Sorry to say but I think that nowadays you have to think about all the sad individuals there are and try to protect your children at all times,around the pool and on the beach especially.

Hmmmmm, let's see....

1) The people staying in the room above me who always seem to have to move the bedroom furniture around every night. Why can't they do it after the cleaners have been in rather than at 2am?

2) The woman who just has to spend all holiday tapping around in high heels on a tiled floor no matter what time of day it is.

Just 2 of the reasons why I try to get allocated a room on the top floor, no matter how high the hotel or apartment block is.

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus
(now living in a bungalow with no noisy neighbours)

I am with Oscarben too on this one. I am all for young uns having a little independance...but they have to be capable of dealing with the independance. Yes, pick your own food..but are you capable of carrying your plate through a busy dining room where there are lots of other people way bigger than you...parents have a certain responsibility. Would a single traveller want to be falling over someone elses kid carrying a plate of chicken nuggets chips and beans???

As for the naked swimming...I amm reminded of an unfortuante incident while we were in Gran Can about 2006 time..the hotel had to deal with a man who was taking pictures of random kids in the swimming pools..naked and clothed. He was just another holiday maker. I have no idea whether he travelled alone or not..but it was dealt with by the hotel before the lynch mob got hold of him..and word did spread fast. My lad was 14 at the time..but my nephew and neice were 7 and 2...and they were never once out of sight or arms reach of any adult in our party ( although my lad did look after his 7 year old cousin in the pool sometimes to make sure he was ok).
Any parent with any common sense would be wary of having thier kid naked. You would not let your kid go naked on Skeggy beach..so why abroad? Do the usual rules of parenting not apply???

Thanks Justval,it's good to know that I'm not just a worrier or paranoid,just a responsible adult.

I also agree with Oscarben and Val too - I would not allow my son, when he was young to roam around naked anywhere at all - and I think you do have to be aware of who and what is around, unfortunately life is, that you cannot always trust the person that looks ok and talks in a friendly way to you or you kids - sad fact of life I'm afraid.

Other niggles - unfortunately another to do with kids, mums and dads that sit on the sun beds and their kids are playing in and out of the water or sand, and their kids get redder and redder with little or no sun protection - I get so insensed about it, and just think it's neglectful

I think the majority of the "niggles" mentioned are the same as mine. Its a shame we dont all go on holiday together, it would be so perfect .

Im in agreement with Oscarben too! I wouldnt let my daughter run around naked (or in a mini bikini which I think are probably worse) either. You just cant trust anyone these days and I wouldnt risk it.

My other niggle is Brits who refuse to try to speak a few words of the language - simple please or thank you is easy to learn in any language. We get the biggest smiles on holidays when my daughter (who is 7) says "ola" "adios" "gracias" etc to a shopkeeper. Makes such a difference to the way you get treated.

That has reminded me of one of my things too...I also do not like people who insist on looking at the locals as if they are stupid because they don't understand broad drunken lancashire speak..or broad geordie..or broad Yorkshire..so they speak really loudly and really slowly and say it again with lots of pointing etc. You are in thier country d**khead, would it be too much trouble to learn just a few simple phrases like "please" "thank you" "hello" "goodbye" etc in the language of that country?

We used to go to the Canary Islands quite alot when the kids were younger, it was ideal for them. Both Rob and myself have had Spanish lessons in the past and are not too bad at the lingo, but we made sure the kids learnt a few phrases too. The hotel staff used to love them anyway as both had blonde hair.and Gav had the big baby blue eyes too..and some would even try and teach the kids a few words..I remember one teaching Gav "knife" and "fork" and then going back and asking him every meal in Spanish which was which!

Also, I think someone mentioned this before..people who totally pile thier plates high with food, leave half of it..and then fill napkins with more food to take out and keep going with during the day. Why???

OK well I really do try to lead a live and let live attitude on holiday. I/We do really like to keep ourselves to ourselves whilst on holiday, after all life and esp work life can force you to deal with fools and situations that you could well do without.

But if quizzed for a niggle then looking at last years holiday I would say,

The Extended Family, ok so each to there own on who they holiday with but comon! "The table" , the one down by the stage where all the kids go in the evening? The extended family will encamp there pre-dawn , sit there all day drinking beer and then take it in shifts to go get changed for the evening- sometimes not allowing time for a shower ,so that "The Table" is not lost to other maybe cleaner people who may want their kids to get close to the entertainment.

Rude Staff... Ok so everyone is entitled to a bad day at work, we all have them! BUT then you get the one behind the bar or in the restaurant that consistently has a mouth full of wasps.... We all have our off days at work BUT at the end of the day if you are not a people person then don't work with people???
Sorry but in this day and age the customer is indeed king and some old misery guts is never going to do well dealing with the holidaying public if indeed he or she has no wish to please the customer. I know it must be hard at times to deal with some English beer monster who they don't fully understand, but do we not all have aspects of our work that challenge us?
Funnelly enough We have found the Spanish at there worst in this trait?? And then again found the Cuban and Mexican people ( who also speak Spanish) to be the best in terms of customer service and satisfaction.
Think on Spain ?

My niggles are mostly the same as everyone else plus:-

- The travel adaptor that doesn't stay in the socket long enough for you to dry your hair quickly so you have to hold it in place with one hand and dry it with the other.

- Ladies who buy teeny weeny bags that have wheels and handles that seem to be about 5' long. You are following them and because the lady has the bag way out from her body, you blinking trip. Why they cannot pick up the bag and carry such as small bag is beyond me.

- People with a cabin bag on wheels. I don't have a problem with people having them, but it is annoying when you try to put your bag in the same overhead compartment as their bag but you cannot get it in because their bag is too rigid to make room for yours.

- The person in front of you who reclines their seat as soon as they are allowed and leaves it that way throughout the flight and refuses to put the seat upright when you want to eat and in spite of being asked to by the cabin staff. To get my own back I pull on their headrest when I need to stand up to go to the toilet. I do this in the hope of disturbing their sleep.

- People who having had a big buffet breakfast and then take more food away in napkins, and take that food down to the beach and proceed to eat it in the beach shack just to save money on lunch. They cannot understand why the shack owners tell them to buy food in their shack or go somewhere else to eat their packed lunch.

- People who leave their towel on a sunbed at 6 am and don't appear around the pool until mid afternoon to discover the pool staff have removed their towel and given the bed to someone else and genuinely do not understand what the problem is. They feel that as they have left their towel there, they have the right to use the bed whenever they want.

Well it's good to know that I'm not the only anti-social one on here whose main niggle can be summed up as 'other holidaymakers'

But the thing that really, really gets my goat is the people who are rude to staff and treat them badly.

Funnelly enough We have found the Spanish at there worst in this trait?? And then again found the Cuban and Mexican people ( who also speak Spanish) to be the best in terms of customer service and satisfaction.
Think on Spain ?

I can't comment re Mexico but I was horrified the one time I stayed in an AI hotel in Cuba and witnessed the way some guests behaved towards the staff who, yes, for the most part where still exceedingly polite and gave good service. And they put up with it and suffered many indignities in the hope of still getting a peso or two as a tip. 80p does not entitle you to treat the people serving you as if they are dirt. And perhaps that's the difference between Cuba and other countries - the staff are better paid and don't have to put up with it whereas in places like Cuba they do because they really do need every last few coins?

But the woman who really took the biscuit and annoyed me no end for both her attitude towards the staff and me was the one in The Gambia who told me off for always telling the waiter to keep the change whenever he brought a new 2 litre bottle of water over to me round the pool from the bar. She resented the fact that I gave him the equivalent of 8p each time - because quote 'If you do it they'll all expect the rest of us to do it too'.

SM

We came across a similar attitude in the Dominican Republic. We were staying all inclusive, but we still tipped the waiters, bar staff and cleaners. Some fellow holiday makers told us off! They said they'd paid AI so that included tips as far as they were concerned and we were doing everyone else no favours by tipping.

I felt dreadful for the staff there.

SMa wrote:

But the woman who really took the biscuit and annoyed me no end for both her attitude towards the staff and me was the one in The Gambia who told me off for always telling the waiter to keep the change whenever he brought a new 2 litre bottle of water over to me round the pool from the bar. She resented the fact that I gave him the equivalent of 8p each time - because quote 'If you do it they'll all expect the rest of us to do it too'.

How cheeky that woman was SM surly its your money to spend and tip as you please!

Whenever we go All Inc I always take a wad of small denomination notes of the local currency purely for tips.

A small tip now and then has always resulted in good service in my experience.

I must say that we have experienced the odd "look" when we have received a more favorable service from a staff member who we have tipped previously, But as they say in the song. Money makes the world go round

We also cannot stand the way the staff are treated by some holidaymakers, whether they are from the same country or not.

When we go on holiday to Goa, we see people clicking their fingers to get attention, or just generally rude to the staff.

We too have had odd looks from people when we have left tips.

seeing kids turning lobster red, with little or no sun cream on
kids screaming and running about whilst parents prop up the bar
kids at mealtime picking stuff up with there fingers, then putting it back, parents no where in site....
people sat burping loudly whilst you eat your meal,
rude people, wether it be staff or holiday makers, and people who dont use please or thankyou

nutters who run and jump into the pool, landing close to me, making me jump and covering me with water.......or the kiddy that swims so close, then decided to splash there feet manically

the child behind me on the plane who kicks the seat back constantly

seeing people through litter on the floor

very loud drunk people who think they are funny

Wish I hadn't read this thread, seems everybody hates me

Why - because I recline my seat I thought everybody did. I recently had a night flight back from Mexico, I slept though quite a lot of it and I am certainly not going to sit upright to sleep on a charter flight.

I hope one of you guys isn't sat behind me next time

Kids that are let go on there own and hunt in packs and the other nationality that won't Que and make life more unpleasant for everyone

Ahh Feebee! We are not picking on you.

It isn't people who recline their seat that gets me, I recline mine too but sit upright whenever the meals come around. It is those people who recline their seat and refuse to sit upright when the meals come around. If a member of the cabin crew had woken you and asked you to sit upright during the meal, would you have?

Lol at reclining seats - I don't - but only because I picture a 'domino' effect, & feel sorry for those at the back who can't But if someone in front of me did then I'd have to otherwise I'd have the back of their chair up my nostrils, but, if those behind complained, I'd blame the person in front