a federal case about upgrading to a suite when we had regular roooms. Then, he took the case of wine we all contributed because he had the suite, which would be a good place to drink it. But, he went to bed by 9 p.m. so the wine went untouched. He talked of himself in the third person. We each had a baby, but they couldn't leave theirs with a sitter for some reason. So when we went to a nice dinner, so did baby. When baby cried, the other mother tried to help by walking with him, which made her husband irate. We felt like the umpires and were tense the entire time. The next year, we went with the good couple and well, lied about it to the other couple. Then, they saw us all at the airport checking in. Totally busted. But it was worth it to be rid of them.
Aug 29th, 2005, 06:13 PM
#54
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My b'day present to myself is a trip each year. One year, I was going to NYC for a 4-day weekend and mentioned it to a new friend who said he'd never been. He wound up coming along and hijacked the whole trip.
I was going to stay in a B&B in the Village, but he wasn't happy with that. Someone recommended the Westin Times Square and that was where we had to stay. Even though I said we didn't need more than a basic room because who stays in the hotel in NYC?
He bought me tix to an opera I said I didn't want to see as a B'day gift and we spent the whole day shopping for something for him to wear to the Met.
During the trip, he kept saying, "We should do what you want, it's your birthday." But he would always find something he wanted. To top everything off, we were stranded an extra 3 days because of a snow storm.
I was going to stay in a B&B in the Village, but he wasn't happy with that. Someone recommended the Westin Times Square and that was where we had to stay. Even though I said we didn't need more than a basic room because who stays in the hotel in NYC?
He bought me tix to an opera I said I didn't want to see as a B'day gift and we spent the whole day shopping for something for him to wear to the Met.
During the trip, he kept saying, "We should do what you want, it's your birthday." But he would always find something he wanted. To top everything off, we were stranded an extra 3 days because of a snow storm.
Aug 29th, 2005, 06:32 PM
#55
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Oh highbay, your post reminds me we did have another vacation from h*ll. We too had a friend who got a divorce. Loved the guy. He lived in Vancouver BC. He invited us up to go sailing on his 26ft. sailing boat up the Inland Passage along with our 12 year old daughter and his 12 year old daughter (both darling girls). But by the time we arrived in Vancouver we discovered he had a girlfriend. The girlfriend from h*ll. And his older teenage daughter and her boyfriend decided to go with us also. So seven people on a 26ft, 8ft. beam sailboat for seven days!!!!
The older daughter fought tooth and nail with the two younger girls. Our friends girlfriend whined and b*tched the whole time (not to mention the seasickness, yuck!). The older teens boyfriend was one sulky lad.
And the boat was so crowded if anyone wanted to leave the deck to go down into the cabin everyone on the deck had to stand up and move.
And I was the "chef". The gallery equipment consisted on one pot and one frying pan plus the coffeepot. I didn't know that when our friend and I went to buy food for the trip. I remember browning one porkchop at a time in frying pan...stacked all the porkchops in the deep pot and not knowing what else to do poured beer over the porkchops. Actually they turned out fantastic. But the girlfriend b*itched the whole time because I had "used up two whole cans of beer" LOL.
Don't know how I could have forgotten that trip. Guess boats/cruise ships and friends don't work? But I have to say the scenery, the actual sailing trip was fantastic....if we could have thrown the girlfriend and the two teens overboard, LOL.
The older daughter fought tooth and nail with the two younger girls. Our friends girlfriend whined and b*tched the whole time (not to mention the seasickness, yuck!). The older teens boyfriend was one sulky lad.
And the boat was so crowded if anyone wanted to leave the deck to go down into the cabin everyone on the deck had to stand up and move.
And I was the "chef". The gallery equipment consisted on one pot and one frying pan plus the coffeepot. I didn't know that when our friend and I went to buy food for the trip. I remember browning one porkchop at a time in frying pan...stacked all the porkchops in the deep pot and not knowing what else to do poured beer over the porkchops. Actually they turned out fantastic. But the girlfriend b*itched the whole time because I had "used up two whole cans of beer" LOL.
Don't know how I could have forgotten that trip. Guess boats/cruise ships and friends don't work? But I have to say the scenery, the actual sailing trip was fantastic....if we could have thrown the girlfriend and the two teens overboard, LOL.
Aug 30th, 2005, 02:41 PM
#58
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Your stories are scaring me!!!
I love to travel alone, especially to NYC in December for 4 days of holiday magic. A very high maintenance friend who has never been to NYC keeps asking me if she can go along this year and I know it would really suck for me; so far I have dodged the bullet by being evasive, LOL.
Next summer I am going on an Alaska cruise with a group of 40 merrymakers, there will be so many of us that I am hoping it won't be stressful!
I love to travel alone, especially to NYC in December for 4 days of holiday magic. A very high maintenance friend who has never been to NYC keeps asking me if she can go along this year and I know it would really suck for me; so far I have dodged the bullet by being evasive, LOL.
Next summer I am going on an Alaska cruise with a group of 40 merrymakers, there will be so many of us that I am hoping it won't be stressful!
Aug 30th, 2005, 03:19 PM
#59
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Wow, thanks for this thread. A post where I can vent a little. We will be traveling with my spouse's family to Disneyworld for my inlaw's 50th anniversary, and we are already regretting the choice. We foolishly offered to pay for everyone's hotel stay and theme park tickets (for 13, yes, 13 people), MIL turned around and said she did not want to go if we did not stay in HER desired hotel, a luxury hotel, which would have cost us a whopping 12 thousand dollars. So we were not on speaking terms for over a week over this and now SIL is driving me crazy telling us how we should spend our own money during the trip. I have never encounted such an ungreatful group of people in my life, and this is our family, the people that are supposed to treat you the best in life! Oy. I am at my wit's end dealing with all the demands of selfish family members, we already called it off once and I wish hubby had sticked to his guns. Very, very, stressful situation for what is supposed to be a happy situation.
