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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

About the All Inclusive holiday

135 replies

teacherandguideleader · 23/08/2013 20:16

DP and I have recently returned from holiday. We chose not to go all inclusive as we like to have the option of getting out and about.

Most of the holidaymakers at our resort were All Inclusive. I have never seen people eat so much in all my life. Breakfast was a buffet and people were coming back with plates piled high with food (and made several trips too). DP and I had a slightly larger breakfast than normal as we were half board and a bigger breakfast meant we didn't want lunch. However, not only did a lot of these people have an enormous breakfast, but by 12 they were gorging into burger and chips from the pool bar, often followed by a mid afternoon 'snack' and an equally enormous dinner.

DP and I did work out that it would have worked out cheaper for us to be A-I, as we stayed in the resort of an evening and after a couple of cocktails it would have paid for itself - we would then have had a smaller breakfast along with lunch rather than just a bigger breakfast.

The one thing that struck me was how many of the people were clearly overweight and by quite a lot. I did start to wonder whether it is somewhat irresponsible of holiday companies to offer All Inclusive holidays which seemed to be 'stuff yourself silly at every opportunity' when as a nation we are struggling so much with the health implications of obesity.

This is probably more of a rant than an AIBU - I was just so shocked by what I saw!

OP posts:
theoriginalandbestrookie · 23/08/2013 21:38

Figgyroll what was the name of your hotel? I have never really fancied AI, but if it includes pina coladas .......

cantspel · 23/08/2013 21:39

It is better to pay for AI and stuff yourself then to pay for bed and breakfast but nick extra rolls and cold meats to make sandwiches for lunch as they are too tight to pay for one.

ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmmmmmmmmm · 23/08/2013 21:40

Perfect MN thread......... Grin

Judgey ( but OK as its fatties, not benefit claimants or nurses)

With a side order of implied snobbery.....Smile

You go, OP !!

34DD · 23/08/2013 21:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Firsttimemummy33 · 23/08/2013 21:44

I put on half a stone in a week of all inclusive and that was without alcohol because the wine came out of a tap and was rank! I never eat 3 meals a day at home but couldn't resist the buffet. It was the same food for lunch and dinner every day and by the end of the week the smell made me nauseous. Lovely puddings though!

littlemisswise · 23/08/2013 21:53

We've never been AI because it would work out more expensive for us. We like to support the local businesses and restaurants and not just line the pockets of the hotels and tour operators. We aren't big drinkers, wouldn't drink throughout the day anyway, if it was free or not. We just drink water which was 80c for 8l in Majorca recently.

My parents went AI to Cape Verde, my mum commented on the amount of food that was wasted. She said people would just take piles and piles and leave it untouched, especially fruit.

VelvetSpoon · 23/08/2013 21:53

There's something a bit mean-spirited about this thread.

I have been on a AI holiday, eating 3 decent meals a day. But lots of fruit, veg included in that.

After a week I had put on a pound.

I didn't see people overindulging or gorging on food (what an unpleasant term that is) just eating well. It was a holiday after all!

Trills · 23/08/2013 21:55

YABU rather silly.

What exactly is it that you have a problem with? Overweight people eating a lot of food?

SirChenjin · 23/08/2013 22:00

No - the OP explains what she doesn't like upthread, and others have agreed that greed and the resultant waste are really not that nice to witness.

Trills · 23/08/2013 22:01

We go AI because we do drink throughout the day.

I don't want to buy a big bottle of water and drink warm water. I want a nice (small) cold glass of beer, which I finish, then go and get a cold glass of sprite, and finish it, then have a cold glass of something else.

As LeGavrOrf said - I don't want to bother paying money or signing to the room every time I want a drink. I don't want to have to think about it. I just want another cold drink.

SirChenjin · 23/08/2013 22:07

That's fine - why wouldn't it be?! That's not the point of the thread though - it's about people who pile their plates high to the point of greed, just because they can, and then leave it, and whether, given the levels of obesity in the UK compared to the rest of Europe, if this is something that should be encouraged.

Everyone pigs out a bit on holiday, but piling your plate high and leaving food and letting it go to waste is Sad

SirChenjin · 23/08/2013 22:08

Baaad grammar there! Blush

cantspel · 23/08/2013 22:08

I have been to some wonderful AI hotels. Fresh ice cold fruit served to on your sunbed on the beach. Help yourself fridges and freezers dotted around the resort full of soft drinks, cold water, beer and ice lollies.

HeffalumpTheFlump · 23/08/2013 22:08

I agree about the wasted food, but the rest yabu.

Those people have paid good money to have an all inclusive holiday where they can pig out if they want to. Not having to worry about finding food away from the resort is just so much easier. Personally I love ai as i love having all the different choices of food. I definitely eat more on holiday than at home, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. 99% of the time I have a healthy, balanced diet, so what does it matter if for one week out of a year I overindulge? I would take small plates of food at a time and go back a few times so that I didn't take more than I could eat though.

Trills · 23/08/2013 22:09

Actually the thread was not about people leaving food, it was about people eating lots of food.

Someone else made the much more reasonable point that wasting food is horrible, but the OP did not mention waste, only greed.

Backtobedlam · 23/08/2013 22:09

So what if you see people eating loads and putting on weight? They are on holiday, its 1/2 weeks out of the whole year-how do you know they don't eat healthily the rest of the year? We went AI earlier this year and it was great...the kids could try lots of new foods at the buffets without having to waste an entire meal if they didn't like, and we also had a la carte restaurants for more formal dining. I ate loads more than normal as it was in front of me without cooking, washing up and without having to feel guilty about cost. You may be surprised to hear I'm actually quite slim as hardly have chance to grab a sandwich at home!

BlingBang · 23/08/2013 22:11

The last AI I went to recently the majority were very fit and slim. 1 or 2 weeks or AI isn't goings to turn folk obese.

littlemisswise · 23/08/2013 22:13

I didn't drink any warm water when I was on holiday, either Trills. We go SC so we had a fridge, the water we drank was cold.

Each to their own. I dislike AI holidays because they don't support the local economies.

acer12 · 23/08/2013 22:18

Sirchen the original post wasn't about piling food high then leaving it... You've just made that up to make it sound better.

cantspel · 23/08/2013 22:18

A1 hotels offer jobs, they buy food in bulk from local suppliers and they often have their own shopping malls giving local business a captive audience of shoppers.

cantspel · 23/08/2013 22:22

Where as if you go sc in majorcia you will be doing your food shop in a supermarket like lidl or carflor and you might as well be buying from tesco.

littlemisswise · 23/08/2013 22:30

We don't do any shopping in a supermarket like Lidl or Carfour in Majorca!

cantspel · 23/08/2013 22:31

You might not but plenty do and i have myself.

SeaSickSal · 23/08/2013 22:33

insummertrains I happen to have this funny idea that what other people eat is their own business.

Novel, I know, but for some reason I can't manage to pretend to give a shit whether other people are stuffing their faces or eating one lettuce leaf. It's none of my business and I really don't understand where other people get off thinking that it's theirs.

I may have a slight vested interest because I went on holiday last year taking the anti-depressant (and appetite stimulant) Mirtrazapine and couldn't stop eating for a moment. I'm sure a few people gave me the cats bum face when I went for my third portion.

Now I'm on Venlafaxine instead (which is an appetite suppressant) and I can barely bring myself to eat a few lettuce leaves and a bit of chicken without a massive effort. And this year I had all the tutting from people who thought that I was being a spoilsport and ungrateful.

I do wish people would fuck off watching and judging what people eat and what shape they are. I think our society would be a much healthier and happier place.

Original poster
teacherandguideleader · 23/08/2013 22:33

It was obvious that a lot of the people did not just behave like this on holiday. Many were not just overweight, they were obese. It was something I have not witnessed before (very little experience of holidays). There wasn't a lot of waste, it all got eaten. As I've mentioned earlier, maybe part of the reason I noticed it was because of the some of the stuff I teach.

By the way, in case I didn't make it clear, I am well aware that a lot of people go on AI holidays and eat more than normal (who doesn't on holiday?) - there was just something about the excessive amount that shocked me. It does concern me what will happen in a few years if something drastic isn't done to change some people's attitudes towards food.

OP posts:
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