A couple of entries for the worst vacation: <BR> <BR>1. The Bitter End Yacht Club, British Virgin Islands. The most appropriately named resort on earth. To the staff, guests were an unwelcome distraction; their disdain for us was palpable. The food was one horrid, fly-ridden buffet after another. The water sports were non-existent because of un-repaired equipment. But the rum was free, which was supposed to make it all right. A week in hell. I was never so glad to come home from a vacation. <BR> <BR>2. Manele Bay Resort, Lanai, Hawaii. A first-class, five-start resort when it was being managed by Rockresorts, we had the misfortune to land there a few months after Dole had reverted to self-management. We were rushed through dinner in 45 minutes, shut out from diving and tennis because convention groups had monopolized the resources, and awakened at 6 a.m. every morning by the rumble of lawn mowers grooming the golf courses. <BR>

I have to agree with the posters regarding Wisconsin Dells and House on a Rock. I've never figured out what that was or how to describe it to anyone. But our other worst vacation was on a whale watching excursion out of Bar Harbor, Maine. They told us the waters were a little rough and we could get off the boat and get our money back if we wanted to. Unfortunately, only one couple did this. Out of 300 people on the boat, I think 290 were barfing the whole time. It was the worst experience of my vacation lifetime (and lasted three hours but seemed like three days)! Nothing against Maine or whale watching boats--we love Maine!!

When I was @ 8 or 9, in the mid-1960's, my family and another family from home vacationed at Lake Panasoffkee "in the middle of nowhere Central Florida." We stayed in a rustic motor court with a kitchenette. The motel was used mostly by fishermen, not vacationing families. There was no TV or telephone, but we did have a swimming pool. There was nothing around but lake and rural countryside for miles and miles --,no attractions, shopping centers, restaurants, etc. No skiing in the lake because of 'gators. It was hot and boring for the kids, and our Mothers had to cook every meal. Our fathers enjoyed the fishing, but us spoiled kids had nothing to do but swim, read or use our imagination.

Wow! Glad I read Neal's post on Bitter End. I've been wanting to go there. We were on Virgin Gorda a few years back. Also Lanai surprised me too!

I disagree with all of the negative Wisconsin Dells postings. Where else can you watch a water show, play with 1975-like robots, buy moccasins, eat at overpriced carbo-loaded buffets, look at screaming neon pink flamingoes and fake palm trees, and see the name "Tommy Bartlett" everytime you turn around?

Mr. Sanders, <BR> <BR>I am shocked by what you say! Both places look so nice in the brochures. What were the dates of your trips? <BR>

You have not truly suffered until you have splashed your way back to your hotel, wading through the puddles, only to find out that the 'puddles' are sewer overflow. This was in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. I love Mexico, and Playa Del Carmen was enjoyable with the exception of the sewer incident. It still makes my toes curl. <BR> <BR>My only other suggestion for worst vacation place ever would be any of those "Amish Acres" type places, that my parents seem so enamored of. Oh look, they are churning butter, how amazing.

Noah, my Bitter End trip was the winter of 1988; Manele Bay was February of 1992 or 1993. <BR> <BR>Manele Bay may now have third-party management and so may have improved. This was the place that, 18 months earlier, had been the site of Bill Gates' wedding. We didn't go there because of Bill and Melinda but, rather, because of Rockresort's well-deserved reputation for quality. What we found was a hotel with a first-rate physical property that had decided to cut every corner imaginable (including terminating Rockresorts), and was going for high occupancy by inviting in convention groups (we were there with 300 Amway salesmen). We thought we were booking ourselves into luxury; instead we got the Pooka Palace. High expectations, unmet, lead to big letdowns. <BR> <BR>As to Bitter End, we've met three or four couples who were there since we made our trip, and they were uniformly disappointed and put off by the difference between what was in the brochure and what they found on arrival.

My worst vacation was not a place, but a thing -- taking a cruise. Where doesn't matter, since we had only half a day or so at each port, not enough time to learn or experience anything about a place. Each day we had to get back on the ship for dinner -- a fancy interpretation of serving steam table food to a crowd of people and pretending that serving a flaming dessert was something "top drawer" to do. At night there was mediocre entertainment, shortened versions of Broadway musical performed by somewhat talented youngsters who deserved a much better audience and performing experience than they got. For amusement you could go to the dining room at midnight and watch the people waddling in to see how much more "free food" they could stuff into themselves. Lining up and following schedules for disembarking to go ashore, and for every other activity was just too much for me. I know some people love cruises, but NEVER AGAIN for me. And I don't care how "great" the ship is, the whole experience just seems like a travel non-experience.

Patrick, <BR> <BR>You are SO right about cruises. I think things can actually be worse than you describe, though. Going into port for only a half-day is bad enough. Paying a lot for an excursion during that half-day is even worse. But the absolute rock bottom? A day "at sea" where EVERYONE is on the boat competing for the same limited facilities. Shoulder to shoulder in the pool. Long lines for middling buffet food. No seats at the bad broadway-style show. Blaring ship announcements interrupt one's solitude. Refuge can only be had in one's cabin -- dark because no windows and horribly cramped. And this was a LUXURY cruise.

Neal, <BR> <BR>Thank you for elaborating. I am sorry you had such bad experiences. <BR> <BR>I read your post just after looking through a brochure of all the Starwood resorts and hotels in Hawaii. The Manele Bay Hotel is part of the 'Luxury Collection'. The other divisions of Starwood are Sheraton and Westin. <BR> <BR>I wonder how long ago Starwood took over the Manele Bay and how it is under them.

Another really big vote for Wisconsin Dells! <BR>White trailer trash on parade. <BR>

My husband and I just returned from the Manele Bay last week, and I can honestly say that it was one of the most -- if not the most -- wonderful resorts I have ever stayed in, absolutely gorgeous in every way imaginable!! We are returning again in six months!!!

Definitely Bali - got Denghi Fever (spelling ?) and got fleeced by our tour guide. It was the only time that I have ever wanted a vacation to end quickly.

Though I have never gone on a cruise, I must agree with Patrick and Cindy's dislike of the cruising idea. For instance, my mom and dad did 2 weeks on the Mediterranean. Mom would say she toured Venice but the truth is that she hopped off the boat for a few hours, took a guided tour, and hopped back on the boat. All meals were eaten on the boat. That isn't touring. Cruising seems to be the mode of vacation for the new, but poorly educated, rich of post-World War Two America.

Question for Patrick - was it such a surprise that you had only half a day in some ports on your cruise? Did you not check the itinerary before booking and were you forced at gunpoint to book the ship's excursions? Anyway, another vile vacation spot is the Crosseyed Cricket campground somewhere in Tennesee. I had managed to block that memory until it was dredged up recently by my parents (who seem to have fond memories of it). Sleeping in a rented popup RV with my parents, aunt, uncle and cousins, sharing a bed with my cousin who had a problem wetting the bed...Ah, memories.

Ilisa, <BR> <BR>Allow me to defend Patrick (and myself) for just a minute. I don't think either of us was claiming to have been surprised at the itinerary on a cruise. That in no way reduces the horror of the cruise experience, however. As for the excursions, no one puts a gun to your head, but they sure said the excursions would be really nice (they weren't), and they were quick to list the many reasons one should take the excursions (limited time to get back to the boat, no time to figure out local transportation, no information about the merits of particular shore destinations). As for the crowds on the ship and the regimentation, one cannot truly understand it unless one has been subjected to it. In my case, the whole extended family was bound and determined to do a cruise, so our choice was to go along for the reunion or stay home. So we went. By the way, the rest of the family raved about the cruise, which proves some people are born to cruise and some people are not.

In the postings I've read, Ilisa has provided detailed, useful travel advice based on her experience. Those who criticize her would do well to consider whether they can offer similar assistance or only a set of theories gleaned from web-surfing. <BR>And I say this as one who is NOT looking forward to that eventual, inevitable trip to Disney.

Ilisa's reply to Patrick is obnoxious and patronizing. She talks to him as if she's his mother. Pathetic. <BR>

Thanks, Cindy, for answering or rather defending me better than I could myself. One example. We signed up for a full day's excursion in Caracas, Venezuela. It sounded good, because the port is so far from the city, how else could we possibly do it on our own? The ship was a couple of hours late getting in, after the big ordeal of disembarking and riding into the city, we had about a 40 minute bus tour to show us what the city was like. They we were given an hour to "shop" in an area that was obviously geared to tourists. Next we were taken to a nice place for a lunch --a big hotel, though, no real local atmosphere. Next we were taken on an hour and a half each way bus ride to a glass blowing factory where we were subjected to demonstrations of glass blowing and an hour long buying "seminar". We were taken back to the ship just in time to depart and have yet another "grand" steam table dinner on the ship. Am I really supposed to see I have "seen", "visited", or "experienced" Caracas? I think not. I too was talked into the trip by a group of 8 who thought it would be wonderful. Some of them actually still think it was -- but not for me.